jahnyc

I think TD's attitude about free agency and activity would be different if the Bills were $10 million under the cap.

Reviewing TD's tenure, I think there has been good (trading Peerless for a first round pick, drafting McGahee, signing Spikes) and bad (not making the playoffs for four years, hiring Williams and trading a first round pick for Bledsoe). I am not suggesting that TD should be fired, but in light of the above, I think the best we can say is that the results thus far have been a mixed bag. Not making the playoffs is the biggest issue with me. I believe that this is one of the most objective standards you can use to judge TD's tenure as gm. There are a few things that have been bothering me during the course of the Boards' discussions about TD: 1. Posters are attacked for perceived anti-TD statements. I don't understand this since I think you can make a case for and against the efforts of TD to date. 2. That TD is not overspending and hurting our cap situation for coming years. In the fifth year of TD's tenure we appear to be right up against the cap. We did not have the ability to re-sign Williams or Jennings or any significant free agents. TD has paid at least market for many players including Spikes, Milloy and Moulds. The contract with M. Williams is a disaster. It is disingenous to assume that somehow TD is not overpaying this year or is being smarter than other gms when the reality is that we don't have the flexibility or ability to sign expensive free agents. 3. Posters assuming the o-line will be fine with the players we have currently and the coaching of McNally. The o-line is a legitimate concern. I believe that we have many strengths, but I am very worried about Teague, M. Williams or Peters at LT. Who will play LG? Why should we expect Peters or Bannon to be starting caliber?

The offseason so far has been somewhat disappointing (few free agent signings, losing Jennings and Williams, etc.) but it is early. There is a lot to like about this team, but the o-line needs to be fixed, particularly with a qb with no starting experience.

I am kind of baffled about our off-season so far, but maybe the Bills think they will get Shelton? There were many good guards available in free agency and some seemed to have signed for somewhat reasonable deals. I am really surprised that we have not signed anyone for the o-line other than Gandy (who is not a starter). During his tenure, TD has been very good at making moves to get the fans excited about the upcoming season. This year it seems that what has transpired has been kind of depressing (i.e., losing Jennings, Williams, not having a first round pick, not trading Henry yet, and cutting Bledsoe (maybe for a few only)).

I hope we will try to re-sign Clements. Will we be cap healthy next year? I am not too confident about that since I thought we were going to be well under the cap this year.

I was kind of expecting the same type of offseason as we had last year, where TD replaced the players waived (R. Brown) or lost to free agency (A. Winfield) with free agent acquisitions (Villarial and Vincent). I understand that there is a long way to go before training camp and the regular season begin, but I am wondering about the lack of moves so far. Some people seem to think it is because TD does not want to overpay. I don't think this is the case. No one wants to overpay, but we have paid market for many of our free agent acquisitions over the years (i.e., Fletcher, Spikes, Villarial, Vincent, Milloy, etc.). I think our lack of activity has more to do with our cap situation. I still find it interesting that TD has talked about upgrading the o-line each of the last two years but has done little to do so. This leads me to believe that we will draft a guard or left tackle with our first (second round) pick and hope that he can step in and help immediately.

Maybe this has to do with signing DeMulling? I hope this is the case.

I am bothered about his compensation as well and I keep posting about it. I know we could free-up some money now by restructuring his contract, but do we really want to? I guess if we could do it in a way that would still allow us to cut him in a year or two without making the cap hit worse, than I would do it. But I don't think this is possible because as a part of a restructuring he would likely get a new cash bonus. I also don't think he is going to take significantly less money per year on average in the new years of an extension even if he gets a cash bonus now. The real question is whether his contract was standard for where and when he was picked (including escalators) or did we screw it up. If this is a standard contract, there is no way I would want to draft in the top ten (or maybe the top 20) in a draft.

I think the o-line disucssions on the board have been really interesting. Here are some additoinal thoughts. Some posters have brought up a very good point: with free agency and the cap, it is almost impossible to build strong, cohesive units on both offense and defense. I agree with that to a point. For this reason, I think in analyzing our o-line situation, you need to consider the following: 1. Are we allocating our money to offense and defense and the various positions appropriately? and 2. Are we getting good value for the money that we are spending on the various positions? Regarding the first, I believe we are spending too much on our safety position with Vincent and Milloy. Milloy has played really well, but most teams do not seem to spend the way we do for these positions. We are also are spending a lot on linebacker, but I think we are getting our money's worth. This merits more discussion and analysis, but I don't think we are overpaying except for one position which leads to the second point. I think we are significantly overpaying for RT (M. Williams). As a comparison, K. McKenzie, the top free agent RT this year, signed a deal averaging $5 million per year. I think our o-line would be stronger if we took the $9 million that we are paying to Williams and allocated it to RT and LT or some other combination of positions. I think M. Williams has improved, but I think we can use the money we are paying him more effectively. Thoughts?

I agree with SoCal. We must do better with the o-line and I am getting tired of musical chairs. 1. We are overpaying for M. Williams. He is not worth $9 million this year and next year. 2. We have too many guys that can play multiple positions but none of them particularly well. Versatility is great, but I would rather have a solid performer who can only play one position. 3. Center, LG and LT all need to be fixed. We can't go into the season with Teague at LT with a very inexperienced QB. This would be a recipe for disaster. I know he has played LT, but that was four years ago and Shanahan wanted to upgrade the position at the time. 4. We have no depth because our late round picks have not been panning out. I give TD credit for his first round picks, but it is kind of surprising that we have missed on so many late round picks (Pucillo, Sobieski, etc.). 5. We can't start the season hoping that Peters and Bannon will be our starters. They will need time and work before they will be ready to play a significant amount of time. 6. McNally is a great coach, but give him talent to work with so that he can help develop an excellent line instead of a line that is patched together with below average talent. Don't put it all on him.

I guess that means that we are looking at a draft choice in 2006 for Henry since his performance in 2005 would determine the round of the draft pick (all assuming Lenny P. is correct).

I am not sure Womack is the guy we need, but I would like us to do something. We need a replacement at LT and upgrades at LG and C. I don't think we will be okay with our current group and I don't want to see Teague or Peters at LT. I also disagree with those posters that think that McNally can mold any group of players into a solid o-line. He need talent, and why not give him players with strong potential so that he can mold them into a great o-line. I also disagree with those who say that TD always has a plan. What was our plan last year at LG? Pucillo? Smith? We were lucky that Tucker came in after a few games and improved the play at that position.

I am not comfortable with where we are, but let's see where we will be at the end of pre-season. I don't think it makes sense to move Teague to LT. He has not played the position in years and he is three years older. He would be only a stop-gap measure, and that does not make sense to me when you have a rookie quarterback. I could see us drafting a LG and/or LT. A drafted LG may be able to step in and start, but I doubt a drafted LT could. Signing Gandy and possibly Womack may help for depth, but not for developing a strong group of starters.

Before I get some nasty posts, I thought that I read that Williams counts $9 million in cap space. this year. I described it in an earlier post as $9 million in base. I assume some of that must be from residual bonus or roster payments.

Are you sure that the salaries of Wire, Williams and Clements are the result of typical rookie contracts. With regard to Williams, I am not aware of many high first round picks making $9 million in base. For Clements, I thought that most first round picks in the last year of the their contract typically don't make big money (because of the large up-front bonus received upon signing). I guess what I am asking, is whether the escalators in the contracts of these players is typical. I don't know the answer, but I was surprised that Wire, a back-up safety, somehow managed to trigger his escalators.

I agree, it would be the right thing to do, but I also don't want the Bills to give him away. I guess it is a non-issue since he probably would not report to the Bills.

1. If we can't get a first day pick, we should keep Henry. I understand that it is the last year of this deal and that he may hold out, but he is reasonably priced and would be an outstanding back-up for Willis next year, particularly since we can't be entirely sure about Willis' durability. 2. If some of these numbers are accurate, maybe we did not have the cap space to sign either Williams or Jennings. That would explain the lack of effort in re-signing them (I still think that TD made a decision to move forward without them a long time ago). 3. I know many of you have praised TD for not overpaying and his overall management of the cap, but I am still a bit mystified about the cap numbers for Williams, Clements, Wire and Moulds. I also think, as noted above, that we did not have the cap room for P. Williams or Jennings and that is at least part of the reason for their departure.

I don't understand why TD's supporters get so defensive about his performance to date. I am not calling for him to be fired, but his tenure has, at best, yielded mixed results. No playoffs and only one winning season (barely).

I think we all need to be objective about TD's tenure as GM, and I don't think it is unerasonable to be critical about some of his draft picks, acquisitions and coaching choices. He has had time, the resources and the control to get this team to the playoffs. To this point, his efforts have not resulted in that goal. Maybe we are on the "upswing," but after four years of not making the playoffs under TD's watch, reflection, analysis and criticism are justified. In this context, a review of TD's efforts can not be interpreted as impatience or ignorance.

I agree with you. I would also add the following three points: 1. TD had an opportunity to build the team from scratch (both in terms of players and coaches). It has been four years and we have not reached the playoffs. This is the bottom line. 2. We have made some good free agent acquisitions, but our talent from recent drafts is still not good enough. Too many marginal selections (Denney, Wire, J. Reed, Bannan etc.). 3. I am worried about some of our current contracts. For example, is the Williams contract standard for a very high first round pick or were these escalators unusual? I also find it odd that Clements, in the last year of his contract, suddenly get bumped up to $6 million per year (what were the benchmarks in his contract, were they unusual?). These contracts are really starting to hurt us.

I am not sure the economics work for a restructuring of MW's contract. I would assume that if he agrees to extend his contract it would not be for less money than he is making now. He is making $9million per year. I doubt he would restructure his contract so that over the next four or five years (or whatever number of years his contract is extended) he makes less than $9 million per year on average. In other words, he is not going to agree to an average salary of $4 or $5 million even if we offer decent bonus money up front. I just don't see that happening.

From Lenny P's Tip Sheet (ESPN) 1. Some interest in T. Henry, but no one has offered a first-day pick. 2. Bills would be interested in Kelly Holcomb if he does not sign with Browns. Am I the only one surprised at how quiet the Bills have been so far?

Interesting that the teams in the AFC East have taken some hits this offseason. The Bills have lost Jennings, Williams and will hopefully trade Henry. The Jets have lost McKenzie, Ferguson and Jordan (interesting, similar position losses to Bills, a RT, a DT and a back-up RB, all solid players). The Dolphins cut some decent players and have little room to sign free agents (plus they were terrible last year and will start Feely this year) The Pats have lost Weiss, Crennel, Patten, possibly T. Brown and Bruski.

But can we afford to pay him $9 million a year going forward? There are many on the board that seem pleased that we are not overpaying for free agents and challenging the worth of players like Williams and Jennings. I don't get that. I think you pay for what you need, even if it may be more than you should be paying. Having said that, I still can't rationalize paying Williams $9 million a year. Do Walter Jones, Ogden or Pace make that much? Is he in their class?

I have not been critical of his play, but I am not sure any player is worth $9 million a year. Even if Mike Williams is considered very solid, I don't think many right tackles are being paid more than $5 million per year. I am sure that he would take an extension/restructuring that would give him bonus cash now, but I doubt he would do so if his comp is significantly lowered over the life of the contract from what he is currently making.