bills_fan Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Lets hear what you have to say...here's mine. OK, its not as bad as you think. The big problem I have is that Teflon Tom may be trying to do it. First, lets address the cap. Right now the Bills are 8 mil under the projected 06 cap. The rest of the division is over, by at least 8 mil (NE) to 30 mil (NYJ). Add to the cap the potential saving of cutting Moulds, Mike Williams, Bennie Anderson, Sam Adams and Jeff Posey. If you add up the saving from those cuts (all made pre-June 1) you would end up with approximately 7-8 mil in additional cap space, as well as a boatload of dead money on the 06 cap. As an aside, I have no problem taking the dead money right on the 06 cap, fixing what we can, and using the money in 06 to extend the players who will be here long term (JP, Evans etc.) and fill one or two holes in 06. Re-signing Trey Teague or Josh Reed are not an option. Thus, we end up with approximately 16 million in cap space. With our new-found riches, we have a myriad of positions to fill. Chief among them are DT, LT, CB and WR. The best FA LT available is Jeff Backus from Detroit. He is an Unrestricted Free Agent and all we have to do is pay him, and he's ours. The new collective bargaining rules limit the amount of time a bonus can be spread out to 4 years. Thus, I believe that we could get him for something like a 5 year, 40 mil deal, with 12 up front as a SB. His cap number for 06 would be around 7, not bad for your starting LT, leaving us approximately 9 mil left. Now, on to CB. We cannot franchise Nate Clements. We can sign him long term, but by franchising him, all of our remaining cap money would be eaten up. Signing Nate will be a matter of if Nate wants to sign in Buffalo & if we offer him the cash. Personally, I don't think he wants to be here. So, bye Nate. That leaves us in the 2nd tier CB market. We could sign Will Allen off the Giants for 1/2 the money it would take to sign Nate, and still have cash left-over. He's not as good, but with the new rules regarding illegal contact etc., no CB is, so why pay the money. Next is WR. Evans is a great deep threat, Parrish can be elusive, but what we really need is a reliable possession receiver. Since Moulds has to be replaced, many will advocate for Reggie Wayne, but he'll cost too much. The interesting choice is David Givens. He's not flashy, just reliable, and weakens the Patsies, since they can't afford to sign him. He's eat up the bulk of our remaining cap space, but would be a reliable target for JP. DT - For starters, I would offer both Ron Edwards and Justin Bannan identical small contracts and see which one bites. Whichever bites, we'll sign for depth purposes as our 4th DT. Now, our D has been missing a two-gap DT since letting Phat Pat walk (Thanks Donohoe you jackass). Since huge DT's in their prime are expensive, and rarely become available, Corey Simon being the exception (Thanks Donohoe you jackass), a different approach is necessary. Perhaps the signing of a veteran DT, who is coming off a couple of injury plauged years, but can still be effective in a limited role is the way to go...perhaps Grady Jackson from the Packers. Jackson is 6'5" and 345. He doesn't move much. Nor can the opposing OL move him much. He is just what we need. Because he's 33, he may be looking for one more decent contract. I'll bet we can get him at 3 years 9 mil, with 3 mil up front. Thats only a 3 mil cap hit, for a guy who will play all 1st downs and some 2nd downs. That would be just about all of our remaining cap room, except for the draft. The draft... our 1st round pick should be used on one of the two great available DTs, either Haloti Ngata of Oregon or Gabe Watson of Michigan, either of whom will be available with our 1st round pick. Our 2nd round pick should be used to address the deficiency at LG. The Bills are the only team in the league without a starting OL that they drafted (Thanks Donohoe you jackass), so lets change that. Charles Spencer of Pitt or Davin Joseph of Oklahoma would look real good here, and both should be available within the first 10 picks of the 2nd round. Now, we have 2 third round picks due to the Titans stupidly dealing for Travis Henry. We need a SS to groom to take over for Milloy in 06, a potential MLB to take over for London after 07, and a more reliable backup RB. At this point, take your pick. Thus, according to my plan, the 06 Bills would look something like this.... WR - Evans, Givens, Parrish, Aiken RB - McGahee, Williams, Draft Pick FB - Shelton QB - Losman, Holcomb LT - Backus LG - 2nd Round Draft Pick C - Duke Preston RG - Villarial RT - Peters DE - Schobel, Kelsay, Denney DT - Grady Jackson, 1st Round Pick, Tim Anderson, Edwards or Bannan OLB - Spikes, Crowell (now starting), Haggan MLB - Fletcher CB - McGee, Allen, Greer, King S - Vincent, Milloy Problem is, we need someone to coach this team. While I'd love to dump Mularkey, that won't happen. I do think Tom Clements will be dumped, for a new Offensive Coordinator who can run the friggin ball. I think Gray comes back. With respect to Donahoe, he's gone. The title of President is given to Russ Brandon (currently marketing director) and Modrak becomes the GM. The business and football operations become separated. Thats my 06 plan. It should be decent. Then in 07, we'll have the necessary cap space to solve the Milloy problem if the 3rd round pick doesn't work out, possibly get the ultimate successor to Fletcher with a 1st round pick, and take care of some extensions. Problem is if jackass Donahoe is in Buffalo, I don't think any of it will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cale Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Everything sounds reasonable - but "iffy" - cause the numbers are tight. If the numbers work out - I think that's a reasonable plan. I think the Russ Brandon call is great call. The guy's a genius - homegrown and everything... Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Don't forget the $4M extra cap space you get when Brain Dead Drew's dead cap hit falls off.(Thanks Donohoe you jackass) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnykterstein Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 WR - Evans, Givens, Parrish, Aiken oh my, thats the worst recieving corps we've ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 Everything sounds reasonable - but "iffy" - cause the numbers are tight. If the numbers work out - I think that's a reasonable plan. They're tight because of the boatload of dead money. If we can get low 1st year base salaries, and then increase from there, we'll be OK. oh my, thats the worst recieving corps we've ever had. I agree it looks better with Moulds, but not at that number. And David Givens is a very good WR, plus it weakens the Patsies. As the Patsis have shown, you don't need a "name" WR crops to be successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaDairis Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Jeff Backus is not a top caliber OLT and one of the reasons why the Lions offense cannot get it together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfanone Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Isn't Tom Clements leaving for a college team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cale Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Isn't Tom Clements leaving for a college team? 522652[/snapback] He withdrew his name from consideration for the Temple job...I still think he's gone though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfanone Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Ah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like A Mofo Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Isn't Tom Clements leaving for a college team? 522652[/snapback] We can only hope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 Jeff Backus is not a top caliber OLT and one of the reasons why the Lions offense cannot get it together. Actually, Detroit's line has been suprisingly very good at pass protection. Last week tehre was a thread regarding fewest sacks allowed per pass attempt. The Lions are right there near the top of the league the last 4-5 years. I have to believe their LT is one of the reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 That was a very good post. I have always been intrigued by Backus, but I don't know if I would prefer him to a long term, first round stud. I do like all of you cuts. Good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbyte Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 What makes you think they will come here? Are we close to a super bowl. Will not other teams be looking at these players. Don't we have 19 players to re-sign? Where do we get all this bonus money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 What makes you think they will come here? They'll go where the money is (See Jennings, Jonas). Also, we do still have some vets who can recruit, like Troy Vincent. Are we close to a super bowl. Ummm, no. Will not other teams be looking at these players. Sure, but there are several CBs and WRs better than the guys I suggested out there, Jackson is on the downside, that leaves Backus as the only premium guy for us to go and get. Don't we have 19 players to re-sign? Not in my eyes. Where do we get all this bonus money? Our season ticket base is the highest its been since 93, and as much as I dislike Donohoe, that jackass, he has the team in a stable financial situation. Plus, I don't think at 87 years old, Wilson will be cheap about anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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