Kirby Jackson

That’s why the Shaq Thompson contract is the one that they use for comparison. It really is an interesting dilemma IMO. I think that I’m higher on Milano than most but at the same time there is a line. It doesn’t sound like many people (including me) are even willing to go to the market value on him. That may be how this plays out.

That seems to be the sense from a lot of people and that’s why the discussion is important. The market is saying that he’s going to get paid a good bit more than that. For me the number in my head at the moment (which changes a lot) is about $10M a year. With the money saved on Spain I’d be willing to go to $12M but would need some injury protection and an out. It would probably be 4 years after this one with an out after the 2022 season. That way if I needed money for Josh or Edmunds I could find some.

There is a lot of discussion in the “who is next” thread about Milano. He’s in the last year of his deal and seems to be pretty polarizing when it comes to his next contract. I felt that this discussion needed to be broken out to talk just about Milano and the numbers. Is Milano’s playmaking ability the product of the system or the reason that the system is so effective? It’s a little chicken and egg In my opinion the Bills came into this offseason wanting to extend Dawkins, Spain and Milano (obviously Beane and McDermott too but they don’t factor into the cap). The Bills probably had a total number in mind for these 3. Dawkins contract is probably almost exactly what they expected. Spain was a bargain for the Bills. He was probably $2m-$3M less than they expected on an annual basis. What they expect for Milano is anybody’s guess. It seems like most projections are in the $14M a year range. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.buffalorumblings.com/platform/amp/2020/3/2/21157016/contract-projection-for-buffalo-bills-linebacker-matt-milano-highest-paid-linebacker-in-the-nfl Would you be comfortable with Milano at roughly the same deal that Dawkins just signed? Let’s say 4 years and $56M. If not, what would your contract offer to Milano be?

Same with Edmunds

He will not sign for less than Slay. I can guarantee that. He will set the market or he won’t sign. I also don’t think Tre or his agent view Byron Jones as a similar player. He won’t be taking less than “highest paid CB in the league.” The optics are a part of that. I also think we’ve seen some outlier contracts as recently as this week with Kittle. I’ll be surprised if Tre’s AAV is under $18M and I think it’s ends up at $20M. I don’t think that he signs until then. By that point though, Humphrey may have reset the market or someone else. The price is just continuing to go up. The Bills have a ton of incentive to sign Tre now. His price isn’t dropping. The price that the Bills could get Tre for now is the lowest it will be.

Tre is going to be a $20M a year CB IMO. The conversation probably starts at 5 years & $85M which would make him the highest paid CB in the league. I think it is north of that though by the time he signs.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day

I’m not though. Knox is a lock. I think Kroft basically is with the restructured deal and I believe Sweeney is more likely to make the team than Smith. If they keep 4 TEs I think he’s a lock. I think if they keep 3 he’s out. With the competition at other positions and probably having to keep 3 QBs some spots are going to get squeezed. A 4th TE feels like that could be a spot that they pull from. It’s 50/50 to me.

Oh I definitely want him to be gone. He’s a miserable football player that makes huge mistakes. He committed 8 penalties despite playing less than 30% of the offensive snaps!! That’s absolutely atrocious. He had twice as many penalties as catches. He’s a great blocking TE but not as good of a blocker as an extra OL. He’s not a threat at all as a receiver. He was targeted 5 times. I just don’t see how that guy can be considered a lock or even likely? In terms of a backup long snapper you can keep a guy on the PS if you want (maybe even Smith). If you have that last minute Covid to Ferguson you activate the guy from the PS. That feels easy.

I’m not sure that he will. The Bills are going to have 3 receivers on the field a lot. Knox spent the offseason working with Kittle. He should take a step forward there too. Kroft’s restructured deal pretty much assures him of a roster spot. Sweeney isn’t the blocker that Smith is but he’s not bad. He’s miles ahead as a receiver. When he was given a chance last year he produced. I expect to see more of him. Additionally, they save $1.7M by cutting Smith. If they keep 4 TEs again he will likely be on the roster. If that 4th TE is dropped in favor of a 2nd kicker, a 3rd QB or an extra WR I don’t think that he will be. They’ll use an extra OL or Sweeney to fill Smith’s role. He’s very much on the bubble IMO.

This is a good call. I think that there are other roles that are more individualized roles in team sports that are tougher. Kicker is worse for example. Yes, I know that you can talk about the snap or hold for a kicker but it is still dependent on the kicker 95% of the time. He’s less reliant on the other 10 players than the QB. A pitcher in baseball is too. A goalie would fit as well for me. QB is tough but there are a lot of other people that can either elevate a QB or let him down. That’s not the case with some of these others.

He was being projected between $7M-$10M a year and signed for $5M (3 years, $15M). He’s great value at that number.

They just signed Spain to a deal below his market-value. I’m sure that assurances were made at that point. He didn’t give up a sack last year. He’s a lock. I could see Feliciano as blue though.

I’d bump Taiwan to blue for special teams reasons. McKenzie to blue. Sweeney to blue and Smith to red. Winters to black. Harrison Phillips to black. Siran Neal to blue (or even black) and Marlowe to red. Hauschka to red.

What about the student on the biology scholarship? They get their education for free and aren’t generating millions for the university. Not to use the “Tom Brady was a 6th round pick” argument but what is Trevor Lawrence worth to Clemson? $200M? The point being let’s stop pretending that the cost of the education is relevant. These guys are at the top of the world in what they do. They are generating millions and millions and millions for their schools. This is true, short-term and long-term. This is both direct and indirect. When I was a student at the turn of the millennium I didn’t generate that sort of revenue for my school. If you want to make that argument about rowers, lacrosse players, or tennis players -fine. Making that argument about power 5 football programs is asinine. The value that the players deliver to the university is FAR greater than the cost of the education. That’s why 40 of the 50 state’s top paid employee is a college coach. They provide a massive financial boost to the state.

This x 1,000,000,000,000 Great post!!

I’m only talking power 5. I apologize for any confusion. That was my point at the beginning. I too went to a private DIII school (Emerson). I posted the money from football in the previous post but here it is again: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2019/03/who-are-the-richest-and-poorest-power-five-college-football-programs-here-are-all-65-ranked-bottom-to-top.html%3FoutputType=amp. To be clear, I’m strictly talking power 5 because that’s all that matters in college football. The above post is from the previous year so it’s higher now but it gives you an example of the contributions.

I use Auburn because one of my best friends was in charge of sales there. The stories and examples are based on what I’ve been told or he’s experienced. I always try to provide a real perspective based on that.The indirect contributions are impossible to quantify but they are significant. I’m seeing 5 of the top 65 in the red in 2018. So 92.3% are making money (and some tons). Those numbers are also trending up not down. If you go right to the middle it’s Illinois and they are making a $29M profit. I stand by most of these programs subsidizing other sports. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/2019/03/who-are-the-richest-and-poorest-power-five-college-football-programs-here-are-all-65-ranked-bottom-to-top.html%3foutputType=amp

Oh, I know. We are talking strictly Power 5 here. The football revenue sharing floats pretty much all other sports. That also doesn’t account for the indirect revenue attributed to the university because of their program. This is where donors are entertained or entertaining. This is a sense of pride for them and a reason that they open their wallets like they do. The indirect impact is massive.

We are talking power 5 and obviously no English departments was hyperbole. In 2019 college football’s 25 most valuable programs made a profit of $1.5B. Football is subsidizing the other sports (not kidding this time) and is the catalyst for their biggest donors. There are plenty of small D 3 schools that manage without the football revenue. At the same time do you think the University or Texas is better off or not with the $223M generates by their athletic program. They aren’t looking to become SUNYAB. The highest paid public employee in 40 states is a college coach!! That should tell you all that you need to know. This isn’t some ancillary benefit that is nice for the students. This is where the universities directly and indirectly generate the majority of their revenue. T Boone Pickens wasn’t sending what he did to OSU without athletics. As a side story that I think will resonate the larger donor at Auburn had pledged like a $50M donation. $7M of it was earmarked for Gus Malzahn’s buyout. His donation to the University, the largest in it’s history, was contingent on the football coach getting fired. It was all or nothing. He didn’t get fired and now it costs $33M to dump Gus and his staff. This is BIG business. This is one of those things that’s probably difficult to comprehend unless you are in that environment. I used to go to every BC game when I was in college but clearly didn’t get it. It’s not something I really grasped until I started attending big time college football games. When LSU played Bama 7 or 8 years ago they estimated 300,000 people were on the LSU campus. The population of Baton Rouge is 216,000. The point being that big time college sports aren’t an extra. They are driving revenue and entire economies in some places. Auburn is a perfect example. The entire economy from restaurants, to bars, stores, hotels, etc... are completely dependent on these games being played.

The Power 5 conferences generated $2.9B last year. There is no English Department at these massive institutions without that revenue. Football subsidizes these universities not the other way around.

I’m so disappointed. Just feel defeated. The PAC 12 just followed suit

Yes, Wade still counts outside of the normal allotment.