$2.8M Bills Cap Space (after signing Reserve/Futures)

[ColoradoBills]

2 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Addison and Hughes are already free agents.  There is nothing to release.

Feliciano may be released, as may Ford.

 

 

If he retires, the Bills can ask him to repay the remaining portion of his amortized bonus.  I don't know if they would.

 

This is what I tried to say in my OP.  The Spotrac starting point I cited is after the cap increase and after all the players whose

contracts have expired.  So many of these cap space threads have replies that are not capturing the facts.

We (and others) are on the same page.

[Mango]

7 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

If Morse retires (God I hope not) is that another 11 million?

I would like one more year of Morse with somebody in the middle of the draft to develop for a year. But we do have some room here. Feliciano has filled in at center well (serviceable?) in the past. So Mitch taking care of his brain wouldn’t break the OL. 
 

 

4 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

It will, but to my understanding it will go up to its pre-agreed maximum of $208M which is the figure Spotrac is working with

 

Beane may or may not read us some tea leaves in his post- season presser

 

My guess is that the Bills will clear about $16k of roster space with perhaps 2-3 cuts and a couple of re-signings or renegotiations.

They will use that to try to re-sign Phillips, Zimmer, Bates, and  yes, Wallace (sorry folks).

 

Neal, Boettger and McKenzie as lower priorities.

 

They will hope to have some cash after that to go after 1-2 mid-price FA for the returner/speed guy position and at DE.

 

I could be wrong and they might prioritize bringing back Hughes or Addison - I don't think they had the development that they want from the young guys at DE yet.

 

Holistically I agree on the above. Our current FA and cap situation is basically a ton of guys we would love to keep around, but no must haves. It will be a balancing act this year for sure. 
 

I think this is one of those tipping points some franchises run into. I don’t know why but it feels like margin for error this year with our FA group, restructures, and the draft, is razor thin. More so than usual. 

[ColoradoBills]

1 minute ago, Mango said:

I would like one more year of Morse with somebody in the middle of the draft to develop for a year. But we do have some room here. Feliciano has filled in at center well (serviceable?) in the past. So Mitch taking care of his brain wouldn’t break the OL. 
 

Holistically I agree on the above. Our current FA and cap situation is basically a ton of guys we would love to keep around, but no must haves. It will be a balancing act this year for sure. 
 

I think this is one of those tipping points some franchises run into. I don’t know why but it feels like margin for error this year with our FA group, restructures, and the draft, is razor thin. More so than usual. 

 

I swear I couldn't agree with your 3 points quoted more.  Please copy this and re-post every time it's needed, and I will "like" it every time.

[strive_for_five_guy]

2 hours ago, CountDorkula said:

Based on the simple tools they have i opened up 25 mil in cap space fairly easily.

 

Restructured Stefon Diggs
(Saved: $5,745,000)

Restructured Tre'Davious White
(Saved: $6,686,250)

Restructured Dion Dawkins
(Saved: $4,730,000)

Released Cole Beasley
(Saved: $6,070,576)

Released Tyler Matakevich
(Saved: $2,500,000)

Released Matt Haack
(Saved: $1,200,000)

Unless Beasley agrees to a significant restructure, I agree that he is Release Candidate #1.  Even then, the Bills may be ready to move on.

 

[Mango]

31 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

I swear I couldn't agree with your 3 points quoted more.  Please copy this and re-post every time it's needed, and I will "like" it every time.

Will do. I love my fake internet points.
 

I actually don’t use the “agree” button ever. It doesn’t give anybody their +1. I am fully aware that that is a completely absurd thing to do. But whatever. Ha

[JaCrispy]

Well, this sucks...was hoping to add an impact player or two...

[ColoradoBills]

5 minutes ago, Mango said:

Will do. I love my fake internet points.
 

I actually don’t use the “agree” button ever. It doesn’t give anybody their +1. I am fully aware that that is a completely absurd thing to do. But whatever. Ha

 

Since they don't put the points up next to your Avatar anymore, I guess it doesn't matter.

LOL.

[Mango]

2 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

Well, this sucks...was hoping to add an impact player or two...

I think the smart move long term is to treat FA with a “don’t lose ground” approach. Keep and restructure who we need to to make sure the OL, DB, and DL groups don’t get worse. 
 

We absolutely NEED more impact week 1 from our top 100 picks. 
 

Oliver is becoming really disruptive. Philips is better than the JAG designation he had a year or two ago. Basham has come on late (kind of), Rousseau has been OK. But we need guys picked as top 100 college players to enter the league and be more disruptive in their performance. 

[78thealltimegreat]

By free agency we should have around 30 million to spend with restructures and such

We should easily be able to attract a free agent or two on 1 year deals to play with Josh 

[Mango]

1 minute ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

Since they don't put the points up next to your Avatar anymore, I guess it doesn't matter.

LOL.

I guess. But I still know. And that’s enough for me. I’m an irrational arse. 

[Reed83HOF]

2 hours ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

A guy like Williams is tricky.  After paying Dead Cap they save $5.6M.

I'm not sure you get replacement player who is a big upgrade for that money.

Williams played fine at og, he gets a restructure or another year added to move the money around

[Saint Doug]

CB2 or guard can be selected in Rd 1 or 2. We then need to add another decent guard in FA. I don’t think we need another WR besides Davis and Diggs. McKenzie if he wants to sign for a discount. Otherwise, I’m sure we can draft his clone in Rd 3 or 4. I would like another TE to complement Knox. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

2 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

I expect most of these moves, but they aren’t as clean as they look.  Diggs will almost certainly want a pay raise and/or extension so the savings  probably will be somewhat different.  Players like Beasley, Haack and Matakevich will need to be replaced and that’s not free.  Our WR corps without Beasley is pretty much just Diggs and Davis.  I think Beasley gets swapped out for another vet and we draft another WR.  That vet will cost something.

 

There are plenty of other needs as well, starting with CB2.  The good news is that, as you point out, we can create space.  The bad news is that we are going to need it. 

Diggs already got a raise.  I think he’d rather a Ring

[Donuts and Doritos]

2 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

How many players do we have under contract?  Our cap space need to be weighed along with that.

 

also

 

No other way around it....when you start paying a  unicorn QB you HAVE to draft well no more 2nd round picks sitting on the DNP and hardly giving any production.

Here is a link to a list of our 16 free agents to factor in:

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/buffalo-bills/

[Reed83HOF]

2 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

I expect most of these moves, but they aren’t as clean as they look.  Diggs will almost certainly want a pay raise and/or extension so the savings  probably will be somewhat different.  Players like Beasley, Haack and Matakevich will need to be replaced and that’s not free.  Our WR corps without Beasley is pretty much just Diggs and Davis.  I think Beasley gets swapped out for another vet and we draft another WR.  That vet will cost something.

 

There are plenty of other needs as well, starting with CB2.  The good news is that, as you point out, we can create space.  The bad news is that we are going to need it. 

It's going to be tight and we do have to watch how the restructures will impact future years. It comes down to what year or 2 you push the chips in, knowing that you will have one year where the bill comes due and you have to time that right. 

 

CB is not going to be a simple position to fill and I'm fairly certain Levi is gone, unless he takes quite a bit less...

[John from Riverside]

1 minute ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

Here is a link to a list of our 16 free agents to factor in:

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/buffalo-bills/

Need to get Ryan Bates under contract.....I thought we found a good formula towards the end of the year....then draft a Bates like OG

[Reed83HOF]

1 hour ago, The Wiz said:

True, but then article then says it gives them 10.9m in cap space for next season. 

 

Unless this is after the 11 players signed to future contracts. 

IIRC, the 10.9m is based on the contracts falling off the books. The difference of the sum of the top 51 under contract plus the roll over plus the dead cap and then deducted from the cap of $208m. 

[Reed83HOF]

14 minutes ago, Saint Doug said:

CB2 or guard can be selected in Rd 1 or 2. We then need to add another decent guard in FA. I don’t think we need another WR besides Davis and Diggs. McKenzie if he wants to sign for a discount. Otherwise, I’m sure we can draft his clone in Rd 3 or 4. I would like another TE to complement Knox. 

Seems like you fail to recall what we need with a wr and knowing the route trees and making reads and adjustments and being on the same page as Josh, hard for a rookie to do. This is one reason why Davis didn't play a whole ton this year and we brought in Sanders. 

 

We are at the stage where we will lose depth, which is why this year was a great year for us to run it back, unfortunately we came up short. We have to be very careful about who gets swapped out and how many players you end up replacing in key positions. One of the things that makes our offense great is being able to spread the ball around, depth can't be taken away from there, you just can't expect a rookie to jump right in....

18 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Diggs already got a raise.  I think he’d rather a Ring

A diggs extension will knock his cap number down

[Dr.Mantis_Toboggan]

If we move forward with the assumption that Gabe is now the undisputed #2 WR, then I'd like to see them add Jamison Crowder to fill the Beasley role for the next couple years.  Coming off a couple seasons with the Jets, he should be able to be had for a decent price and providing he can stay healthy, would likely be an upgrade over Beasley moving forward as Cole's play has trended in the wrong direction, fast.

[BarleyNY]

27 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Diggs already got a raise.  I think he’d rather a Ring

Lol.  It’s always so hilarious to read fans say that players should - or even better yet, WANT to - be paid millions less than what they are worth so that the team can get a ring.  But let’s get some stuff straight first.   Diggs did not get a raise.  The Bills converted some of his 2021 salary into a signing bonus to free up cap space.  He did not get any more money.  Also despite being a top 5 WR he is currently 17th in AAV.  That position will drop further after free agency, even after Amari Cooper gets cut.  Diggs should be comfortably top 10 at least.

 

Why should he take less than he’s worth?  So another player can get paid more?  So YOU can have a marginally better chance at seeing the Bills win a championship?  You want a man to give up eight figures for that?  And you want him to do it to play with a QB that didn’t give up a dime on his new contract (nor should he have)?  Please.  The man is one of the best WRs in the game (just ask anyone on this board) and he deserves to be paid as such.

[BarleyNY]

43 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

It's going to be tight and we do have to watch how the restructures will impact future years. It comes down to what year or 2 you push the chips in, knowing that you will have one year where the bill comes due and you have to time that right. 

 

CB is not going to be a simple position to fill and I'm fairly certain Levi is gone, unless he takes quite a bit less...

I hope that we are nowhere near pushing the chips in.  The Bills overspent in some places and now you’re right, it is gonna be tight.  They have to be smarter and draft better going forward or they will have to make that decision on pushing in sooner than we’d like.  Here’s hoping we can be more like the Steelers and Ravens rather than the Eagles in that regard. 
 

I agree on Levi.  Some team will pay him.  The Bills should be quiet during the first wave (or two) of free agency.  They have to find a corner there though.  And then probably another somewhere in the draft.  I worry about when Tre will be back and rounded into form next season.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

48 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

Lol.  It’s always so hilarious to read fans say that players should - or even better yet, WANT to - be paid millions less than what they are worth so that the team can get a ring.  But let’s get some stuff straight first.   Diggs did not get a raise.  The Bills converted some of his 2021 salary into a signing bonus to free up cap space.  He did not get any more money.  Also despite being a top 5 WR he is currently 17th in AAV.  That position will drop further after free agency, even after Amari Cooper gets cut.  Diggs should be comfortably top 10 at least.

 

Why should he take less than he’s worth?  So another player can get paid more?  So YOU can have a marginally better chance at seeing the Bills win a championship?  You want a man to give up eight figures for that?  And you want him to do it to play with a QB that didn’t give up a dime on his new contract (nor should he have)?  Please.  The man is one of the best WRs in the game (just ask anyone on this board) and he deserves to be paid as such.

lol…it’s always hilarious to read people that don’t understand contracts… or restructuring incentives into bonuses mean, or well business…. 

Or that lash out against incorrect inferences they make themselves 

[Reed83HOF]

51 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

I hope that we are nowhere near pushing the chips in.  The Bills overspent in some places and now you’re right, it is gonna be tight.  They have to be smarter and draft better going forward or they will have to make that decision on pushing in sooner than we’d like.  Here’s hoping we can be more like the Steelers and Ravens rather than the Eagles in that regard. 
 

I agree on Levi.  Some team will pay him.  The Bills should be quiet during the first wave (or two) of free agency.  They have to find a corner there though.  And then probably another somewhere in the draft.  I worry about when Tre will be back and rounded into form next season.

Oh we definitely have to worry about when Tre will be back and how well he will hold up over the season. It is a large concern of mine...

 

When I say push the chips in, I mean load up for a 1 to 2 year run (with some older fellas) and have 1 down year the following season with the expiring contracts. Look at how the Pats changed their team over the course of Brady's career - that is a bit more where I was going with that...

[RyanC883]

trade Edmunds.  Replace with Klien.  Draft replacement.  

 

I'm not sure cutting Beasley is a great idea.  He was big in the KC game, and we have little depth beyond Diggs and Davis.  

 

We need to draft a WR, and hopefully get an impact front 7 player in FA.  

 

 

7 minutes ago, Reed83HOF said:

Oh we definitely have to worry about when Tre will be back and how well he will hold up over the season. It is a large concern of mine...

 

When I say push the chips in, I mean load up for a 1 to 2 year run (with some older fellas) and have 1 down year the following season with the expiring contracts. Look at how the Pats changed their team over the course of Brady's career - that is a bit more where I was going with that...

 

yeah, I'd love to get Wallace back, he had a similar PFF grade as Tre when Tre got hurt.  Jackson is a great backup, but I'm not sold on full time starter.  

[Reed83HOF]

11 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

trade Edmunds.  Replace with Klien.  Draft replacement.  

 

I'm not sure cutting Beasley is a great idea.  He was big in the KC game, and we have little depth beyond Diggs and Davis.  

 

We need to draft a WR, and hopefully get an impact front 7 player in FA.  

 

 

 

yeah, I'd love to get Wallace back, he had a similar PFF grade as Tre when Tre got hurt.  Jackson is a great backup, but I'm not sold on full time starter.  

 

It's a tight rope to walk this year, but we will have multiple windows through Josh's career. A drafted wr will need a year or 2 to be able to be effective enough to be a regular player. Beasley I just don't know what we do with, his cap # is too high and I'm not sure he would take a cut to stay. I also balance that out with his social media this season I would imagine both Beane and McD were not happy with it. We may draft a WR, but don't be surprised if we go the vet route again to buy a little time.

 

OL is a concern since we will lose Feliciano, Morse would be a huge loss. OL in FA don't hang around long and you always over pay in FA. This position much like CB get even more overpaid due to the time it takes to develop them and there aren't a million of the like wrs and rbs.

 

With tre going down, I'm certain the scheme changed a bit to limit Jackson's exposure. He certainly got better playing, but I'm not sure I want him to be cb2. I almost think this is the position you spend on in FA or via trade and get a little splashy.

 

Edit: we also can't turn a strength into a weakness and limit our passing game options. We build on our strengths there

Edited January 26, 2022 by Reed83HOF

[CaptnCoke11]

I love this time of year.. people saying to cut this or that player to create cap room only to over pay to bring in replacements… 

[purple haze]

3 hours ago, SoMAn said:

I don’t know when, why, or who started this whole ‘unicorn’ thing, but can we just stop it already. 😏

Allen is a Unicorn standing on top of a Pegasus.  Accept it.

19 minutes ago, RyanC883 said:

trade Edmunds.  Replace with Klien.  Draft replacement.  

 

I'm not sure cutting Beasley is a great idea.  He was big in the KC game, and we have little depth beyond Diggs and Davis.  

 

We need to draft a WR, and hopefully get an impact front 7 player in FA.  

 

 

 

yeah, I'd love to get Wallace back, he had a similar PFF grade as Tre when Tre got hurt.  Jackson is a great backup, but I'm not sold on full time starter.  

Replace Edmunds with Klein watch Bills defense get lit up in the pass game.  He’s a run down LB.  You want to replace Edmunds you don’t do it with a guy like Klein.  

[gobills404]

7 hours ago, Bills Maniac said:

Klein, are you kidding me.  He's been an awesome contributor when called upon.  He tied for the lead in sacks last year.  Don't blame him for them not putting him in on what should be countless packages as we love to live in Nickel and he's very good against the run and getting after the qb.  

 

[Aussie Joe]

3 hours ago, CaptnCoke11 said:

I love this time of year.. people saying to cut this or that player to create cap room only to over pay to bring in replacements… 

 

Or the replacement will be sitting there waiting for them to draft at the bottom of the 3rd and will be a starter off the bus 

[billsfan89]

4 hours ago, RyanC883 said:

trade Edmunds.  Replace with Klien.  Draft replacement.  

 

I'm not sure cutting Beasley is a great idea.  He was big in the KC game, and we have little depth beyond Diggs and Davis.  

 

We need to draft a WR, and hopefully get an impact front 7 player in FA.  

 

 

 

yeah, I'd love to get Wallace back, he had a similar PFF grade as Tre when Tre got hurt.  Jackson is a great backup, but I'm not sold on full time starter.  

 

If this team resigns Mac they can then either go with a veteran approach by signing someone like Sanders as a WR4 or they will have to draft a player in the first three rounds. Either way I like Beasley but I can see him as a cap casualty or they have to not resign Mac possibly. Lots of little decision to make on the roster. 

[Adam727]

Trade Edmunds (not because I think he's a bad player), use the pick we get to draft his replacement, use the $12.5 mil savings to re-sign McKenzie, Bates, Wallace, Phillips, and if possible Hughes.

 

I really hope the Bills don't restructure too many players to free up space, that just pushes the problem to next year when we have even more FAs we need to sign and Josh's contract jumps up even higher.  

[Punching Bag]

11 hours ago, CountDorkula said:

Based on the simple tools they have i opened up 25 mil in cap space fairly easily.

Released Cole Beasley
(Saved: $6,070,576)

Released Tyler Matakevich
(Saved: $2,500,000)

Released Matt Haack
(Saved: $1,200,000)

 

Did you add in cost for replacements?

[Aussie Joe]

2 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

 

Or the replacement will be sitting there waiting for them to draft at the bottom of the 3rd and will be a starter off the bus 

 

This is kinda my point... What draft  value do you think Edmonds will have in when the new team also has to pay the guy $12 m... Are you confident you are drafting his replacement with the draft pick you get back ?

 

2 hours ago, Adam727 said:

Trade Edmunds (not because I think he's a bad player), use the pick we get to draft his replacement, use the $12.5 mil savings to re-sign McKenzie, Bates, Wallace, Phillips, and if possible Hughes.

 

  

 

[Dr.Sack]

We can make moves to free up $ from releasing players who have aged out, and replacing with younger guys.
 

Keep looking for offensive weapons & defensive playmakers in the draft like CB, Edge, TE, WR. We can find serviceable depth at OL, DL, LB. 

 

At the same time we need to find a new OC in the likelihood Daboll lands a HC job. Promoting Dorsey seems logical provided Schoen doesn’t poach him. 

[Adam727]

1 hour ago, Aussie Joe said:

 

This is kinda my point... What draft  value do you think Edmonds will have in when the new team also has to pay the guy $12 m... Are you confident you are drafting his replacement with the draft pick you get back ?

 

 

He was the starting MLB on *statistically* the #1 defense in the NFL this year and he's only 23 years old.  Am I off base thinking the Bills could get a mid to high 2nd round pick for him from a team that is rebuilding with a bunch of cap space?  

[Aussie Joe]

1 minute ago, Adam727 said:

He was the starting MLB on *statistically* the #1 defense in the NFL this year and he's only 23 years old.  Am I off base thinking the Bills could get a mid to high 2nd round pick for him from a team that is rebuilding with a bunch of cap space?  

 

Yes ...

 

I always like to flip these hypotheticals ...if he played elsewhere . . Would you want the Bills to give up a second round for him and pay him $12 m for a 1 yr rental?

[All I Need is Hope]

One playmaker on offense (elite speed/shiftiness - could be a RB or WR) and one playmaker on defense (edge, CB, big/disruptive DT) would be my dream off-season.

 

Agree with poster who said that we continue to get beat by Hill, Kelce and Mahomes.  We're damn near even with the Chiefs across the board, talent-wise, but not playmaker-wise.