Available players released from other teams

[machine gun kelly]

2 hours ago, Rebel101 said:

What has happened to Kenny Stills? I know we only took his old contract over but it ended at the end of the season I believe. But I also read that Beane has been trying to get at stills for awhile now. Does he get resigned or do we let him go? 

He most likely didn’t sign a futures contract as he probably thought he would shop his skills for more $ somewhere else, but the Bills can readdress once FA gets going.  It makes sense.  I’d love to take credit, but that was speculation from Sal C., and made sense to me.

[Doc]

2 hours ago, Rebel101 said:

What has happened to Kenny Stills? I know we only took his old contract over but it ended at the end of the season I believe. But I also read that Beane has been trying to get at stills for awhile now. Does he get resigned or do we let him go? 

 

They didn't take over his old contract and looking at Spotrac, it looks like they didn't even pay him (and Devonta Freeman) any money while being on the PS.  As for what happens now, who knows?  I'm sure the Bills offered him a low-ball deal and Stills probably would rather test the market.

 

 

22 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

He most likely didn’t sign a futures contract as he probably thought he would shop his skills for more $ somewhere else, but the Bills can readdress once FA gets going.  It makes sense.  I’d love to take credit, but that was speculation from Sal C., and made sense to me.

 

Yeah guys like Stills don't sign futures contracts.

[RichRiderBills]

3 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

Anyone else think this offseason is moving very slowly?

 

Normally by now Beane has signed a Vontae Davis or Spencer Long...

 

In hindsight maybe its for the best he hasn't signed anyone yet...

 

No...in fact the guys cut by other teams being able to sign is a newer thing. The trade announcements were not allowed till the new league year and tampering was a bigger deal.  This time of year was usually zero transactions and crickets, outside of cuts, retirements and the eventual tags.

 

There will be fewer prove it 1 year deals this year. Fewer tags.

[Aussie Joe]

Just now, RichRiderBills said:

 

No...in fact the guys cut by other teams being able to sign is a newer thing. The trade announcements were not allowed till the new league year and tampering was a bigger deal.  This time of year was usually zero transactions and crickets, outside of cuts, retirements and the eventual tags.

 

There will be fewer prove it 1 year deals this year. Fewer tags.

 

There will be more 1 year deals this year given lower cap space available across the League and younger players who are up now not wanting to commit to multi year deals in a depressed market environement 

[RichRiderBills]

38 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

 

There will be more 1 year deals this year given lower cap space available across the League and younger players who are up now not wanting to commit to multi year deals in a depressed market environement 

 

1 year deals are harder on the cap. A certain bracket may get them, but not going to be a ton.

[CSBill]

On 2/20/2021 at 9:40 AM, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Elvis Costello!  SNL!  Radio, Radio!

 

 

This has come up before but is worth reprising. 

 

There are roughly 3 tiers of teams with regard to the cap:

1) those who have plenty of cap room, even with the lower cap

2) those who thought they'd be good, but with the lower cap are pretty much right at the cap and need to maneuver (Bills fall into this category)

3) those who are way over the cap and need to shed load

 

If you go here

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space/

You can see that 11 teams have more than $20M in free cap space.

6 teams are more than $20M in the red, "over the cap"

 

The idea is that guys like Milano can sign with the 11 teams who have plenty of cap room.  He only needs 1 or 2 matches between his skill set and the needs of a team with plenty of cap room to spare.

 

Sometimes a team makes one move that flips their cap situation; the Texans went from ~$15M in the red to having ~$5M in excess just by cutting JJ Watt

 

The most common way a team tries to change their cap situation is by renegotiating contracts. Spotrac says that 99% of the time, these are not asking the player to take a cut.  Most of the time, they take a player's high salary and convert all but league minimum to a signing bonus that can be divided (amortized) evenly across the remaining years of the contract.  They can also play other tricks like adding a voidable year or converting part of it to a roster bonus the following season and offering larger guarantees to ensure the player will get that money.

Some people call this "kicking the Salary Cap can down the road".  

 

Hope this helps

 

 

 

 

 

"Radio - and Hapless Bills Fan - is a sound salvation."

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

On 2/23/2021 at 7:04 AM, NewEra said:

Definitely a possibility.  I think that depends on how they view Dotson.  If they see him as a viable replacement, than I think they’ll only add one.  But than again, if they cut Matakavich, maybe they add 2.

 

I would be very surprised if they cut Matakevich.  I think he's moved up on the depth chart and has broadened his role from STer to primary MLB backup at this point.

 

They may restructure him.

[NewEra]

Just now, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I would be very surprised if they cut Matakevich.  I think he's moved up on the depth chart and has broadened his role from STer to primary MLB backup at this point.

 

They may restructure him.

I agree....ya just never know what fish’s in the sea they’re trying to catch.  If push comes to shove, sometimes there’s collateral damage. He could be in that boat.

 

our STs was great....and it should have been.  We had several players who’s ONLY role is to play STs.  I think that number will go down by one or two this season.  Not that I think it’ll be Matakavich....but I think the number will be smaller.  We had the fewest punt returns against and KO returns are almost nonexistent.  While STs are getting more and more phased out, we have more and more strictly STs players.  
 

as you said, Matakavich could be seen as out backup MLB now, so it might already be changing  .

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, NewEra said:

I agree....ya just never know what fish’s in the sea they’re trying to catch.  If push comes to shove, sometimes there’s collateral damage. He could be in that boat.

 

our STs was great....and it should have been.  We had several players who’s ONLY role is to play STs.  I think that number will go down by one or two this season.  Not that I think it’ll be Matakavich....but I think the number will be smaller.  We had the fewest punt returns against and KO returns are almost nonexistent.  While STs are getting more and more phased out, we have more and more strictly STs players.  
 

as you said, Matakavich could be seen as out backup MLB now, so it might already be changing  .

 

Yeah, that's a big question for the Bills.  Two of the guys they signed as primarily STers - Taiwan Jones, Andre Roberts - are FA.  Though McDermott frequently praises him, and he's made fielding punts largely uneventful, I think Roberts has been a disappointment on ST.    Certainly some of his decisions to run the ball out of the endzone have caused field position problems at times.  If they were hoping Taiwan Jones could contribute on offense, that hasn't worked out too well.

 

Will be interesting to see what they do there.  I would tend to give the $$ to McKenzie and hope his fumbling issues have been coached up, look for an UFDA that can field and return punts as Plan B, with a return to Micah Hyde as Plan C.  But I'm not Mr Beane, obviously.

 

It's clearly been a big influence not just with the 53 man roster but with the game day actives - if Taiwan Jones and Andre Roberts are active, TJ Yeldon and a depth WR or TE are not.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

24 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

"Most Likely" according to whom? 

 

Gee, I know, we have a 31 yr old speedster, 5-10, 179 with a $9.5M cap hit on our roster, let's cut him to save $7.9M because he missed 6 games this past season with 3 injuries.

 

Then we can use some part of it on a 34 yr old speedster, 5'10, who had about a $9M cap hit last season and missed 11 games this past season with 2 injuries.

 

Who does this make sense to?

[Just Joshin']

32 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

If Beane did this he would go down a notch IMO.  Don't sign old, injury prone receivers.

[NewEra]

2 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Yeah, that's a big question for the Bills.  Two of the guys they signed as primarily STers - Taiwan Jones, Andre Roberts - are FA.  Though McDermott frequently praises him, and he's made fielding punts largely uneventful, I think Roberts has been a disappointment on ST.    Certainly some of his decisions to run the ball out of the endzone have caused field position problems at times.  If they were hoping Taiwan Jones could contribute on offense, that hasn't worked out too well.

 

Will be interesting to see what they do there.  I would tend to give the $$ to McKenzie and hope his fumbling issues have been coached up, look for an UFDA that can field and return punts as Plan B, with a return to Micah Hyde as Plan C.  But I'm not Mr Beane, obviously.

 

It's clearly been a big influence not just with the 53 man roster but with the game day actives - if Taiwan Jones and Andre Roberts are active, TJ Yeldon and a depth WR or TE are not.

yeah, I hope they give Mckenzie the keys to the return game as well as continuing to play his role in the offense.  
 

I guess I just don’t watch the ST coverage units like I should, but I rarely noticed Taiwan Jones this year.  The fact that they refuse to use him in the offense, I don’t know if he’s worth the roster spot.  

I may be off base and this may be a terrible take, but I don’t think we should be putting so much emphasis on the ST coverage units.  I’m not saying to disregard it.... st coverage matters....but maybe allocate 1 or 2 less roster spots to players that can ONLY contribute on STs

 

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 minutes ago, NewEra said:

yeah, I hope they give Mckenzie the keys to the return game as well as continuing to play his role in the offense.  
 

I guess I just don’t watch the ST coverage units like I should, but I rarely noticed Taiwan Jones this year.  The fact that they refuse to use him in the offense, I don’t know if he’s worth the roster spot.  

I may be off base and this may be a terrible take, but I don’t think we should be putting so much emphasis on the ST coverage units.  I’m not saying to disregard it.... st coverage matters....but maybe allocate 1 or 2 less roster spots to players that can ONLY contribute on STs

 

Y'know when my favorite team has a record of 15-4, it's hard to be too harsh a critic

 

I'll say this: I believe they expected Taiwan Jones AND Andre Roberts to be contributors on offense.   But it didn't work out that way.

 

Roberts saw double-digit offensive snaps in 5 games last season and was targeted in 4 games, resulting in 3 receptions.  This year it fell to 3 games, even with injuries to Brown.  Gabriel Davis just outplayed him as a WR and a blocker.  Even with the addition of Diggs and the loss of playing time, McKenzie stepped it up as a WR and saw almost as many targets and more receptions for more yards in less playing time.

 

Jones had a cameo in Houston's final game last season where he gained 4.4 ypa and caught a pass, as well as his 34 yd reception against us in the playoffs.  I think they were expecting him to take on the wise veteran leader role in the RB room.  Instead he had 2 targets and a drop and no rushes.    Saw 1 offensive snap per game in 5 games.

[thenorthremembers]

57 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

I would take this with a grain of salt.   Looks like Around the League has 15 followers and 3 tweets.  

[Buffalo_Stampede]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

There should be a rule to posting rumors. This tweeter is a fake. 

[Royale with Cheese]

Desean Jackson isn't a bad #4 or #5 option. 

[NewEra]

He’s worth a minimum contract and let him battle for the last WR slot

[Demongyz]

Oh man if we signed Jackson he could drop the ball prior to crossing the goal line for us!

 

That's how you win games.  Also, which young high quality receiver would he replace?  Brown?  Davis?

Bean isn't going to sign Jackson.  Never.

[ColoradoBills]

Desean Jackson in Dedone.

 

I predict he becomes a Raider for one year at $2M.  LOL.

[RJK]

On 2/19/2021 at 2:40 PM, YoloinOhio said:

Why in the world would they cut their one good offensive skill player 

His contract is ridiculously high 

[YoloinOhio]

3 minutes ago, RJK said:

His contract is ridiculously high 

They must have the cap space ...don’t they have like 70 mill.. they don’t have many players on big deals. That roster is an albatross. 

[Matt_In_NH]

On 2/24/2021 at 12:07 PM, Just Joshin' said:

If Beane did this he would go down a notch IMO.  Don't sign old, injury prone receivers.

Beane has not made a habit of signing injury prone players....everything is case by case but I think it's clear they value availability.   Evidenced by the lack of injuries the last couple years.

[YoloinOhio]

 

[TheBeaneBandit]

10 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

Was he a 1T or 3T?

[Gambit]

13 minutes ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

Was he a 1T or 3T?

I'd assume 3T because he's only 300lbs. Plus, I believe he played DE for the Broncos. 

[TheBeaneBandit]

9 minutes ago, Gambit said:

I'd assume 3T because he's only 300lbs. Plus, I believe he played DE for the Broncos. 

Thanks Gambit👍

[HappyDays]

Not exactly a release, but:

 

 

[NewEra]

2 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

I love this guy.  I feel he’ll one of the most underrated players in the last 10 years.

[YoloinOhio]

3 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

Not exactly a release, but:

 

 

He’s going to get PAID. 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Doc]

1 minute ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

I wanted him 2 years ago.  The Titans were able to get him for the same money as Beasley, and he's much younger.  But Beasley has far out-produced him.

[Royale with Cheese]

2 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

If we don't re-sign McKenzie....yes to Humphries.

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

I wanted him 2 years ago.  The Titans were able to get him for the same money as Beasley, and he's much younger.  But Beasley has far out-produced him.

I think the Pats really wanted him too. They went after both him and Beasley, and got neither 

[John from Riverside]

Would def go  after Casey

[Nitro]

I do not want to be a downer but after Beane's appearance on Collingsworth's podcast....not expecting any big changes.  

[YoloinOhio]

Just now, Nitro said:

I do not want to be a downer but after Beane's appearance on Collingsworth's podcast....not expecting any big changes.  

Smokescreen! 

[Norcalbillsfan]

On 2/24/2021 at 9:07 AM, Just Joshin' said:

If Beane did this he would go down a notch IMO.  Don't sign old, injury prone receivers.

Looks fake but honestly if he came cheap.. what's the harm? Ya he can't stay healthy, but even if he's lost a step he's still faster than most, and when he's healthy he's played as an elite deep threat at times. But if beane paid too much for him then ya I wouldn't be excited about it.

[machine gun kelly]

Well, it’s liars season so I wouldn’t believe much.  The only reason to consider another WR is if negotiations (if they are happening at all) with Brown’s camp to reduce or restructure fails, and they feel compelled to release.  Besides, is it really sound to bring in a person who’s been injured several times.  We have other positions where we could use value players, and even at that, I don’t know we’ll be that busy in FA.  Not at least the first wave.  That’s reserved for the Jags, Jets, Pats, Colts, Broncos, WFT, Carolina, etc.

 

These guys will get value buys this year with their cap space, depending upon how many have free agents they want to extend.

[machine gun kelly]

On 2/22/2021 at 10:45 AM, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I think they did.  His name is AJ Klein, and he started 11 games for the Bills this year, of which we won 9. 

He's already on the roster, counted against the cap, and familiar with the defensive system.  And rumor has it Darron Lee has an offer sheet from the Bills.

 

No need to spend more cap dollars on an older vet linebacker with a problematic injury history, even if he was more athletic once upon a time.

 

We need to draft a LB though.

 

I like what I saw of Dane Jackson at CB this year and it sounds as though Beane did too.

It’s kind of like Bass in the beginning of the year, but for different reasons.  Bass had the gutters and needed to calm down.  Now we have one of the better long kickers in the league and he’s cheap.  Klein on the other hand didn’t have the system down, so it took awhile and then he improved.  There’s no doubt Milano is better, but it just seems the Bills are giving subtle notice they won’t compete with the teams that have tons of cap space.  I hate it, but it’s the reality of a good team.  They are going to lose people at times.  I hate it, but it’s true.

 

Im also very hopeful on Dane.  I don’t know how many resources we need to spend this off season on these spots.  I’m more concerned with a pass rush from the front four, and a running game.  My only last interest is TE.  Now whether it’s the running back or the line, I don’t know.  That line was excellent in pass pro all year.  I certainly don’t want sweeping changes, but I can hope and it’s just hope Ford showed some promise as a run blocking Guard.  Hap, you said it about Morse, he was not meant to be a mauler, but a pulling Center.  I could see Dawkins, Ford, and Morse used differently in the run game pulling to creat more seams for the RB’s.  It would be nice to see that improvement, so we can invest a little more on D. Williams to shore up the line.