jahnyc

I think you missed my point about Gilmore, Glenn and Taylor. It was not about not having enough cap space to sign all of them. I get it that we have enough cap space to sign all of them, but that assumes that they will want to re-sign with the Bills, and there can be no assurance that this will be the case with one or all three, since each likely will be able to get the same money or more elsewhere. Three potential free agents at the end of next season, but we only can tag one of them.

A few thoughts below: 1. Is it now critical that we sign one or both of Gilmore and Glenn before the end of the 2016 season (preferably both before the season begins to get some cap flexibility before the season begins)? The Bills did not use picks at the top of the draft to address these positions and there do not seem to be any replacements for Gilmore and Glenn currently on the roster. If we do not re-sign Gilmore and/or Glenn, we will go into next offseason with Gilmore, Glenn and Taylor as free agents and the ability to use only one franchise tag, which could mean, in a worst case scenario, losing two out of the tree to free agency without adequate replacements on the roster. 2. I liked the first two pick in our draft. Both fill significant holes. Hard to assess the rest of the picks, but the results of this draft seem to indirectly suggest that the Bills will at least try to re-sign Taylor since Jones is a project and Manuel is not a starting caliber QB. 3. The Bills had a surprising number of holes going into this draft. You can argue that DE, WR, LB, RT and possibly RG needed a new starter or an upgrade. Being up against the cap has not allowed the Bills to fill some of these holes with starting caliber players. 4. At RG, Miller really needs to step it up. Mills and Henderson at RT do not inspire confidence. Unfortunate that we could not address the right side of the o-line in free agency or the draft in any meaningful way. 5. I like the drafting of Williams (Arkansas) at RB. With the injuries (concussions) that K. Williams had last year, I thought it was smart to draft a RB, particularly a player who was undervalued because of an injury during his senior year. 6. I like Ragland and think he will be an immediate and strong starter. Not sure about Lawson's ability to be an impact starter in his first year. Both should be strong additions over the long-term, but is it unfair and/or unrealistic to think that they will be better in their first year than the guys they are replacing (Bradham and M. Williams)? 7. Still seems kind of odd to me that going into last season, the Bills had a very strong defense that Rex was going to take to the next level. Fast forward to this season, and we need to spend out top picks in the draft to improve a poorly rated defense. 8. A bit worried about our WRs after Watkins. I do not think that Woods is an adequate #2 or slot receiver and we cannot count on Goodwin or the street free agents that we signed to be an upgrade. Our draft pick Listenbee is raw and it probably unrealistic to assume that he will make a significant contribution in his first year.

I think Lynch will go much earlier than most people here expect. Rare size and physical ability. Who knows about the rest. I don't think the Bills will want to trade the necessary assets to move up and take him if that is what it would take to get him.

Just wondering, but why do some posters say that Whaley has assembled a fine staff? I confess to know very little about the senior football people and scouts that Whaley has hired.

If the Bills would really do this (which I doubt), one potential positive would be having a low cost starting QB for at least some period of time (assuming that the QB drafted was ready to play in his first or second year as a Bill).

If the Bills do not think that Taylor is the guy or that they will not be able to re-sign him after this season, then I am fine with taking a QB (Lynch) if he is there at 19. Would not be in favor of moving up to get him.

The reality is that the Bills cannot pay him now, even if they wanted to. I am not sure whether the Bills are hedging a bit in their public statements about TT in part because of this, or because they are not sure he really is the guy. I guess we will find out soon enough if the Bills take a QB in the first round of the draft. The agent took an unnecessary shot with the lack of discipline comment, and it was clearly directed at management and the coaches. Who knows, he may be trying to precipitate a blow-up to get TT paid now, possibly by another team after a trade (I am sure that TT would find Denver to be an attractive landing spot). I do not see this happening because TT is under contract and the Bills have the leverage, but if the agent pushes TT to hold out, things would get interesting.

A bit early to have any expectations about next season, but our schedule does seem tougher than last year (at least as of now).

Yes, a bit concerning, mainly because we are up against the cap, and we cannot count on being able to sign many free agents to replace the players that we have lost. The draft will not be able to fill all holes.

Yes, depth will be a huge concern. If we have injuries, we will be screwed (even more so than in prior years).

We are a mediocre team losing talent and we will not be able to fill all of the holes through the draft. Sure, some of these players were back-ups, but what concerns me is whether we will be able to sign replacement players if we have injuries during training camp and once the season starts. We are really tight against the cap now. Any improvement for this season will need to come from more familiarity with the coaching staff's offensive and defensive systems, better coaching and growth from players like Taylor, Wakins etc.

Who knows what the Bills really think of Hogan, but I would not read too much into the low tender by the Bills since they are up against the cap and were limited in what they could do at that time. Interesting that a lot of the players released or not tendered have found homes quickly in free agency (Bradham, Brooks, Williams, Hogan (yes, I know he was tendered), McKelvin and Charles).

Considering how important Incognito was for the running game this past season, I really think that he is a must sign. I don't think we will be able to find a replacement that will be able to play at his level, particularly with our salary cap constraints.

Well, I am not at all comfortable with where we are with the o-line, particularly if RI does not re-sign with the Bills. Miller was below average last year and Henderson has health issues (and was not particularly effective when he was healthy). In addition, we now have zero depth on the o-line. This will be one example of where our cap situation will hurt us. I also would not count on getting strong first year starters out of this year's draft. It may happen, but who knows..

We really need to re-sign Ritchie. He played at a very high level last year, and the analytics prove it with the success of the running game behind him. The right side of the o-line is a potential mess and there is no guard currently on the roster who can step in for Ritchie. It would be nearly impossible to find a quality guard to replace him, particularly since we are up against the cap and have not had success with finding quality guards in the draft or in free agency before Ritchie.

It matters what other teams are willing to pay him, not what the Bills want him to take. He had a great year last year, but age and past history are negatives. Unfortunately, many teams have a lot of cap space, so free agent deals this year may show significant dollar increases from what was market even last year.

I don't buy the argument that we should not worry about the cap because we always be able to create cap flexibility. We are fortunate to have owners that are willing to spend, but it feels like we are trying to prop up a slightly above average team. Sometimes there is not much of a choice to overspend (i.e., Glenn) to keep a player, particularly when there is no replacement on the roster (combined in our case with the uncertainty at right tackle), but there is no doubt we are creating some long term issues since other teams will be able to out spend us for players and the cap will not go up enough each year to give us the room that we will need. We are spending as if we are on the cusp of making the Superbowl. I do not see it. Rather, I see a team that potentially can improve from its record last year, but still will not be competitive with the top teams in the NFL and will face a more difficult schedule than last year.

On the cap stuff, I am not really sure Whaley is entirely to blame, assuming that one thinks that our cap situation is a problem. Ryan clearly had a plan and wanted to target certain players after he became our new head coach, including Harvin, Clay and Taylor. Who knows if Whaley would have pursued any of these players if someone other than Ryan had been selected to be our head coach. Not sure about McCoy, that seemed like it was a group decision. It really comes down to how much power Whaley has as our GM. Is the team's decision making a collective kind of thing or all in his control? Kind of wonder about the draft as well. Did Ryan push for Darby or was it all Whaley and his staff? I have no idea how things work with free agency and drafting decisions with the front office/coaching staff.

I think others have done a better job than I will do here in a very summary fashion, but the McCoy extension and signing Harvin were poor decisions. I like Clay, but we overpaid and his contract will be a problem in the future as restructured if he continues to have issues with his knees. In terms of adverse impacts, I would suggest that having no flexibility to sign free agents is a significant negative impact, particularly since we have a number of holes that need to be addressed. Moreover, we may not even have the ability to re-sign our own free agents (Glenn and Incognito) if the many teams with significant salary cap room decide to overpay for our free agents.

Apologies if this already has been posted, but overthecap.com has an offseason preview of the Bills which includes the following quote that sums up our current situation perfectly: "the Bills are an example of a mediocre team in a poor cap situation encountering a lack of flexibility as a result of a failed attempt to transition from mediocre to something more than that." I continue to believe that our front office is incompetent. Our front office has made too many poor decisions that will begin to hurt us starting with this offseason. Bottom line is that we are not good enough to be in this poor of a situation, particularly since our cap constraints are not partially the result of paying a franchise QB.

If we are over the cap this year, how do things look for 2017? We probably will want to sign Taylor and Gilmore, both of whom will be free agents, which will not be cheap.

This will play out over an extended period of time. If charged with a felony and convicted, he will be cut by the Bills. That is the only thing I believe with some certainty. At this point, we do not even know whether he will be charged, and if charged, with what (felony vs. misdemeanor). McCoy has the funds to mount a vigorous defense and to make restitution to the victims. I do not think a felony conviction will be easy here, but we will see.

I understand that our cap situation is "manageable," but only to possibly retain some of our free agents. Our ability to sign free agents from other teams will be very limited. It is unfortunate that we are in this situation, particularly since we are not paying typical starting QB compensation. I guess management thought that the Bills were going to make a serious run this past season and loaded up. Building through the draft is still the way to go.

Too early to jump to any conclusions, but agree that even before this, McCoy is not showing himself to be the most likable/mature guy on the team.

I think the play action and run first focus of the offense is what allowed TT to have success this year. Is TT a pure pocket passer? Probably not now, and he may never be. The running game set up the passing game, which makes sense when you have a head coach that wants a strong running game and a quarterback who is a first time starter in the league. I thought Roman had a good first year with the Bills as the OC. Kapernick fell apart last year, and I have to believe some of that was SF missing Roman as OC. We will see if TT makes progress next season. If he does, maybe the offense will open up a bit. I think it is entirely up to TT and the confidence the coaches have in him to process and execute a more sophisticated passing attack.