GASabresIUFan

Sherfield is a FA. No cut needed.

Morse, White, Neal, and Poyer out. Douglas restructured Haack signed Busy day for Beane and the Bills. I updated the original post to reflect all the moves so far.

8 moves today - Cap savings up to a net of just over $33 million. Moves coming so fast it's hard to keep up. A Josh restructure will put us on the positive side of the ledger, but who is going to play center with Morse and Bates cut or traded? I suspect they'll re-sign Morse once the FA period starts. With Haack's return, how soon until Martin is released.

Cap hit?

Bates out. Edwards returns.

I think you missed the point of my post. Getting under the cap isn’t really the issue. Getting far enough under the cap to sign the draft picks and build roster depth is.

This is all great in theory, but until it’s done, it’s not done. Beane has until 4pm on March 13th to get his top 51 contracts under the 2024 cap. Even if he accomplishes that goal, he still needs to clear another 10-11 million to sign his draft picks and at least 20 mill more to complete his roster unless he chooses to just use draft picks and guys on futures/reserve deals as his depth next season.

The truth of all mock drafts right now is that no one, not even Beane, has any idea what the Bills’ needs are until after free agency begins. Take safety for example. If Beane signs a FA starter and another player like Rapp to a cheap contract, safety may go from a top 100 priority to a 6th rd depth pick up. The edge choice, which started this thread, will depend on what Beane does in free agency as well. We have Rousseau, Miller and Jonathan (who they like), and if he can sign an edge player to split time with Miller, maybe edge becomes less of a priority early in the draft. All this is moot anyway until Beane finds some $65+ million in cap space to even enable him to sign any free agents.

Edge is a huge area of need. The Bills lost Floyd and Epenesa this offseason and we have no idea what we’ll get out of Miller. Rousseau is the only proven (and not over the hill) pass rusher on the roster. Safety and WR are deep and good guys will be available in the 3rd.

The only later QB who interests me is Travis.

No never. He was lousy at Mich and lousy at Tenn. He’ll never be a good pro. Huge arm. Great athlete, but a terrible QB. No to Rattler also. I know most people here don’t watch a ton of college football, but as I live in GA (and go to most UGA home games), I’ve seen Milton and Rattler play many times. They aren’t good and certainly aren’t even NFL backup material

The guy started all 17 this past year and has only missed 4 games in the last three. His grades for the season were good. No reason not to extend him with a non-guaranteed year or two to bring down the cap hit. This is also possible even with an extension.

Now the extensions and restructurings begin in earnest. Look for changes with Allen, Dawkins, Oliver, Knox, Milano, and Douglas among others. Harty and White are still on the chopping block.

No, I know Chicago's only 5th is 143. I was looking for a link to the draft chart. I use a different one and wanted to see how they compare. Thanks

Bates played 35 snaps on offense (3.01%) and only 79 snaps on ST (18.37%). Yes, it's unlikely we'll stay as healthy next season as we did this past season on the OLine, but Bates is a luxury we could no longer afford.

Link?

Bates traded 1.44 saved. Still 37+ million to go to get to cap compliance. Many moves to go and so little time.

Bates traded for a 5th. This makes it much more likely that Morse returns as the starting center. Opens up an opportunity for Anderson or a draft pick as the backup at center. I wanted us to go after Van Pran in the draft. Maybe this opens that possibility as well.

NFL = Not For Long

The Hamlin situation is unique. He is only making $1million (40k dead cap if released). There is no real cap savings if released, as he would be replaced on the 51 man cap roster by someone making just as much. However, releasing him now gives him the opportunity to pursue his career elsewhere before free agency begins. Ultimately it comes down to whether or not Beane and McDermott think that Hamlin can contribute more next season than last and whether they believe a replacement in the draft or from free agency would contribute more. Hamlin’s advantage is that he knows the defense and if cut, Poyer is the only S on the roster. As to Neal and Gilliam, they are primarily special teams stars who no longer see regular snaps on O or D. That makes them ripe for being let go, but maybe more likely a pay cut. The White situation is a mess. He has a bonus coming due soon. He also has now had two major injuries in the last few seasons. I have zero idea what Beane is thinking, but if I had to guess he’ll extend his contract with void years to bring down the cap hit to keep a key person in the organization and allow the White to rehab properly. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part. I’d release Harty, but with Hines now gone, the odds of Harty returning as a depth WR and kick returner just went up. PS thanks for the compliment. I am a visual learner and I often create lists like this because it helps me understand where all the puzzle pieces go, especially when you looking at a list on some websites that list some 90 names associated with the team.

Would not be a huge surprise. Cover1 had him on their list as a possible move before the off-season started. Not sure how much savings there will be. My guess is about 3.5 .

What Spotrac does is calculate the cap based on the top 51 contracts including futures contracts. Thus a move like releasing Hines only saves 3.66 because someone on a futures deal takes his roster spot. I'm not sure if this is the proper way or not to view the cap, but it does make sense.

That's the absolute minimum. He needs to create another 10+ to be able to sign his draft picks and he'll need at least another 20+ to complete the roster with FAs. As I noted above 67.5 is still to go. Josh's 24, will leave 43.5 to go.

Hines to be released. Could he return on a futures deal to camp for a tryout if healthy?

Edit by BuffaloBill (moderator): I thought I would create one thread and do the following: Merge the current cap projection threads Provide a daily update for 2024 in the first post from sportrac and over the cap as being primary sources While not a reliable # yet, update daily, in the first post, the 2025 projections from the same sources The remainder of the thread will contain “normal” chatter on the topic. 2024 projections 4/03/2024 - 3pm Sportrac: $4,244,255 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Original Thread Start by GASabresIUFan : BIlls' Offseason transactions: 1. McGovern's contract restructured. Cap Savings $3.74 Million 2. Bills release RB Hines. Cap Savings $4.66 million 3. Bates traded to Chicago for a 5th. Cap Savings $1.44 Million. 4. Poyer Released - cap savings $5.47 million 5. Neal Released - cap savings $2.88 million 6. Edwards re-signs -2 years $6 million. Cap Hit 2.31 (spotrac) 7. Douglas contract restructure - cap savings $5.5 million 8. Morse released - cap savings $8.47 million 9. Harty released - cap savings $4.195 10. White released (June 1) - cap savings $10 million 11. Matt Haack signed - cap cost 985K 12. Von Miller restructured - cap savings $8.855 million 13. Rapp re-signed - 3 years for 14.5 million - cap hit 2.842 million 14. Trubisky signed -2 years for $5.25 - cap hit 2.0 million 15. Morris re-signed - 1 year 985K - cap hit 985K 16. Knox pay cut & restructure - cap savings $6.4 million. 17. Dawkins extended - 3 years 60.5 million - cap savings $5.1 Million (updated 3/15) 18. Cam Lewis re-signs - 2 years 4 million - cap charge $1,481,500 19. Epenesa re-signs - 2 years $12 million +incentives - cap charge 3.94 20. Allen restructure - 16.7 million in cap savings $16.7 million 21. DaQuan Jones re-signs - 2 years 16 million - cap charge $4.5 million 22. Nick Marrow LB signs - 1 year $ 1.5 million - cap $1.5 million. 23. Mack Hollins WR signs - 1 year 2.6 million - cap hit $2.48 million. 24. Ty Johnson re-signs - 1 year 1.292 - cap hit 1.152 million. 25. Curtis Samuel signs - 3 yrs 24 million+, cap hit $3.405 26. Taron Johnson extended - 3 yrs 31 million. Cap saving $3.968 27. Casey Toohill DE/Edge - signed 1 year 1.125 - cap hit 1.015 million 28. Mike Edwards S - 1yr deal $2.8. milliom - cap hit $2.8 million 29. Will Clapp OG/C - 1 year deal $1,292,500 - cap hit $1.1525 30. Austin Johnson DL - 1 year deal - $3.5 million - cap hit $2.277 w 2 void years. 31. DeShawn Williams DT - 1 year deal - $1.155 and Cap hit - $1.015 32. Stefon Diggs (& 2 picks) traded for a 2nd rd pick in 2025 -Dead Cap Hit $31,096,000 33. La'al Collins OL signed - Contract 1yr up to $6.25 - Cap hit TBD Spotrac has us with approx 4,244,255 of cap space. Collins' new deal not account for yet! Player movement & contract change summary: New Players (10) - Trubisky, Marrow, Hillins, Samuel, Toohill, M Edwards, Clapp, A Johnson, De Williams & Collins Returnees (8) - D Edwards, Haack, Rapp, Morris, Lewis, Epenesa, Jones, & Ty Johnson Extensions (2) - Dawkins & Ta Johnson Restructures (5) - McGovern, Douglas, Miller, Knox, & Allen Releases/Trades (8) - Diggs (HOU), Bates (CHI), White (LAR), Poyer (MIA), Morse (JAC), Neal (MIA), Harty & Hines (CLE) Other roster changes from 2023: UFAs signed elsewhere (8): Davis (Jac), Floyd (SF), D Jackson (CAR), Settle (HOU), Dodson (SEA), Ford (LAC), Sherfield (MIN), and K Allen (PIT) UFAs unsigned (7): Hyde, Phillips, Matakevich, Harris (retired), Joseph, Murray & Lawson Current depth chart (Starters in Bold) Specialists - Bass (PK), Haack (P) & Ferguson (LS) - I think Haack beats out Martin Offense QB - Allen & Trubisky RB - Cook, Ty Johnson, DRAFT PICK, Gilliam WR -Shakir, Samuel, DRAFT PICK, Hollins, Shorter & possible 2nd draft pick TE - Kincaid, Knox & Morris OL - Brown, Dawkins, D. Edwards, McGovern, Torrence, Van Demark, Clapp, Anderson, Collins & DRAFT PICK Defense DL - Rousseau, Oliver, Jones, Miller, Epenesa, DS Williams, Jonathan, Toohill, A. Johnson & DRAFT PICK LB - Milano, Benard, Do Williams, Spector, & Morrow CB - Ta Johnson, Benford, Douglas, Elam, Lewis (S) & DRAFT PICK S - M. Edwards, Rapp, Hamlin & DRAFT PICK