WR Kenny Stills said to be visiting Buffalo (no confirmation he signed)

[Punching Bag]

On 12/30/2020 at 3:47 PM, TheProcess said:

Let’s give him a little leash before we cast him aside into TJ Graham land. 

 

How good could TJ Graham have been with Josh to throw and better coaches?

[Blank Stare]

41 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

How good could TJ Graham have been with Josh to throw and better coaches?

I guess we’ll never know. Lol. But, he’s no Gabriel Davis. 
 

Honestly, I never understood what they saw in TJ Graham to not only draft him, but move up to do it. Sure, some of that is hindsight, but he wasn’t setting college football ablaze statistically and he wasn’t a very fluid athlete. He was slight of frame, didn’t have good hands, and didn’t seem to be the high football IQ type either. Only having straight line speed with little else was a reach and giant waste of a 3rd rd pick. But, anyway, I digress. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

1 hour ago, BuffaloFan68 said:

I know I’m in the minority but I still like the idea of Duke Williams out there with Diggs & Smoke. 
Lets Go Buffalo!!!!!

Duke as the third option looks a lot better than the WC game last year when he was basically the first option (or maybe 1B, if you are ranking deep threat Pat DiMarco at 1A). 

[Joe Ferguson]

2 hours ago, BuffaloFan68 said:

I know I’m in the minority but I still like the idea of Duke Williams out there with Diggs & Smoke. 
Lets Go Buffalo!!!!!

There's a reason why Jake Kumerow played and Bills looking for multiple receivers instead of having Duke Williams on the team. He flat out stinks.

[John from Riverside]

39 minutes ago, Joe Ferguson said:

There's a reason why Jake Kumerow played and Bills looking for multiple receivers instead of having Duke Williams on the team. He flat out stinks.

I just think they are looking for WR's that can separate instead of playing basketball to catch footballs.

 

I actually dont think Duke is that bad......but the more quality speed on the field the better

[Steve Evans]

Great to sign Stills to bolster the receiving group. I put my money on Beasley being ready to go for 1st playoff game with how much of a diehard gamer he is. I don't understand why people are still saying Brown is a health question mark when he's been cleared to play. He was on the COVID close contact list against the Pats if I'm not mistaken.

[Steve Evans]

18 hours ago, RochesterLifer said:

Thank you for identifying this. I have read (this morning) Stills being called "trash" and an "idiot". I thoroughly enjoy Two Bills Drive and its football discourse. I do not understand, and am offended by, the willingness of some to ignorantly (no real knowledge of whom they speak) use extremely negative descriptions. Just my two cents. 

It's reflective of our society today, unfortunately.

[Rochesterfan]

7 hours ago, TheProcess said:

Sucks the Covid protocol strings this out. Would’ve loved for them to make this decision a week or 2 ago to get him in here learning the offense. Maybe get some run this week. If he’s “maybe” cleared to start practicing next week, are we really going to use him and make him active on game day? I guess if we only ask him to do a couple things it might work with his speed. 
 

Also, if he signs a 1 year deal with us, is it really only a playoff deal vs. a true 1 year? In other words, will he be a FA this spring? I seem to recall Kelvin Benjamin signing with the Chiefs late in the year a few seasons ago on a 1 year deal and he became a FA that year (that no one wanted 😯). Could be wrong on that though.  

 

Please see my string of response to you from earlier on this.  The fact that McD mentioned that Beane has been looking at him for several weeks tells you the Bills would of liked him in weeks ago, but financially it makes no sense for Stills to sign any earlier than the end of the regular season.  It was not going to have an impact on his pay because of his guaranteed contract with Houston.  
 

Now he can get a small bonus and take vet minimum and it does not matter as the players are no longer paid per game.  Anything he makes now is extra money - so it was smart for him to wait and find a team that can go far in the playoffs - rather than sign weeks ago and get on a dud team.

 

Most likely any contract they sign right now would just be for the playoffs and they view him as insurance for an injury at any WR position.  I just don’t see them giving another year at this point and then they let him walk as a potential Comp pick player as a FA.

[FLbills]

https://13wham.com/amp/buffalo-plus/bills-latest-news/wr-kenny-still-signs-in-buffalo

 

FWIW... I understand he still needs to get through the covid protocols and is probably just a formality at this point. Not from the Buffalo area so I don't know how reliable the source is. Just figured I'd throw the report into the mix. 

[Don Otreply]

52 minutes ago, Steve Evans said:

It's reflective of our society today, unfortunately.

So true, lots of knee jerk / knavel gazing as an art form going on from those trying desperately to keep up...

[Blank Stare]

2 hours ago, Rochesterfan said:

Please see my string of response to you from earlier on this.

There are a lot of us “Process” guys running around here, so I don’t think it was me you were replying to. Nevertheless, good post and I don’t disagree with your take. Makes sense. 

[Heavy Kevi]

2 hours ago, FLbills said:

https://13wham.com/amp/buffalo-plus/bills-latest-news/wr-kenny-still-signs-in-buffalo

 

FWIW... I understand he still needs to get through the covid protocols and is probably just a formality at this point. Not from the Buffalo area so I don't know how reliable the source is. Just figured I'd throw the report into the mix. 

 

This a reputable source, it's the local abc tv channel, but...

 

...this is a non-story. Clickbait, speculation headline that does not offer new info beyond twitter posts that were already posted on this forum.

 

This is why people hate the media these days.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Heavy Kevi

[Big Turk]

8 hours ago, TheProcess said:

I guess we’ll never know. Lol. But, he’s no Gabriel Davis. 
 

Honestly, I never understood what they saw in TJ Graham to not only draft him, but move up to do it. Sure, some of that is hindsight, but he wasn’t setting college football ablaze statistically and he wasn’t a very fluid athlete. He was slight of frame, didn’t have good hands, and didn’t seem to be the high football IQ type either. Only having straight line speed with little else was a reach and giant waste of a 3rd rd pick. But, anyway, I digress. 

 

I think you could have said the same about Zay Jones haha...

 

Maybe they liked his moves to avoid being captured while running around naked.

[Hebert19]

13 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

The problem with Brown is when the Bills signed Brown to a contract last off-season, they very likely were expecting to draft a WR the following year in a deep draft class.   If they had done that under a rookie contract, Browns contract would be fine, but once they traded for Diggs, Browns contract is way to high for a #2 WR who has also missed half the year and proven to be not all that needed.  The Bills have one of the highest amounts of salary cap dedicated to the WR group next season BTW, around 15%.  There are some teams higher, but coincidentally those are also the teams over the cap next year.

 

It would be great to have Brown back next year, but can't see it happening without him taking a large pay cut like maybe cut his salary in half.   IMO signing Feliciano, Williams and Milano to extensions would help the team more than keeping Brown around as they've already shown they can win without him.  Yes there's others you can also cut to save money, but very few would generate a savings of $8 mil.   Not to say you can't still sign someone else for much less that has the speed factor too to replace that one skill set.  If Stills is signed that may be his role.

There is plenty of room for brown.  Restructure him and lets keep band together.  Pretty sure him and Hughes will be our off-season contract tweaks. 

10 hours ago, BuffaloFan68 said:

I know I’m in the minority but I still like the idea of Duke Williams out there with Diggs & Smoke. 
Lets Go Buffalo!!!!!

Maybe as 4th option.  Gabe is a decent receiver and good blocker. 

[BillnutinHouston]

2 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

So true, lots of knee jerk / knavel gazing as an art form going on from those trying desperately to keep up...

 

Hey there knave, whats a knavel?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

8 hours ago, Joe Ferguson said:

There's a reason why Jake Kumerow played and Bills looking for multiple receivers instead of having Duke Williams on the team. He flat out stinks.

 

The reason Kumerow played over Williams was not that "Williams stinks", it's that Kumerow is a more accomplished ST and a decent quality blocker in both the running and passing game.  I was pissed when we cut him and someone else picked him up, then Brown got the covid exposure and Beas got hurt.

 

I hope that's a lesson learned for Beane.

 

15 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

There is plenty of room for brown.  Restructure him and lets keep band together.  Pretty sure him and Hughes will be our off-season contract tweaks. 

Maybe as 4th option.  Gabe is a decent receiver and good blocker. 

 

Yes, Gabe has earned the playing time he's gotten

[MJS]

35 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

I think you could have said the same about Zay Jones haha...

 

Maybe they liked his moves to avoid being captured while running around naked.

Zay, at least, had a ton of catches in college.

[Don Otreply]

3 minutes ago, BillnutinHouston said:

 

Hey there knave, whats a knavel?

What, ya never seen a knavel before, 😂

[Hapless Bills Fan]

9 hours ago, TheProcess said:

I guess we’ll never know. Lol. But, he’s no Gabriel Davis. 
 

Honestly, I never understood what they saw in TJ Graham to not only draft him, but move up to do it. Sure, some of that is hindsight, but he wasn’t setting college football ablaze statistically and he wasn’t a very fluid athlete. He was slight of frame, didn’t have good hands, and didn’t seem to be the high football IQ type either. Only having straight line speed with little else was a reach and giant waste of a 3rd rd pick. But, anyway, I digress. 

 

You are poking this bear with a stick on the TJ Graham pick LOL.  We traded up and I was so excited - I thought we were going to draft Russell Wilson.

TJ Graham, who is that?  6 picks later, Wilson was drafted by the Seasnakes and the rest is history.

 

Gailey and Nix seemed obsessed by small fast guys.  Graham was essentially a track star who played a little receiver.  Ugh, those days.

[Doc]

12 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

You are poking this bear with a stick on the TJ Graham pick LOL.  We traded up and I was so excited - I thought we were going to draft Russell Wilson.

TJ Graham, who is that?  6 picks later, Wilson was drafted by the Seasnakes and the rest is history.

 

Gailey and Nix seemed obsessed by small fast guys.  Graham was essentially a track star who played a little receiver.  Ugh, those days.

 

TY Hilton was also there for the taking.

[Blank Stare]

23 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

You are poking this bear with a stick on the TJ Graham pick LOL.  We traded up and I was so excited - I thought we were going to draft Russell Wilson.

TJ Graham, who is that?  6 picks later, Wilson was drafted by the Seasnakes and the rest is history.

 

Gailey and Nix seemed obsessed by small fast guys.  Graham was essentially a track star who played a little receiver.  Ugh, those days.

I know it’s a sore subject that’s been discussed many times before around these parts, but it’s just so refreshing to have this regime and their approach to the draft. I don’t see McBeane wasting premium draft picks by choosing many TJ Graham types. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 minutes ago, TheProcess said:

I know it’s a sore subject that’s been discussed many times before around these parts, but it’s just so refreshing to have this regime and their approach to the draft. I don’t see McBeane wasting premium draft picks by choosing many TJ Graham types. 

 

Yeah, people second guess like why did we pick Cody Ford (or Dawson Knox) when we could have had ______  , but at least both Ford and Knox are genuine football players who can go out on the field and make football player plays, good ones at times.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

39 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

There is plenty of room for brown.  Restructure him and lets keep band together.  Pretty sure him and Hughes will be our off-season contract tweaks. 

Maybe as 4th option.  Gabe is a decent receiver and good blocker. 

 

Really where's the $$ room?  The band has been playing with a replacement for half their tour!  They are $5 mil over cap of $175 mil, if it goes up to $190 mil like some are projecting, that's $20 mil,  You need to still leave about $5 mil for rookies, plus want to keep another $3 to $5 mil for in season replacements, roster moves etc. 

 

That leaves you around $10 mil over and only 43 players under contract.  Feliciano, Williams, & Milano likely will cost around $25 mil to sign all three.  If you let them walk, who is their replacement as he's currently not on the roster now.  Brown is the one guy on the roster where you already have a replacement for him on the roster. 

 

I agree I'd offer Brown a tweak, reduce his salary to about $4 mil, if he'll sign that, OK, but would be surprised if he'd  take that large of a cut.  Yes you can make tweaks to others, extend Hyde and L Smith, knock $1 to $2 mil off the cap, restructure Hughes and Matakevich, cut Butler to save some money.  Cut Morse to save $5mil, but that just creates another hole to fill too.  Very few other than Butler have the impact that cutting Brown has at around an $8 mil savings and who has only played in 8 games, 3 of which he basically did nothing.

 

On top of all this the Bills will need to sign about ten other players just to fill out a final 53 man roster as again only like 43 players under contract and only 4 offensive lineman under contract, no punter, return man , #2 CB, or backup QB signed next season to name a few.  Granted some are restricted FA like Bojorquez and Wallace so can sign them on the cheap.  There's at least 11 upcoming FA that provided a significant contribution or function to this years team success that they will need to be replaced in one manner or another, could see about three of them being rookies, but remaining ones likely you'll want to sign a vet if you hope to make the 2021 roster just as strong or stronger than 2021.

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Dkollidas]

1 hour ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Really where's the $$ room?  The band has been playing with a replacement for half their tour!  They are $5 mil over cap of $175 mil, if it goes up to $190 mil like some are projecting, that's $20 mil,  You need to still leave about $5 mil for rookies, plus want to keep another $3 to $5 mil for in season replacements, roster moves etc. 

 

That leaves you around $10 mil over and only 43 players under contract.  Feliciano, Williams, & Milano likely will cost around $25 mil to sign all three.  If you let them walk, who is their replacement as he's currently not on the roster now.  Brown is the one guy on the roster where you already have a replacement for him on the roster. 

 

I agree I'd offer Brown a tweak, reduce his salary to about $4 mil, if he'll sign that, OK, but would be surprised if he'd  take that large of a cut.  Yes you can make tweaks to others, extend Hyde and L Smith, knock $1 to $2 mil off the cap, restructure Hughes and Matakevich, cut Butler to save some money.  Cut Morse to save $5mil, but that just creates another hole to fill too.  Very few other than Butler have the impact that cutting Brown has at around an $8 mil savings and who has only played in 8 games, 3 of which he basically did nothing.

 

On top of all this the Bills will need to sign about ten other players just to fill out a final 53 man roster as again only like 43 players under contract and only 4 offensive lineman under contract, no punter, return man , #2 CB, or backup QB signed next season to name a few.  Granted some are restricted FA like Bojorquez and Wallace so can sign them on the cheap.  There's at least 11 upcoming FA that provided a significant contribution or function to this years team success that they will need to be replaced in one manner or another, could see about three of them being rookies, but remaining ones likely you'll want to sign a vet if you hope to make the 2021 roster just as strong or stronger than 2021.

Listen to Cover1’s podcast with Greg Tompsett from a few weeks ago.

 

Even at $175M cap next year they’ll be able to keep basically everyone important and only have to choose between Williams & Milano.

 

If the 17th game brings the cap up to about $190M, they’ll be able to keep everyone. 

 

According to Spotrac, we should have about $5M of cap space going into 2021 if the cap is at $175M, with 39 players signed.
 

You’ve got to consider they’ll cut or restructure certain fringe roster players (Matakevich, Lee Smith), along with guys who are rotational (Butler), and extend guys like Brown/Hughes/Hyde in ways that will save them money in 2021, and be easy to get out of in 2022. 
Then if you consider turning Diggs salary into a signing bonus (which will give him a bug fat check, but save us cap space around $7M-$8M in 2021), that’s more savings.

 

They could do those moves I’ve listed and save roughly $30M against the cap. 
 

A lot of guys (McKenzie, Kroft, Roberts) that are free agents will likely stay in Buffalo for veteran minimum. Let’s say they sign 6 of these players for a total of $7.5M

Add in 6 draft picks, which will likely cost $4M against the cap. 
 

thats 12players for $11.5M.

 

you’d still have $19M to bring back Feliciano, Williams and Milano. If you backload those deals, 2021 cap hits for Milano ($7M), Feliciano ($5M) and Williams ($7M) would put you right at that $19M number with 54 players on the roster. 
 

don’t get me wrong it would be EXTREMELY tight. But even at $175M you could bring back Feliciano Milano and Williams, only have to cut guys like Butler, Matakevich & Lee Smith, while restructuring some of your older veterans (Hughes, Brown & Hyde), along with Diggs (pushing his cap down the road which won’t matter a great deal bc of anyone deserves big money it’s him & Allen). 
 

If the cap goes to $190M+, they’ll be able to keep just about everyone for another run. 

[ColoradoBills]

"Yep the Bills signed Kenny Stills to help with their Super Bowl run.  They will let him walk into FA next season and be

granted a 3rd Round Compensatory Pick".

 

[Big Turk]

39 minutes ago, Dkollidas said:

Listen to Cover1’s podcast with Greg Tompsett from a few weeks ago.

 

Even at $175M cap next year they’ll be able to keep basically everyone important and only have to choose between Williams & Milano.

 

If the 17th game brings the cap up to about $190M, they’ll be able to keep everyone. 

 

According to Spotrac, we should have about $5M of cap space going into 2021 if the cap is at $175M, with 39 players signed.
 

You’ve got to consider they’ll cut or restructure certain fringe roster players (Matakevich, Lee Smith), along with guys who are rotational (Butler), and extend guys like Brown/Hughes/Hyde in ways that will save them money in 2021, and be easy to get out of in 2022. 
Then if you consider turning Diggs salary into a signing bonus (which will give him a bug fat check, but save us cap space around $7M-$8M in 2021), that’s more savings.

 

They could do those moves I’ve listed and save roughly $30M against the cap. 
 

A lot of guys (McKenzie, Kroft, Roberts) that are free agents will likely stay in Buffalo for veteran minimum. Let’s say they sign 6 of these players for a total of $7.5M

Add in 6 draft picks, which will likely cost $4M against the cap. 
 

thats 12players for $11.5M.

 

you’d still have $19M to bring back Feliciano, Williams and Milano. If you backload those deals, 2021 cap hits for Milano ($7M), Feliciano ($5M) and Williams ($7M) would put you right at that $19M number with 54 players on the roster. 
 

don’t get me wrong it would be EXTREMELY tight. But even at $175M you could bring back Feliciano Milano and Williams, only have to cut guys like Butler, Matakevich & Lee Smith, while restructuring some of your older veterans (Hughes, Brown & Hyde), along with Diggs (pushing his cap down the road which won’t matter a great deal bc of anyone deserves big money it’s him & Allen). 
 

If the cap goes to $190M+, they’ll be able to keep just about everyone for another run. 

 

The Bills can do whatever they want...they have tons of cap flexibility and they structure their contracts in a way to avoid dead cap space as much as possible.

 

Restructures, extensions, shifting base salary to bonuses, etc etc etc...

 

People freaking out about cap space just don't understand how easy it is to open up cap space...I mean New Orleans was way over the cap and was aggressively pursuing and signed a big UFA last year...

 

Just let Beane do what he do...they will be fine.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Big Turk

[MrEpsYtown]

33 minutes ago, Dkollidas said:

Listen to Cover1’s podcast with Greg Tompsett from a few weeks ago.

 

Even at $175M cap next year they’ll be able to keep basically everyone important and only have to choose between Williams & Milano.

 

If the 17th game brings the cap up to about $190M, they’ll be able to keep everyone. 

 

According to Spotrac, we should have about $5M of cap space going into 2021 if the cap is at $175M, with 39 players signed.
 

You’ve got to consider they’ll cut or restructure certain fringe roster players (Matakevich, Lee Smith), along with guys who are rotational (Butler), and extend guys like Brown/Hughes/Hyde in ways that will save them money in 2021, and be easy to get out of in 2022. 
Then if you consider turning Diggs salary into a signing bonus (which will give him a bug fat check, but save us cap space around $7M-$8M in 2021), that’s more savings.

 

They could do those moves I’ve listed and save roughly $30M against the cap. 
 

A lot of guys (McKenzie, Kroft, Roberts) that are free agents will likely stay in Buffalo for veteran minimum. Let’s say they sign 6 of these players for a total of $7.5M

Add in 6 draft picks, which will likely cost $4M against the cap. 
 

thats 12players for $11.5M.

 

you’d still have $19M to bring back Feliciano, Williams and Milano. If you backload those deals, 2021 cap hits for Milano ($7M), Feliciano ($5M) and Williams ($7M) would put you right at that $19M number with 54 players on the roster. 
 

don’t get me wrong it would be EXTREMELY tight. But even at $175M you could bring back Feliciano Milano and Williams, only have to cut guys like Butler, Matakevich & Lee Smith, while restructuring some of your older veterans (Hughes, Brown & Hyde), along with Diggs (pushing his cap down the road which won’t matter a great deal bc of anyone deserves big money it’s him & Allen). 
 

If the cap goes to $190M+, they’ll be able to keep just about everyone for another run. 

 

Good stuff. That is why I don’t think Feliciano is back, unless he replaces Morse. Boettger and Ford are going to be our starting guards ext year, imo. If they can’t resign Williams I think the backup plan is to sign Feliciano and move Ford back to RT, but Ford and Ike will not be on the bench. 

 

I think Milano is 50/50. He should be back but his market could be all over the place. Lavonte David and KJ Wright and other off ball linebackers are free agents as well. I think we target Nick Bolton in the draft.  
 

Williams is the guy who may break the bank, but he’s the guy we need to resign above all others imo. 

[Hebert19]

2 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Really where's the $$ room?  The band has been playing with a replacement for half their tour!  They are $5 mil over cap of $175 mil, if it goes up to $190 mil like some are projecting, that's $20 mil,  You need to still leave about $5 mil for rookies, plus want to keep another $3 to $5 mil for in season replacements, roster moves etc. 

 

That leaves you around $10 mil over and only 43 players under contract.  Feliciano, Williams, & Milano likely will cost around $25 mil to sign all three.  If you let them walk, who is their replacement as he's currently not on the roster now.  Brown is the one guy on the roster where you already have a replacement for him on the roster. 

 

I agree I'd offer Brown a tweak, reduce his salary to about $4 mil, if he'll sign that, OK, but would be surprised if he'd  take that large of a cut.  Yes you can make tweaks to others, extend Hyde and L Smith, knock $1 to $2 mil off the cap, restructure Hughes and Matakevich, cut Butler to save some money.  Cut Morse to save $5mil, but that just creates another hole to fill too.  Very few other than Butler have the impact that cutting Brown has at around an $8 mil savings and who has only played in 8 games, 3 of which he basically did nothing.

 

On top of all this the Bills will need to sign about ten other players just to fill out a final 53 man roster as again only like 43 players under contract and only 4 offensive lineman under contract, no punter, return man , #2 CB, or backup QB signed next season to name a few.  Granted some are restricted FA like Bojorquez and Wallace so can sign them on the cheap.  There's at least 11 upcoming FA that provided a significant contribution or function to this years team success that they will need to be replaced in one manner or another, could see about three of them being rookies, but remaining ones likely you'll want to sign a vet if you hope to make the 2021 roster just as strong or stronger than 2021.

I'm just talking about brown on receiving core.   Stills isn't a brown replacement. He and Hughes restructure.   Cut Murphy.   Not sure Addison and Jefferson both stay.  Restructure and extend Hyde.   There is always a way.  

[klos63]

11 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

I'm just talking about brown on receiving core.   Stills isn't a brown replacement. He and Hughes restructure.   Cut Murphy.   Not sure Addison and Jefferson both stay.  Restructure and extend Hyde.   There is always a way.  

Murphy contract expires this season. No need to cut him. He's already off the books next season.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, Dkollidas said:

Listen to Cover1’s podcast with Greg Tompsett from a few weeks ago.

 

Even at $175M cap next year they’ll be able to keep basically everyone important and only have to choose between Williams & Milano.

 

If the 17th game brings the cap up to about $190M, they’ll be able to keep everyone. 

 

According to Spotrac, we should have about $5M of cap space going into 2021 if the cap is at $175M, with 39 players signed.
 

You’ve got to consider they’ll cut or restructure certain fringe roster players (Matakevich, Lee Smith), along with guys who are rotational (Butler), and extend guys like Brown/Hughes/Hyde in ways that will save them money in 2021, and be easy to get out of in 2022. 
Then if you consider turning Diggs salary into a signing bonus (which will give him a bug fat check, but save us cap space around $7M-$8M in 2021), that’s more savings.

 

They could do those moves I’ve listed and save roughly $30M against the cap. 
 

A lot of guys (McKenzie, Kroft, Roberts) that are free agents will likely stay in Buffalo for veteran minimum. Let’s say they sign 6 of these players for a total of $7.5M

Add in 6 draft picks, which will likely cost $4M against the cap. 
 

thats 12players for $11.5M.

 

you’d still have $19M to bring back Feliciano, Williams and Milano. If you backload those deals, 2021 cap hits for Milano ($7M), Feliciano ($5M) and Williams ($7M) would put you right at that $19M number with 54 players on the roster. 
 

don’t get me wrong it would be EXTREMELY tight. But even at $175M you could bring back Feliciano Milano and Williams, only have to cut guys like Butler, Matakevich & Lee Smith, while restructuring some of your older veterans (Hughes, Brown & Hyde), along with Diggs (pushing his cap down the road which won’t matter a great deal bc of anyone deserves big money it’s him & Allen). 
 

If the cap goes to $190M+, they’ll be able to keep just about everyone for another run. 

 

Think you're very optimistic that you'll sign them for the vet minimum as these three are currently making around $9 mil, to expect them to agree to take under $1mil each.  A guy like Roberts will be in demand.  Would be surprised if Kroft would even want to return to a situation where he's been inactive, but that still means he needs to be replaced  by someone else.  Maybe you can find a guy like Olson in the tail end of career to sign for the vet min.

 

Certainly can sign Ike B, Bojorquez, and L Wallace to their tenders guessing likely costing you around $2 mil for the three of them combined.

 

You really need to factor in more than 53/54 players as every year there are a couple of players start on IR so they are replaced, this year, Sweeney, Feleciano, Hodgins, Last year there believe there were also 3 of them, plus want to keep $3 to $5 mil for in season signings.

 

Certainly agree on cutting Butler, but Matakevich & Lee Smith were contributors throughout the season, can't see cutting them if you do, you'll need to replace them with another body who fills the same role.  Could see them taking a pay cut may save you a couple mil there.  Same with Hyde.

 

Projected contract numbers I saw about a month ago for Feliciano was around $7 mil and Williams may get $10 mil.

 

Overall think you may be over stating discounts players are willing to take to stay here in Buffalo.  While I do agree that will factor in, would be surprised if it's at the level you're projecting.

 

Overall seems crazy to me to consider cutting players like Matakevich & Lee Smith who contributed throughout the season in their own special ways in order to keep a guy who was inactive for half the season and his a replacement is already on the roster on a cheap rookie contract who is only going to get better just for a small amount of speed.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

3 hours ago, TheProcess said:

I know it’s a sore subject that’s been discussed many times before around these parts, but it’s just so refreshing to have this regime and their approach to the draft. I don’t see McBeane wasting premium draft picks by choosing many TJ Graham types. 

Lol...they traded up and drafted Zay Jones.  So McD did exaclty what you were praising him for not doing.

[Blank Stare]

I’d RE-up both Williams and Milano and get rid of (or restructure) everyone on the current D-line except Jefferson, Oliver, and Epenesa. Addison and Butler were essentially 1 year deals. Hughes I think has an out too (could be wrong). Star I think has to come back for at least one more year until there is an out. Then I’d just go heavy D-line in the draft. We’ve needed some young cats in there for a long time, and I think it’s an easier position group for rookies to come in and make an impact. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

19 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

I'm just talking about brown on receiving core.   Stills isn't a brown replacement. He and Hughes restructure.   Cut Murphy.   Not sure Addison and Jefferson both stay.  Restructure and extend Hyde.   There is always a way.  

 

You can't cut a free agent as is Murphy, there's no saving as he isn't getting paid anything next year.  Agree about Hyde.  It took half the season for he Bills pass rush to become effective, would have to cut Addison and/or Jefferson and need to start over their again.  Do think you cut Butler though.

[Blank Stare]

1 minute ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Lol...they traded up and drafted Zay Jones.  So McD did exaclty what you were praising him for not doing.

No, they didn’t. Go compare Zay’s college production to TJ Graham’s. Most people universally considered Zay a second round prospect. Plus his college coach was here in McD’s ear. Sometimes guys don’t work out, but comparing Zay to Graham is ridiculous. 

[Nick the Greek]

4 hours ago, MJS said:

Zay, at least, had a ton of catches in college.

You can call me Ray, or you can call me Zay. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

3 minutes ago, TheProcess said:

I’d RE-up both Williams and Milano and get rid of (or restructure) everyone on the current D-line except Jefferson, Oliver, and Epenesa. Addison and Butler were essentially 1 year deals. Hughes I think has an out too (could be wrong). Star I think has to come back for at least one more year until there is an out. Then I’d just go heavy D-line in the draft. We’ve needed some young cats in there for a long time, and I think it’s an easier position group for rookies to come in and make an impact. 

 

 

Phillips, Johnson, Oliver, and Epenesa are all young on rookie contracts. Jefferson think is only 26 so you have a pretty young line there already.  Butler agree with cutting, but if you cut either Addison or Hughes likely see a drop off on the rush.  How many sacks/pressures did Epenesa have this season, think it was one and he was a 2nd rounder.  Yeah rookies can make an impact as a rotational backup, but unless it's maybe a top 20 pick doubt they are going to help that much.

[KellyToTasker]

6 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Lol...they traded up and drafted Zay Jones.  So McD did exaclty what you were praising him for not doing.

Not exactly the same. TJ Graham had 99 receptions in college, Zay Jones had 399. 300 more catches, included 158 in his senior season. Seemed like a pretty reliable set of hands coming out of ECU. As time proved, not so much. 

[Blank Stare]

1 minute ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

 

Phillips, Johnson, Oliver, and Epenesa are all young on rookie contracts. Jefferson think is only 26 so you have a pretty young line there already.  Butler agree with cutting, but if you cut either Addison or Hughes likely see a drop off on the rush.  How many sacks/pressures did Epenesa have this season, think it was one and he was a 2nd rounder.  Yeah rookies can make an impact as a rotational backup, but unless it's maybe a top 20 pick doubt they are going to help that much.

Honestly, I forgot about Phillips and Johnson and agree they should stay since they are still on their rookie deals. I think Epenesa will improve as he gets used to the game and learns to play at his lighter weight. We are definitely creating pressure, but for a defense that would be so much better with a stout front 4 that could get to the QB without bringing corners, LBs, and safeties as much as we do, I think we need more out of our d-ends. Especially for the money Hughes and Addison are getting. That would be where I’d spend my first round pick this year if the right guy is there at 32. Then come back around and grab another pass rusher in the 3rd or 4th round. 

[Punching Bag]

37 minutes ago, Hebert19 said:

I'm just talking about brown on receiving core.   Stills isn't a brown replacement. He and Hughes restructure.   Cut Murphy.   Not sure Addison and Jefferson both stay.  Restructure and extend Hyde.   There is always a way.  

 

Trent Murphy is a FA.  If you are going to talk contracts/cap you need to know who is a RFA, EFE and FA at least.

 

16 minutes ago, TheProcess said:

No, they didn’t. Go compare Zay’s college production to TJ Graham’s. Most people universally considered Zay a second round prospect. Plus his college coach was here in McD’s ear. Sometimes guys don’t work out, but comparing Zay to Graham is ridiculous. 

 

Having Zay's college coach in McD's ear was the problem. 

His coach was never successful in NFL and unlike previous Bills' WR coach added nothing and was canned after one year like many times in his career.  Coach McD does not know offense and depended too much on offense coaches he hired first year.