OldTimer1960

Yes, it is. Of course there is UNSHARED revenue to consider too. Total Reveue = SHARED revenue + UNSHARED revenue. Teams like the Cowboys, Giants, Jets, etc have A LOT more UNSHARED revenue than other teams (like the Bills). So, what are the Bills to do if the salary cap exceeds their TOTAL revenue (as it does)????

The team has the CAP SPACE, much different than having the money. Why stop with your list? Why not sign the best G, S, LB, TE, WR, RT, etc??? Not very realistic, man...

Let's put it this way. The salary cap is a limit put on all teams to TRY to allow all teams to compete on even footing. Just because the league limits team spending on (whatever it is, say $128MM) doesn't mean that all teams can afford to spend that much. I don't know what your household income is, but whatever it is, there is NO imposed limit on what you can spend on housing, cars, etc, BUT there is a real limit on what you can responsibly spend given your actual household income. Let's say that your household income is $100,000/year. You COULD buy a $1MM house, but that isn't practical given your income. If your wife called you CHEAP because you wouldn't buy that $1,000,000 house and a Mercedes, that would be equivalent to the argument that the Bills are CHEAP because they aren't spending what the salary cap allows them to. You are SO uninformed. What is your mortgage and car payment vs. your income? Whatever it is, YOU are cheap for not spending more! BTW, glad you aren't running my business!

Are you saying that if he was drafted as a safety and did as well as he did this year, then he'd have been a good pick? But, because he was athletic enough to try at CB first, before moving to S, then he was a crappy pick? Man, some can spin anything....

Tell that to every business operating today. FWIW, I work for a MAJOR health care company and my division consistently makes a profit, but not enough of a profit for corporate. So, within a few weeks we will be sold to a Private Equity firm who will cut costs as much as possible without putting us out of business and then sell us again. The personal situation for me and my co-workers will certainly be much worse than current, but that is the way of the world. The Cowboys wouldn't spend as much as they currently do if their revenue didn't substantiate it. Neither would the NY Yankees.... NO business considers past performance and profits when they make current financial decisions.

The cap is really mostly relevant for those teams that actually have enough revenue to spend up to the cap. There are lots of small market teams that can't spend to the cap because they don't take in enough revenue to get there. The Bills are one of the lowest revenue teams in the NFL. I believe that they are spending as much as they can without losing money.

But that wouldn't support the argument that it is just that "the dumb Bills" don't realize how important a great QB is. It is SO obvious that they should "do whatever it takes" to just go get one!

I think that he is quite a bit more risky of a pick than RG 3 was two years ago when Washington gave up a ton to get him. He might turn out great or he might end up being Doug Flutie with attitude and off field issues. I think trading much for him would be a bad move. That being said, if he was sitting there at 9 and it only cost the Bills' thei one pick, the risk reward might then warrant the move

I agree. All things being equal, a 6'4" WR would be better than 6'1", but all things are rarely equal. It isn't like he is 5'9". It isn't really the height as much as someone who can make contested catches frequently and someone who can catch passes that aren't dead on target.

I will concede that I think that the constant turnover of coaches in Cleveland is counter-productive to building a winner (yet many here are already discussing who should replace Doug Marrone) However, there are professional and civil ways to ask the question. The "reporter" could have said something like: "Based on fan posts to our station's web page, many are concerned about the stability of the organization. Can you comment on why you are confident in this decision and in your leadership team?"

Interesting, what line of work is that? I can say that I've worked in engineering and product development for 30 years and while everyone knows who isn't pulling their weight, I've never seen a case where a co-worker "called them out". I have seen cases where management has had to intervene, but not co-workers.

But, you just said elsewhere that RB3 was almost certainly a franchise QB. Hasn't he missed more time than Manuel and wasn't his injury more serious? Again, I am not here to say that EJ Manuel will or won't become a good starting QB, only to say that it is too soon to tell and in comparison to RG3 after this year, I don't see a lot to tell the two apart - yet you seem to think that there is a world of difference between them. To be clear, would I trade Manuel for RG3 straight up right now? Yes, I would, but given this year I wouldn't throw in a lot more to get Griffin. He might become a great QB, but it isn't a sure bet. Just as it isn't a foregone conclusion that Manuel will fail. Let Manuel grow with some of the young receivers for another year (or heaven forbid 2 years) and see where they are. In the meantime, If an Andrew Luck type QB prospect happens to be available at #9 this year (won't be), then by all means draft him. Else, if there is a decent QB prospect available in a later round (maybe someone who got hurt this year like Aaron Murray) then sure nab him, but don't give up on Manuel so soon - especially given the immaturity of the rest of the offense that he was saddled with.

You liked the whiney little "b*tchy" tone of that question? I think it is disgraceful that fans and ignorant media feel that it is their job to be sarcastic and "hold the management accountable". In the context that it is used on this board, "holding someone accountable" = "blame someone because I am not happy and I can't accept step-wise improvement". "Wah wah, wah I have waited too long for a winner so nothing is good enough other than an instant turnaround into a SB team". IMHO, reporters like this should be thrown out and not allowed back. They aren't "analyzing" anything. They are just being smart-asses and stating the obvious that things didn't go well. What would their plan be? What would they have done differently? I will be happy the day some coach punches one of these losers in the face.

Wait, RG3 is a certain "franchise QB" while Manuel will never be any good? RG3 in his SECOND season had a QB rating of 82 while Manuel's in his rookie year (while missing considerable time) was 79. RG3 had 16 TDs and 12 INTs, while Manuel had 11 TDs and 9 INTs with only 1 experienced WR. Now, I am not saying that Manuel is equal to RG3, but it sure seems like you've graded RG3 on a much easier curve than you have EJ Manuel.

Man, you and your agenda... You make it sound like EJ Manuel is lazy and not trying. THE biggest selling point with Manuel was his intelligence and work ethic. Now, you can argue that it was over-sold and EJ is sitting home eating Bon-Bons, but I haven't seen any evidence that he is anything less than very bright and hard-working. To be clear, that doesn't always translate into success on the field, but I think it gives him a reasonable chance of success - and (I think) that he played pretty well for a rookie (the Tampa Bay melt-down aside). I really don't know how anyone could judge a rookie QB walking into this situation. Going into the season, other than Stevie Johnson, the Bills WR corp had: 11 starts and 31 receptions among them (all by TJ Graham). Woods, Goodwin, Hogan and Easley had never started an NFL game or even made a regular season catch! What could anyone have reasonably expected from an offense set up like that? I am not saying that I know that Manuel is the answer, but I do think that the Bills knew going into the season that there would be A LOT of growing pains for the offense.

That is, no track record in producing NFL QBs. I think when you look at college coaches, you have to look at the talent that they are able to recruit at their university and judge how well they developed those players. Cal isn't going to be able to recruit the QB prospects that USC, Fla State, U of Miami etc are going to be able to get (IMHO).

OMG, Penn State was barely above .500 during his tenure - how could Houston "cheap out" and hire him???? (sarcasm - obviously Penn State's situation were a lead weight on the program)

Do you get leadership from your co-workrs? It is supposed to come from: 1.your intrinsic work-ethic/desire to succeed 2. Management 3. From there the examples set by co-workers If you, as an individual, are not pulling your weight - management can't do much about it other than threaten you with no-raise or termination... If you have a slacker co-worker, do you address the issue with him/her?

Chandler has proved to be an adequate receiving threat. The Bills need a true dynamic receiving threat who is "open when he is not". That player could be a WR or a TE, I don't think it matters. For what I expect Chandler to command on the FA market, I very much hope that the Bills can re-sign him. However, if he gets BIG money, then I don't think that they should match that kind of offer....

You need to stop it and realize that those who think that this is the greatest QB class ever know everything.

There are lots of guys in the NFL who have better size, arms - especially at this point - than Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, yet they are the best QBs in the league (or certainly in the top 5). I should add Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers to the list of "not top" arms/size/athleticism who are doing well. I might argue that Jay Cutler has GREAT arm talent and very good size and athletic ability, yet he couldn't get the Bears to the playoffs with two OUTSTANDING WRs (Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffreies) and a very good RB (Matt Forte). Size and arm strength are entry level requirements to a point. Beyond that, there are many intangibles. I'd argue that EJ Manuel and Ryan Tannehiill have better size, arms and athletic ability than Manning and Brady, yet many here think they'll never do well...

Where did Marrone say this was a high priority need? I (choose to) interpret his comment to mean that they need a handful of guys whose life is special teams. I remember the "glory days" where Steve Tasker and Mark Pike were core special teams players. Tasker arguably could have played more at WR, but they valued his special teams contributions over that. I believe that there were others, including Beebe, who played primarily STs. I think the point was that there were some who were lackadaisical on STs - maybe because they thought they were going to make an impression on O or D. They may have most of the "core special teasers" on the roster - if they accept and embrace their role. So, maybe they should get one early to get up to speed. I think that Woods and Goodwin contributed this year, and I expect them to contribute more next year. However, they still don't have a true playmaker who can make the great catch 1-2 times a game and keep drives alive. If they can find a guy like that, even if it takes him a year or two to fully develop, then I'd love to see them take him early in round 1. I am don't know if EJ Manuel is THE answer, but I do know that he had 1 experienced WR and about 2 starts among the remaining WRs coming into this season. In terms of NFL receptions, outside of Stevie Johnson, there were about 35 catches on the remaining roster (at WR). What could you tell about the QB play with that?

He'd sell seats for 7-8 games, then not if they aren't winning - like all other prospects. Would the Bills be on TV more? Maybe, maybe not, but not long unless they are winning. Would he sell much? What would he sell? I doubt the team would get rich on his jersey sales.... He would be marketable for half a season and not after unless he was the "real deal" - and I am not sure they'll be able to tell without better WRs, TE and OL play. Would he be exciting? - Yes, for a while - a long while if he is winning, not long if he isn't....

Russel Wilson is also 27 y.o and light-years more mature than "Johnny Football". Wilson may also have a better arm. To be sure, I didn't expect Wilson to have a lot of success in the NFL due to his size, but with at GREAT defense and some good WRs with a very good run game, he is excelling. I was turned-off by Manziel's "leadership" on the sidelines last night. Now, I recognize that maybe I am wrong and his teammates may have been completely motivated, but I wonder how that goes over with NFL players. I have also seen him throw up "hope for a miracle" balloons and that will certainly not fly in the NFL. I will grant that he is definitely elusive and has a decent arm with a very quick release. I do very much wonder how he'll handle adversity in the NFL and I suspect that off-field issues may de-rail him in the "league".

Not against NFL talent or even SEC talent (well not even much better than MAC talent). He may be a big-time NFL prospect, but his level of competition is pretty low and, I would think, that Univ Central Florida can recruit better athletes than others in their conference.