Mikie2times

If your point is a player would rather get guaranteed money then non guaranteed money your right. If your point is we can’t be competitive under this structure your wrong. The front loaded structure we can layout before a player in base salary can actually be more lucrative an offer then a team that invests more with guaranteed money. Some players will take to it and others won’t but we will still make some very competitive offers. Take two 25 million dollar 5 year deals. A.The first team signs a guy to 10 million dollar bonus and amortizes it over the 5 years. The cost in cap terms would be 2 million per year for the bonus. His base salary is made up of the remaining 15 million on the deal and will be back loaded. It would probably be something like 8% in year 1, 12% in year 2, 20% in year 3, 25% in year 4, and 35% in year 5. The total value of the contract adding in the bonus would be. Year 1- 3.2 Mil Value after first year 11.2 Million Year 2 -3.8 Mil Value after second year 13 Million Year 3 –5.0 Mil Value after third year 16 Million Year 4- 5.75 Mil Value after fourth year 19.75 Million Year 5- 7.25 Mil Value after fifth year 25 Million B.The second team signs a guy to a 2 million dollar bonus and amortizes it over the 5 years. The cost in cap terms would be 400,000 per year for the bonus. His base salary is made up of the remaining 23 million on the deal and will be front loaded. It would probably be something like 25% in year 1, 20% in year 2, 20% in year 3, 20% in year 4 and 15% in year 5. The total value of the contract adding in the bonus would be. Year 1- 6.15 Million Value after First year 7.75 Million Year 2- 5.0 Million Value after Second year 12.35 Million Year 3- 5.0 Million Value after Third year 16.95 Million Year 4- 5.0 Million Value after Fourth year 21.55 Million Year 5- 3.85 Million Value after Fifth year 25 Million By year 3 the second deal is already more lucrative then the first deal. It’s damn near the same after the 2nd year. It’s important that we have a GM people trust because trust is what we will need to convey to players without a lot of guaranteed money. Again all Marv is saying is show me you can play and I’ll pay you well. Some guys will understand that, some won’t but lets not get over dramatic about the situation.

I don't think they do but it's almost irrelevant anyway. If they had a policy that truly covered them from risk the premiums would be just as big a burden as the dead cap would be. It's not uncommon for 10-30% of the annual cap to be made up of dead cap space. The average is around 12% so dead cap will make up over 10 million for the average team this year. Some will pay upwards of 30 million in dead cap. This number doesn't even factor in any base salary that teams pay because they usually keep an injured or uninspired player a few more years if a big bonus is invested.

Talk about a classic example of point 1, look at LeCharles Bentley. 12.5 million dollar signing bonus, all guaranteed. His annual salary being eaten because the investment is to large to just let him walk. When it's all said and done Bentley could cost the Browns 20 million or more for a couple weeks of football.

Your response is one more then I usually get.

1. Show me and I'll pay you Teams incur more financial risk by increasing bonus money. The hits teams take on guaranteed money or dead cap is what Buffalo is trying to remove with this strategy. We will offer very respectable to high end contracts without much guaranteed. The Bills are asking a player to keep performing, and if you do we will compensate you well. They might even jack up the player’s first year salary to show the commitment a signing bonus does. 2. Build threw the draft We won't bring in many guys demanding a ton of up front money so that shifts emphasis to building threw the draft. Isn't the draft how you build championships anyway? 3. Keep your own guys We will look to the draft but we will also look to renegotiate as early as possible. It's a method Buffalo has struggled with before but has shown some progress in recently. We will only get better at it as our emphasis shifts away from other FA's to our own. 4. FA Bust Hand a guy in his mid to late 20's over ten million dollars and see if he's plays as hard for you the following season. These guys are human, this is the payday they've waited for and the expectation of the next one is not a priority. 5. Character Good players who will play for us without demanding a huge bonus are guys who will have a high degree of character. It shows the player is willing to be compensated for actual performance and doesn't have the sense of entitlement that many players do.

As I understand it this is what Marv was saying/I'm thinking Bonus money is ultimately the biggest factor in signing a player. It is the only thing in the contract that is guaranteed to the player. The league allows teams to spread out bonus money over the life of the contract. What Marv is saying is the Bills will no longer spread out the bonus money over the life of the contract. Instead they will apply all of the bonus money dished out that year to fit under the current seasons cap. So essentially if we bring in a big name guy or two our massive cap room will shrink to just about nothing. Other teams are dishing out bonus money and spreading it threw the life of the contract while knowing that the future cap will only increase. To them a 20+ million dollar bonus on a 7 year deal would only count about 2.86 million against the cap for that season. For us it will cost 20 million toward the cap. Edit- One more point I wanted to make. While this sounds like we can't be competitive this approach will significantly lower our player liability costs. Bonus money is guaranteed, so teams like the Redskins have a much stronger attachment to a FA then a team operating under our new structure. For the Redskins the money has already been invested, to us we can simply part ways without the massive money up front clouding the decision making.

I must admit it's a topic I nearly posted about last week. I decided against it because I felt people would find it distasteful. Ralph and Marv are two of the most influential men in Bills history, and to talk about their demise before it happens is in bad taste. I just wanted to point out that this is something some of us are concerned about. If those people are anything like me they have the utmost respect for these men but it doesn’t clear the worry. I hope because of that we can possibly discuss it. For those that still find it disrespectful my apologies. My two questions would be……….. -If Ralph passes will he leave a statement behind with his intentions for our franchise, or will it be completely up to who he wills the Bills to? -If Marv passes do we already have his successor in house, and if not how hard will it be to find a GM with our Cap limitations?

Sounds like an Ohio driver.

Did he have his cowboy collar on underneath is T-Shirt?

Let me know when you find out the criteria. I hope after 17 years I would become a "worthy" Bills fan. Apparently after 28 years you become an entitled one.

Steinbach or Dielman would be my number one priority for outside FAs

Just learned one other thing I hate about Ohio women. Big Hands

Maybe it's just my area. I just got back from Cleveland a few days ago and they seemed better off. The spots I've lived at in Michigan have had some incredible looking women, but somethings truly wrong in Toledo.

Looking at this team last year and the massive amount of young starters you would think we would be heading toward a playoff run. Many started to think this until they saw we most likely lose Nate and London. I don't disagree that these would be big losses, but I still think we have enough factors going for us to be considered a legitimate playoff contender. What eventually propelled the Colts to the Super Bowl was not flawless play by Peyton. The difference for them was an unbelievable defensive transformation from the regular season to the playoffs. The Colts didn't suddenly morph into a great defensive team, and Bob Sanders didn't turn them from horrible to phenomenal. The reason was they ran at least double the amount of plays the other offense ran. This allowed the speed based cover 2 to play faster then they ever have for Tony Dungy. I point this out because we will most likely lose two key defenders, but our offense will return just about every starter including a young progressing QB. If DJ stays true to his words we also figure to upgrade the offensive line. If the offense controls the ball more it allows us to play much faster then we played last season. It will also allow us to get more penetration in the backfield. Remember the cover 2 is not designed to limit teams from gaining 100 yards, it's designed to force penetration and create a loss on one of the running downs in a series. By doing this you effectively keep the team from running again because they need to make up the additional yardage threw the air (the cover 2's strength). Other reasons include the youth we have on defense, McCargo/Yobouty's return, and system continuity. We started more rookies then any team in football last year and the progression they should make will help counteract the potential losses. 1st year starters generally don't do well but ours did, and many could elevate their play next season far past what we ever expected. We then have two high draft choices returning at positions many feel are critical needs. We have no idea what these guys may bring to the table, and if it's anything positive it will upgrade this team tremendously. Finally another year in these systems especially with the youth involved should also improve our overall play. The bottom line is if your cups half empty you’ll only see the negative. Despite any losses we might have this team still has a ton going for them in a positive direction. We really need to let the wounds heal and start believing again.

If you never want to cheat on your spouse move to Ohio. Your choices range from morbidly obese to beaten with the ugly stick. About one in three will give you the best of both worlds.

If the 49ers hired Singletary as DC it would be a demotion. He's assistant HC right now.

For one you bring in some quality G's. Past that I see Willis leaving after 2006 as a sure thing. He's a good RB but he's just not the perfect fit for us at RB. If he has a great year Marv won't over pay for him, and if he doesn't I think we look in a different direction anyway. In the meantime I would look to a moderate costing FA, AND a 2nd or 3rd rounder. I'm trying to fill a void at CB for at least 3 years at the expense of having a void created at RB for 1 year. Since that void is probably going to happen after this season anyway I feel it’s worth it.

Now that I factor age a little more I'll take off the 2nd round pick. Straight up I'm still doing it though.

When next year roles round everybody will cry when Willis walks and we get nothing. He's a good back but he's not a good fit for this team. We might suffer a bit with his replacement but that’s an issue only one year away anyway. Also just because both teams say they play the cover 2 and the media has said the cover 2 is all zone it doesn't mean either team plays all zone. It also doesn't mean both teams play the cover 2 the same way. In fact it wasn't that way at all last year as Nate locked up Man on the opposing teams best WR more times then not. It's also not going to be that way next year if Jauron is true to his comments and we get bigger on the DL. To fill Nates shoes you need a damn good player, and Nates role last year is exactly the type of role Bly is looking for. Throw in the previous connection with Jauron and I don't see how this is that crazy in the scheme of hypothetical player for player trades.

To me coaching is about one thing more then anything else, motivating each player to do the very best they can. To do that you must be an exceptional leader. Singletary is just that, and he's also smart, motivated, and moral. He will instantly gain the complete respect of these young and sometimes immature players. I feel he’s by far the best HC prospect available, and will eventually take SD to a Super Bowl if given the chance.

Mike Singletary

Jesus that came out of nowhere. I do agree with him though.

One more point is the Jauron connection to the Lions. Jauron coached Bly for a couple seasons and we haven't heard many players have bad things to say about DJ. Maybe he's a favorite of Bly's or visa versa.

I did mention Detroit does some cover 2; so like I said if he doesn't want to is a part of the cover 2 so be it. That said we didn't play nearly enough zones in our coverage schemes last year to be considered a traditional cover 2 team. McGee was god awful playing zone last year, and the coaches realized early in the year with a lockdown corner in Clements we would be better off playing man. I'm not counting on a huge improvement in zone coverage from McGee so a move like this would allow us to play the same looks. Age is a concern but that might also lower his trade demands. I'm not hell bent on trading Willis but this would be one of the few situations that would provide both teams with a quality player in a need area. If by some chance we could do a straight up trade player for player I would be all over it. It's all highly unlikely but we can only talk about the Toronto Bills so much.