Rockinon

Jets will obviously pick the guy Buffalo wants in the draft one spot ahead of us.

Yes they have. Clay was restructured.

I agree that KW could be gone but only because this draft is so deep at DT. As far as him not fitting in this defense is ridiculous though. Kyle has consistently performed well when healthy no matter what scheme this team has run through the years. The man is a great football player. He is just getting older. That is something to consider. I would not be surprised if the Bills pick up a DT round one to replace him. And yea, the money saved by releasing him could go toward other areas of need.

Let's hope the deal gets done before that date. True. But the tag would mean the his entire pay this year comes out of the cap. This year is about trying to stay under the cap. Can't do that without offering guaranteed money up front in the form of a signing bonus.

Best case scenario for the team is to sign him long term. Get that done and his signing bonus will not count against the cap this year. It would be huge. Problem is, LTs don't grow on trees and he is due a big pay day. Guys like that generally test FA. This is exactly why the Bills would prefer to get him signed long term. The cap savings to sign other players like Icognito.

Unformed.....like a lump of clay?

I think resigning Gilmore will be next. He would get a fat signing bonus but it would still mean saving cap money this year. Plus, we would lock him up for the future. Lot of ways to increase cap money this year. The Bills have a good team with a lot of good players. Restructured contracts will be the name of the game this year.

With Charles Clay's restructure we are in a bit better shape. A new deal for Gilmore could be coming that would also save money this year on the cap. I wonder what else the brass is considering for this year. Mario is likely history but there could possibly be some other moves. It really is amazing how just restructuring contracts frees up cap money. Thing is, down the road, we could be in even worse shape than this year because these restructures are generally offering big bonuses up front that don't count against the cap this year but they are also pushing back bigger cap payouts in later years. Wonder how this is going to play out?

We all ready have a talented, young, one cut and go RB.

Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd are on the radar. It's not looking good for keeping Mario. The plot thickens.

Not sure about this. I haven't heard the coach say one ill thing about Mario. We never saw him benched for any reason. Tape doesn't tell you what his assignment is. The tape would be helpful if we knew his assignment but I've been watching football for 40yrs and still can't say for certain what the tape is telling me.

I don't think I can really read into it like that. Honestly, what Mario says or Whaley for that matter can be read in different ways. I do agree that the chances of sticking with the team are slim to none. But, that doesn't mean that the brass are not still trying to find a way to keep him. I also don't really know how much we can rely on reports about a rift between the coaches and members of the Dline. There is likely no doubt that there are differences of opinion. But the media has a way of taking little tidbits like this and blowing it way out of proportion. Bottom line is Mario is expensive to keep but what we don't really have a clue about is how the brass is going to handle it. There has been a bit of a circus around the Mario "situation" and just because Ryan and Whaley sound like keeping him could be cost prohibitive, that doesn't make it necessarily a fact. You are probably right that he is as good as gone, but I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the brass found a way to keep him on the team. Mario likes to get after the passer and he is good at shutting down the run. That also happens to be what he is good at. The brass may actually be acknowledging that. The stage is set and I am just watching eagerly to see how things unfold. There is an awful lot of Dline talent in the draft so Mario could simply be priced out of a job. Or the brass may want to keep him for a while and find a replacement for Kyle who is getting up there in age. All of the chatter about descention in the ranks though....probably beaten to death by reporters looking for a real story.

Nearly everyone is assuming that Mario will be gone, but this Clay restructure leaves the door open for other restructures to increase cap space. Not likely in Mario's case but the possibility is there now. I keep thinking about how the Bills defeated the Jets at the end of the year. They cut the dogs loose and harassed that offensive line pretty good. Just wondering if the Bills aren't looking for a way to keep him and are perfectly happy letting the media think what ever they want.

Probably right, but it does leave the door open. I think they are busily weighing their options and this Clay restructure puts them in a better position to fill the roster with quality talent. It also shows that they are being proactive. I think the management is working to stay on top of things.

This deal opens up the possibility of also restructuring Mario. A couple more restructures and we can still afford our OLmen too. Glad they took care of this early. It opens up other possibilities.

Manning has taken a lot more hits in his career than cry baby. It has boggled my mind how he has gone untouched throughout his career. And with such crappy OLs. I would love for the Bills to get their pass rush revved up for next year and just stomp cry baby until he ..... well, cries.

I am not as convinced as many here that the Bills will be going to a true Nose Tackle. Buffalo's Defensive line is one year removed from having 4 guys with 10+ sacks that is pretty damn dominant no matter how you look at it. It will be very hard to keep Mario, so his replacement is likely the top priority. And what a great year to be shopping for a DE. The only way Buffalo goes to a NT is if both Mario and Kyle are cut loose. If either one of them are still here, that line is going to be 4 guys, 2 DTs and 2 DEs. The great thing about our DLine is that Marcel can play nose in a pinch to mix things up. I cannot believe that Ryan is going to completely blow up the line. In fact, I'd be very disappointed if he did.

I forgot about him. He's a good player.

A trade down would be better with all of the available defensive talent. Whaley is pretty good at getting value out of his picks, sometimes insanely productive players that we didn't even know existed. Sounds like what they said about Kyle Williams coming out of college. We need smart players for Rex's complex schemes.

I wouldn't say patently nonsense. I think Brady might have broken a record for getting rid of the ball quickly throughout that first game. The Patriots had a game plan to combat against the Schwarts D. The defensive line couldn't pressure quick enough even though the front four were easily collapsing the pocket. It was 3 step drop and the ball was gone.

Rex has all ready hired his brother and Reed. Everyone in the league thinks he is going to run the same defense that he always has but it's just a huge smoke screen. Buffalo then keeps Mario Williams on the team and drafts another top DLman. When the season starts, Rex unleashes the DLine to destroy everything in their path. The line is given free rein to attack instead of dropping into coverage and linebackers only need to mop up after the chaos. The secondary looks better than ever because of all the pressure put on the QB and the Bills turn into the #1 defense by mid season. That about sums up the fantasy. I must be losing it. I haven't even been drinking.

Harvin was not the only WR injured this year. Woods played through an injury most of the year. Woods is a good #2 and better than he is given credit for. Even hurt he put up some decent numbers this year. Our WRs as a group, even without Harvin, is pretty strong. That being said, I would still like to see Harvin come back. Question is just a matter of what kind of contract. Many seem to think we need to draft another top WR. I am not one of them. Also, this Salas kid stepped right in nicely against the Jets. I believe the WR group we have can improve a lot by simply giving them another year working with Tyrod. Hope they all get together in the off season.

The angst comes from the response from members of the team when he split town. I think he deserves to have his decision to leave bite him in the ass. He didn't just quit a job. He quit on his team and that deserves retribution. I don't know how anyone can hire him as HC and try to sell the hire to the players of that team.

He may have hit the nail on the head.

I don't think that at all. Kyle hardly played this season due to injury. With him gone, the Bills were forced to run more 3-4 with Dareus at nose. The defense was supposed to be multiple. Some 3-4, some 4-3 and variations of both. Kyle was a key piece and we missed him this year. Not having him, made our defense much more predictable. That doesn't mean Kyle won't be gone next year though. He isn't getting any younger and I see him much the way I saw Fed Jackson....a great player who is on the down hill side of his career. The Bills may try to find his replacement because of that. This team obviously is productive in a base 4-3 so overhauling now and trying to go 3-4 could be a mistake. We don't want to do away with 4-3 or 3-4. We want to run both.