d_wag

we are in agreement on davis, makes a ton of sense for the bills and rex http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/177694-which-player-do-you-hope-slides-to-us-at-50-realisitcally/?p=3530670

Carl Davis, DT from Iowa All the measurables are there and guy is extremely strong, can hold the point of attack and would fit in great as the nose when they go 3-4 looks. His problem is motor, takes plays off and comes out of game too often, does not play with intensity and that is the reason why he's being talked about as a 2nd rounder instead of a top 10 pick. Same things were said about Mo Wilkerson when he came out, slipping him all the way to the bottom of the 1st, but Rex wanted him bad, got the fire lit and the rest is history. If Rex thinks he can push Davis' buttons he would be an absolute steal at 50 and great need fit (love me Kyle, but can't ignore the fact he's getting up there, as well as contract situation with DD, need some insurance).

Clay does count but Harvin and Incognito don't. Bills are still net negative (searcy, spiller, pears and smith vs clay, Felton, and Taylor) and currently in line for a 4th. Spikes going elsewhere would add another. Would prefer they didn't sign any other qualifying free agent until June now to hold this position.

If it's guaranteed all the more reason he'd take the money AND free agency! Why do you think Wallace is giving them a hard time? Cause he has the leverage and wants free agency. Phins want him to trade salary for bonus so they can defer the dead cap of cutting him to the future. You are being naive assuming every player will accept a straight restructure. They know it just makes the problem bigger the following year. If clay ends up with a big 2nd year cap number via a buffalo bills offer it matters to the phins cause there is no certainty he would restructure - you can't discount that.

He says no, forces release, gets a larger signing bonus/1st year salary then the year 2 salary. it all comes down to leverage.

You are assuming he'd say yes to a restructure next year, which is not an automatic. Restructure keeps you around but if he has a good year he'd force their hand and take free agency. This is a tricky situation, bills need to make their offer now, longer they wait the more other free agents get chomped up and they can't afford that if they don't get him.

assuming the back is a non-issue this looks like a great scheme fit. at 31 not looking at a huge deal and a good vet stopgap who can help now and make richardson/kujo earn it

Will be taking my eldest (will be 4 then) to his first "hitball" game, can't wait. I told him last week the bills had a great new head coach and a few days later he told me he was the buffalo bills coach! "You throw the ball, you run that way, you hit him"! His response to "we are going to see a game next year" was a whispered "maybe the buffalo bills coach will be there." Ha, you can't make it up. Keen to meet up on Saturday night and meet some bills fans, from the uk and abroad. Gonna be a great weekend.

those "big name players" haven't had the offseason / benching last year he had. All he needs to do is get in shape and play football, but he clearly couldn't seem to care less.

Absolute waste of talent at this stage. He's got all the motivation in the world - he's playing for a HUGE payday! What's it gonna take to get through to him?? I hope it clicks for him before it's too late.

Would have absolutely loved to see the big bruiser added. Picking a backup LB who will contribute mostly on special teams is a let down after that. Never know but I like to think Scott Critchton (who was in for a visit) was the target but went pick before. Big DE would have been a much better fit.

well if he doesn't like spiller's style why would he be interested in chris johnson? they are similar backs with similar running styles and similar size. neither are the big bruising back to feed a power running game like williams and hill are. this isn't adding up for me, don't like it, comes off as the bills trying to be "too cute" again (ala the bills drafting RB's high the last decade when they already had solid performers doing the job at the expense of more valuable/needed positions). to bring in johnson, dump cj for probably next to nothing (or nothing), to have the guy have to learn the playbook and build chemistry with EJ and the OL, why?? cj is signed for next season and, if he performs like '12, is a bargain on the franchise tag for '15. that is two years to find a replacement, loads and loads of time, and the meantime you hopefully get some good production out of him. they don't need johnson. spiller, jackson, and a back like williams or hill is a great combination and with an upgraded OL and the right playcalling could be a top 5 ground unit that can run when they want to run.

My thoughts exactly.

just what we needed, another draft thread - not sure why this doesn't belong in the aptly named "bills draft talk" thread

smarter play would be try hard to sign him to a long-term deal before that date arrives. he will only get more expensive as he gets closer to free agency and the 5th year option, much like the F-Tag, could be perceived as a negative by the player. we've seen with byrd what a 1 year offer vs. a long term deal can do the relationship (rightly or wrongly). the bills don't need that with dareus. they have money, he's young and talented, will only get better, just give him a long-term deal and be done with it.

Optimum gives me the kyle von noy first overall, top notch. I'm all for differing draft boards and the avoidance of group think but no point running a mock with ridiculous results like that.

ravens ran a 3-4, bills will run a base 4-3 - obviously a 3-4 equates to more available LB snaps briggs was a 3rd round pick - if you end up with two talented LB's of course you scheme as best you can to maximize their snaps but my point was you don't invest a heavy asset (either dollars or top picks) in a 2nd LB because the return isn't there vs. the alternatives you can invest that asset in. you spend that 3rd rounder and hope you hit on it, while using your 1st to take a player who will see the field a ton. kiko will slide to the middle on 3rd and long as spikes/rivers come off the field. spikes is exactly what they need at MLB and is a great fit - both in terms of price and what he brings to the table.

I watched a nfl mobile vid on him recently, they were following him, clowney, and ebron as they prepped for the combine. He does not look like a guy who will miss the season, let alone training camp. He's doing plenty right now getting his knee back but in the meantime he's throwing a ton and spending time with a QB guru (think it was lucks?). He impressed me, guy wants it.

i'm not buying it - even if you take $6M (which looks grossly inflated to me) there is absolutely no doubt in my mind he'd get more than that in signing bonus, making a void the easy decision. i stand by my point - he will void his final year so if the bills want him long-term now is the time to do it. if they wait they will overpay, tag him, or watch him walk for nothing.

i don't think that is correct - he hit incentives to boost his 2014 salary to £3.5M (from £1.8M) but he's only scheduled for £2.2M in 2015. surely that will also be boosted by incentives but not by £3.8M.

6M?? that's far higher than any number i've seen. source?

you hit the nail on the head - lawson primarily on running downs, hughes on passing downs, both getting a few snaps when mario needs a break, branch few snaps here and there but working inside a lot more often. 3rd or 4th round DE for depth wouldn't go amiss.

spiller can void the last year of his contract (2015) so if they wait until next year to try to resign spiller he'll be gone absent the f-tag or a big overspend. if they want him at a decent price now is the time to do it, not when he's knocking on free agencies door.

they currently have 15M in cap room - are you asserting that byrd's '14 cap number with the bills would have been 12M??? i don't follow I'm with WSS, there is plenty of money to go around to sign free agents and extend dareus (which should be priority #1 right now!)

you can't play two LB's 3 downs, that's the point. if you do that you can't get in to nickel/dime often enough and teams will pick you apart in the passing game. not to mention that buffalo would have just wasted $5M a year on graham because he (or roby) won't see the field often enough to have any impact. it's just not realistic to play 2 LB's 3 downs in today's NFL. and this is exactly why the bills went with the very affordable rivers in free agency - they didn't want to devote $5M a year to a LB when the CB is the one who is going to see the field more. just to expand on the point further, what you're looking at in '14 is a snap count breakdown that looks something like this: WLB - Alonso - 900 snaps (he played too much in '13, 1070 snaps, and wore down) MLB - Spikes - 500 snaps SLB - Rivers - 400 snaps Other (Lawson, Bradham, Powell, late draft pick/depth signing, etc) - 300 snaps. Note Lawson will see the majority of his snaps at DE. when looking at the top pick/free agent dollars, i'd much prefer a guy who is going to see the field 80-100% of the time over someone who is looking at 40% of the snaps - and that's a RT or a WR, or even a new starting FS