BarleyNY

That looks like a better deal for the Bills than I would have expected if that's the entirety of it. Difficult to think Hughes won't be here for the duration. I thought there were some escalators/bonuses mentioned in the original report of the deal. Any word on those, or was that incorrect?

Would hope the Bills do Fred better than an outright release. Totally understand the issue with his age and position, but last season he certainly showed he has value. I'd be very disappointed if they didn't attempt to retain him at a lower salary. He deserves to retire a Bill.

Looks like he got market value. 5 years, $45M is right there. Nice to know that with all else equal he wanted to stay a Bill. Retaining him is huge.

I like having Shady, but I gotta admit I'm not thrilled with paying any RB what he is making. I hate losing Kiko. Not only was he a quality player who was still on his cheap rookie contract, he brought a nastiness to the defense that I loved. That will be missed.I wouldn't get ahead of myself thinking that Shady's new deal means Hughes is staying. If that was priority #1 then this trade makes little sense as the Bills acquired a much more expensive player than they lost.

Agreed. Some team will make a run at him and I'd love it to be the Bills. They could sure use him.

Good to know they'd never make a mistake. For the record, I don't see them signing Iupati or Franklin. If they do sign one of them, Franklin would be the far better choice.

What, you wouldn't rather have a guard who would work in both cases? I don't know when the Bills are going to find a franchise QB, but I'd hope it would be within the duration of such a contract.

Absolutely correct regarding Franklin. I don't understand why Iupati's name is the one always coming up.

The Saints are $16.4M over the cap right now and are looking at dumping at least one of those guards as well as making other moves to get where they need to be.

The Steelers will not be able to pay him. I see him getting a good payday, but not quite what Hughes gets.

Good. May he never see the light of day again.

True. At least with Locker I could see him turning the corner and being special if he could stay healthy. He's had issues, but he's also looked great at times.

Too late now. Maybe they thought it wasn't worth it for one season or that they wouldn't want to match the deal he'd be offered anyway.

So you'd leave what, $10M or so, on the table to play on a team that just finally broke .500 for the first time in forever and has no franchise QB?

I hope most people around here think the same way when it comes to OGs. I'd rather pay a pass rusher like Hughes a premium than an OG like Iupati. He will be missed. A reuniting with Pettine in Cleveland is a very good possibility. Both need and cap space certainly exist. The other usual suspects like Jax, Oakland, etc. should be in the mix.

Um, no. Not even close. Iupati is the best in free agency this year and he's good, but he's far from the best OG in the league. Excellent run blocker, but average in pass pro. That actually fits well with what the Bills need, but he will be so overpaid due to the lack of talent at the position in free agency the Bills should pass. Also the thought of letting Hughes walk for Iupati is crazy. Good OGs can be found much easier than good pass rushers. The right move is to let some other team give him a stupid contract and find a decent option elsewhere. They might have to draft their OG in the 2nd or 3rd. It's Orlando Franklin and Iupati, then it goes down a big notch. Maybe a depth signing to cover their butts.....

I will wait to see what happens in free agency and the draft before I get concerned. No point in it now before the job is done. Even as it stands there's a lot of talent on this defense so there aren't huge leaps to be made to stay where they were last season, but some moves do need to be made (obviously) for that to happen.

Wow. That is crazy on all levels. Few things:1) The Cowboys could probably give that big Shady-sized contract to Murray and not give up any picks. 2) Even if they did want to trade for Shady, a 1st and 4th is way out of line. A 2nd or 3rd would be appropriate. 3) if McCoy doesn show up, then he can't have his physical which would void the trade.

I'd like to see another QB added, but not Cutler. While Cassel is not the long term answer in Buffalo, he's not the total trainwreck Cutler is.

Getting Hughes was great. Other than that I don't see a single trade that earns Whaley the benefit of doubt. I didn't like the trade up for Watkins (still don't), SJ for a 4th was okay, acquiring Brown for that 4th was a little South of okay, and acquiring a one year rental of Cassel and a 6th for a 5th and 7th was okay at best. I don't know what to think of the Shady/Kiko trade. I'm not sure that Shady will be as good running between the tackles in Buffalo as he was getting into space in Philly. I hate his cap numbers. He doesn't pass pro well either. But if Roman can get the same production out of him as Kelly did,mhe'll be a fan fave. I hate losing Kiko who was on his rookie deal and looked to be a stud, if healthy. I hate that neither seems to want to be here and that McCoy is unhappy with his seemingly generous contract. I don't like this trade yet, but I'll wait and see. I love the way the defense is built (especially the front 7), but the way the offensive line was assembled last season sucked. Ditto the TE spot and, of course, the QB position. I'm not firing Whaley or anything now, but the man has left himself some work to do.

I never said the Bills were in cap trouble, in fact I said the opposite. I never said Philly had to trade McCoy. It sure looks like they're clearing cap room for someone or several someones, though. That would be a consequence of the cap.I was only responding to your assert action that the cap has never been an issue for any team. That is the only thing here that is ridiculous.

Yes. It is an issue for some teams. Teams "find a way around" cap issues in many ways, including not re-signing their free agents, cutting players and trading players. Do you think Detroit wants to part ways with Suh? That's ridiculous.

Would love to have him, but his contract is:2015: $7.5M (+200k work out bonus) 2016: $7.9M (+200k work out bonus) 2017: $8.3M (+200k work out bonus) That probably could only work if they don't re-sign Hughes. But McCoy, Marshall, Watkins and a quality TE would be a fun group to watch though.

Well, THAT'S not true - the part about the cap not being a real issue for anybody. You think Philly trades away McCoy if not for his contract? Look at the incoming glut of FA WRs due to contracts. Watch what happens in NO. The cap is a real problem for many teams out there - mostly ones with major dollars going to a QB. It isn't an issue for the Bills due largely to that reason. If they had $16M tied up in a big time QB we'd be having a whole different conversation about the cap and its impact on the Bills. (Of course we'd be having a lot more fun conversations about the upcoming season too.)

The only cap space concern that exists is that if the Bills had to pay a franchise QB market dollars (non rookie deal) they'd be tight up against the ceiling. With some FA signings and/or re-signing Hughes the Bills would have to make some tough decisions in order to have room for a FQB contract. But that "problem" seems a long way off and I think everyone here would welcome such difficulties. I sure would. Until such time there really isn't much to see here.