BuffaloRebound

I don't know much about the Cover-2 defense and what type of DT's it requires, but to a non-expert like me, it would seem that this team needs a big dude to take up blockers and get a push. So maybe this is a blessing and Branch falls to us.

Link from Chris Brown blog. http://www.buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?blogger_id=1

If Fletcher is retained, I'd bet that Spikes is let go. I don't see both of them being back. Ellison and Crowell will be starting, so you can't pay both Spikes and Fletcher the money it will take to keep them.

If Ralph did that, then I would have less a problem with the 'Cash to Cap' concept. But he never would because we would be so far under the cap the next year that Ralph would have to pay more in cash to get to the cap. Under his 'Cash to Cap', he gets the benefit of not amortizing for cash purposes in the current year, then amortizing for cash purposes the next year.

This strategy can work if Losman ends up being a Pro Bowl level QB. It's not that the Bills are low-balling players, it's that they aren't targeting the upper-echelon guys. Guys like Royal, Triplett, and Peerless probably got more money from the Bills than they would have gotten elsewhere. The strategy is to basically draft your stars (and hold on to the ones that play key positions) and use free agency to replace lost free agents and add solid players. It places a huge priority on drafting well.

I think you pretty much nailed it. Kelsay (if his price tag doesn't escalate), a starting caliber CB to replace Clements, a starting caliber OG, a backup LB, perhaps another depth OG (if Gandy isn't retained) or depth DT in Free Agency. LB, DT, and RB would be my guess as the Day 1 picks. If Spikes is cut, then perhaps a starting caliber LB is targeted in Free Agency as well. But I don't see the Bills getting any huge names in free agency.

In an effort to make things clearer, here was my question to Chris Brown: "In response to your cash to cap explanation, I believe you left out the other side of the amortized bonuses that are hitting the cap in 2007, which I would guess amount to $20m or so. If the Bills are truly going to be using a cash to cap philosophy, that would add $20m to the $30m figure under the cap. If the Bills are truly committed to paying $105m or so in cash to players in 2007, they will have to spend $50m more. Also, is the cap floor (I believe 85.2% in 2007) at all a concern to the Bills front office?" Here's his response: "No the Bills have already factored those other amortized bonuses from previous years, and I didn't want to convolute the explanation. It's difficult enough as it is. Talking to Jim Overdorf, they are not concerned about meeting the minimum requirement for NFL teams to spend. And no they don't have to spend $50 million more. They are spending $30M at most this year and that's it. The best way to look at this is ignore the salary cap rules and amortized bonuses and everything and just know that when the Bills reach $30 million in base salary for 2007 and bonuses they will be done signing free agents. Hope that helps."

This may all be true but it is still a weak excuse for not spending on free agency and letting our best players walk. Ralph most likely will make anywhere from $40-60m this year, and it is tough to swallow seeing Clements walk. For every dollar in unshared revenue made by a team like the Skins, the salary cap goes up $.02 for the Bills. It is a weak excuse for not signing players. As much as Snyder is villified, the guy paid $800m for that team, so it hard to get mad if he makes more money. Yes, unshared revenues should not be included in the salary cap calculation, but it is a poor reason for crying poor and not spending on players.

I would bet that Ralph/Bills grosses around $170m ($125m from TV contract and shared revenues and another $35-40m from tickets, suites, concessions and parking). Coaches/front office/scouting and other expenses can't be more than $15m. That leaves about $155m cash to spend on players. Even if the player cash outlay is $109m this year (which many people doubt), that means Ralph pockets $45m. If his starting point for 'Cash to Cap' includes amortized bonuses, then we are looking at Ralph making $65m. I really don't think there will be enough quality free agents to throw a lot of money at. The top tier guys are going to command unheard-of money and the Bills are either going to overpay or end up not being able to even spend to the cap. Unless Clements is determined to leave, it makes no sense to let him go because there won't be anyone worth spending big money on and he is one of the few worth it.

Marv wasn't exactly tight-lipped about the Bills off-season plans. From the press conference, one could reasonably gather a day 1 pick on a RB, a second day pick on a QB, 1 or 2 OL FA pickups, maybe a late round pick on a WR or TE (he sounded happy with our TE's and WR's), a day 1 pick at LB, and a FA pickup at CB if Nate is not retained (it sounds like the Bills will try to keep him though). The only position Marv didn't elaborate on was defensive line.

It's the starting point that matters. Do we start at $54m or $74m?

If that's what Marv meant, then just move the team already. So we are not going to amortize bonuses going forward for purposes of how much cash we spend, but when it comes to how much cash we spend, we will count the amortized bonuses to get to $109m? What a joke, if true.

If 'Cash to the Cap' means truly spending $109m in cash on player salaries and bonuses in 2007, then I am happy because that means the Bills will be spending more than $50m on new players/extensions. If 'Cash to the Cap' means cash outlays from the current cap of $74m to $109m, then I think it is just a fancy-sounding way of going cheap.

What a load of crap. If they don't want to count amortiozed bonuses, then you need to add $20m to the estimated $30m under the cap as the team will only be spending $50m in cash to players in 2007 so far. That means the Bills have $50m to spend on signing bonuses and salaries of free agents. If they are going to throw terms around like 'cash to cap', use it consistently and don't insult our intelligence.

I don't think it makes all that much sense to draft a CB either. If/when Nate walks, at minimum I see a mid level CB signed and then perhaps a starting caliber OG. Re-sign Kelsay and Gandy if he comes cheap. Then go DT and LB in the first 2 rounds.

Why would we not tender him the 1st round amount? It can't be more than a couple hundred thousand dollar difference and Marv will probably have to do things like that just to get to the cap floor.

Unless the team has already given up on Youboty, I don't see how drafting a 1st day CB makes sense. You can't play Youboty and another rookie CB together very much or they will get burned. If Clements is gone, then it would make sense to sign a mid-level free agent CB who can man the position until Youboty is ready to start.

Either Beekman is an absolute stud or Willis is horrible at the point of attack, because Beekman made him look like a 170 lb CB on that block that sprung the touchdown.

Whether it is through the draft or free agency, this team needs to get bigger up the middle (MLB and DT's). The only guy who seems to fit that mold and would be worthy of a #12 pick is Branch, but he looks to be gone by then.

Why are people conceding that Clements is gone then? It seems like Ralph is gonna have to spend like Snyder just to get to 85% of the cap. Even if he front-loads all the contracts for cap purposes, he'll just have the same problem the following year.

Salary cap for 2007 is $109m. Bills are at approximately $70m. NFL rules mandate each team use at least 85.2% of the 2007 salary cap. That means the Bills have to spend at least $23m this offseason in salary cap. The bills rookie cap will not be much more than $5m. That leaves $18m on free agents towards the salary cap. I am just curious if this has been discussed, but Ralph is gonna have to spend that money on someone.

He may be the only one who thinks that way. This will probably be the most anticipated and watched conference championship game ever.

He was good at picking up Shaq's dry-cleaning and in turn being able to air Shaq's exclusive interviews. Poor and deaf man's Ahmad Rashad.

Stop crying like a little baby, LT. I don't like the Pats but am glad they won. Roid-man Merriman and arrogant, obnoxious Rivers really get on my nerves. Now it seems like all the 'best RB ever' talk has gone to Tomlinson's head.

I think it is a good decision. He doesn't need any more exposure, and his limitations will still be there next year. Why put another year of wear-and-tear on your body and risk injury or a down year with a new Qb at the helm?