BarleyNY

I should add that having an owner who is wealthy enough to be able to care much more about winning rhan making a profit is great. You are right that the Pegulas are very welcome in that respect. But that doesn't mean spending in FA like they have recently is the answer. History shows us that it isn't. I disagree about the recent drafts having been "as good as anybody's". They haven't been good and filling holes left by them is the reason the Bills have been spending so much.

This is actually a very big worry for me. How often does building a team through expensive free agents work? Take out the rare instances where a franchise QB was gained (like Brees in NO) and the answer is "pretty much never". I'm all for keeping our own and supplementing that through moderately priced and cheaper FAs, but we've burned some real money on FAs that aren't proven difference makers. For the record, Mario is certainly a proven difference maker. A team can make a move like that occasionally as long as they get it right, but they can't make it standard practice to fill every hole. It starts with drafting and I don't see great drafting. The best addition the last few years was Watkins and it took 2 firsts and a fourth to get him. How many other holes got filled with a quality player via the draft these past three years? All I see is Woods and Kiko. I like Woods, but we just added Harvin for one year at $6M. I loved Kiko, but he got traded away for a piece of the Shady deal. Then we paid Shady like a FA. Sigh. I'd love to think that this won't come back and bite us in the ass, but I expect that it will.

I'm with eball on this. Exactly what good does Spikes do a team if he's suspended? Or in jail? The only no brainier is staying the hell away from this moron. And it isn't like stupid behavior is out of the norm for this guy.

The NFL has a good system. There's no need to change it. Capping what one player can make only makes sense in a league with a soft salary cap (like the NBA). Since the QB position is so much more valuable than any other I don't see a soft cap as a good solution in the NFL. Teams will make mistakes giving certain players over-inflated contracts; that's just part of the game.

That's just outstanding.

I think it is wrong. If a team or any other organization wants to honor veterans, police officers, firemen or anyone else I am good with it. But exchanging money for it and presenting it as genuine makes it dirty and dishonorable.

Exceptional response. Simply outstanding Exactly. Age has robbed Vick of what he brought to the table. He was always going to suck as a QB once his athleticism went.

I'm thinking the writer was suggesting that Whaley should ask Wood to take a pay cut due to his play and that Wood should be willing to cut $2M from this year's salary.

http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/03/04/five-ideas-bills-can-create-salary-cap-space/ 2. Ask Eric Wood to take a pay cut. After McCoy's addition, the Bills' center will have the fourth-highest cap number on the team. He's the sixth-highest paid center in the NFL in terms of yearly average, at $6.35 million, but ranked 25th in PFF's ranking of centers. Wood acknowledged his play must improve at the end of last season. "I just hope I'm safe," he said. "A high-price center in the middle of the field that could be playing better. I've got to look at myself first. I can't be pointing fingers and looking around. I have to evaluate myself first and worry about my game and constantly try to get better." Wood's a captain who gets credit for being a team-first guy. He can show it by reducing his salary -- let's say by $2 million.

Some of those players on their rookie deals are outplaying Wood and getting paid less, but that's part of the player turnover. The reality is that you can get a vet who can perform as well or better for less. You can get a rookie to do the same for a lot less. He's being paid a nice premium to be well above average and he's not. It was a contract that hasn't worked out for the Bills. It happens. Wood has some time to turn it around and it'll be best for him and the bills if he does. For the record, I'd say calling his play average the last couple years is charitable. I understand that the guard play has sucked so I'm willing to give him a bit of a pass, but he's got to get better or he won't be around much longer.

Here is a list of salaries of centers: http://overthecap.com/position/center This is fair criticism. He's the 9th highest paid center in the league and nowhere near the 9th best. I suspect this season - since the OG play will likely be better - will be a big one for him. If he doesn't perform well I don't know how the Bills will justify keeping him with other contracts due. Edited to add: I just looked more closely at his deal. His large signing bonus and relatively low salary will likely keep him on through 2016. Still, he hasn't been earning his contract.

I have. I've been looking at overthecap.com and spotrac.com. Not only can you find team salary cap info and player info there, they also have positional spending breakdowns. Once you determine comparable players, or which tier someone belongs in, then it is fairly easy to see what a player's next contract will probably look like. Actually working through this whole issue might make a nice thread of its own.

These are all good points. I don't know about the order of priority for retaining players, but I do know that the Bills have some tough decisions ahead of them. They've been adding players like Clay and Harvin and retained Hughes, but there is little cap room left this year and next. I don't know how Glenn isn't a priority though. The OL is shaky as is, but looks absolutely abysmal without him. I'd love to know what the plan is. Edited to add: A long term deal done next offseason for Gilmore could free up some space in 2016. He is set to make $11M that season and his per year won't be that much below that, but it would help in 2016. Restructuring Clay's $10M roster bonus to a signing bonus will free up $7.5M in 2016. Opting out of Harvin's contract will free up $8M. So it is possible to retain several of the group mentioned. The problem is that we are looking at some of the highest paid positions in this group so we won't be able to keep everyone.

That's the one thing I didn't cover - Vic looking for clicks.

I am at a loss to explain this. Motivation? Either Glenn is loafing and this is a message to him (which doesn't jibe with him coming in in such great shape) or they're trying to build up Henderson and/or Koujo (which makes more sense). I can't believe they're talking like this trying to dangle anyone on the trade block. They don't have the depth. My money is on confidence boosting. Light a fire under Henderson and Koujo and see if one really grabs that RT job. We really need one to step up there.

I bet they've figured out how to price to maximize profits.

If Reed and Woodson aren't, then who is?

It was over two seasons in a venue where two teams play. The article said 58 transactions. Pricey, yes. Out of line for what gets spent in a suite? I have no idea. I'm not a big Christy fan, but there really is not much to see here IMO.

Was kinda thinking that he maybe should be in better shape than this, myself. Part of his job is moving 300 pound DTs around, no?

History, cap situation, structure of the contract, etc. It is just not realistic to expect everything fall into place where:- the Bills are comfortable enough with Harvin's performance that they are willing to pay him $9M per season, - Harvin is happy making $9M per year instead of trying to cash in on a big payday, - Harvin stays relatively injury free, - Harvin is a good teammate and maintains a good relationship with the staff (which hasn't happened except for the two months he was with the Jets) and - the Bills prefer to keep him over Dareus or other expensive players. Is there a sliver of a chance that all happens? Sure, but that's about it. Realistically he won't be playing here - at least not under that contract.

I think I've hear the Patriots say that, too. Agreed. Rice's best option is to sign on mid-season somewhere after a team gets desperate due to injuries. Or just sign with Dallas. You know Jerry and the fans don't care.

That was very nicely done, Dibs. I guess the last question is: Is a RB of McCoy's quality, being paid market value, worth the premium paid versus a lesser back making market value? The general public/media perception is that RB isn't a position worth spending a lot of money on, but here we are with a nice, set market value for RBs of McCoy's caliber that says otherwise.

The Bills won't have much carryover from 2015 to 2016. As YOLO noted in the article he linked the Bills will likely head into the season with just under $5M in space, but some of that will be needed for the salaries of additional players who come aboard when an injured player gets put on IR. They may carryover $2-3M. If the league cap is in the $150-153M range (as expected), then the Bills will be tight to it as things stand. They're at about $149.5M committed now, but draftee signings and other roster moves will increase that slightly. Some room is coming, though. Harvin won't be kept, so that will free up $8M in cap space. Changing Clay's 2016 roster bonus to a signing will free up another $7.5M. There will be other moves made that will effect the final numbers for 2016 - cuts, new FAs and a new class of draftees - but re-signing Dareus is certainly manageable.

Presumably that roster bonus will become a signing bonus and get amortized over the last four years of his deal at $2.5M per year, lowering his cap in 2016 by $7.5M to $6M. My point in using his current numbers was only concerning netting out the addition of Rogers and subtraction of Clay and Hughes. They overpaid for him at $7.6M a year in a front loaded deal is what I am saying - and I like Clay as a player. I like that he can cause mismatches, that he can both block and catch, but I don't see him as stellar in any one facet of his game. Split hairs on who makes what in today's NFL, but he's the 4th highest paid TE in the league right now and he is not close to the fourth best tight end. He's a good player being paid like an outstanding one. As for Miami transition tagging him, there is a difference between trying to keep a player by overpaying on a tag for one year and overpaying a guy on a 5 year deal. If Miami thought he was indispensable they would have franchise tagged him.

That is ridiculous. I did not think that was possible in today's NFL.