JoeF Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 From CB: CASH TO CAP 101: The reason why I don't believe Clements, Fletcher or Kelsay will be re-signed is because the money they will be offered on the open market will be too exhorbitant to justify the Bills spending that kind of real cash. Clements is likely to get a bonus in the $15-$20 million range. Fletcher is likely looking at a bonus in the $8-$10 million range and Kelsay could fit somewhere in the $5-$10 million area. So if you take that guaranteed money on the low end and add them together, 15+8+5=28 million. You've re-signed your top three guys, but you haven't addressed the offensive or defensive lines and if the Bills tender just two restricted free agents at the low tender ($850K) that's another $1.7 million and you're done. I asked Marv and he confirmed that their approach will be more narrow in free agency and the number of free agents signed will be less (4 or 5 probably). That means maybe one big name acquisition and the rest likely second tier players that can help. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ So I don't especially like the fact that we aren't considering amoritization of bonuses--especially when you consider that the cap will rise each year allowing you to absorb some of the amoritization. I think there probably is a wink-wink with Littman and Ralph that if the right guy is there we go for it. I also think there is probably some instruction to get creative--particularly on the lines--maybe some guaranteed years and tiered bonuses with the gauranteed money being spread over more time. A smart agent and financial advisor can leverage these scenarios to tax advantages for the player. I think I see some financial creativity on the horizon in our contracts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Chris Brown has it all wrong. You don't add the signing bonuses together; you amortize them and add them to base salary. Clements' cap hit for 2007 even assuming he gets all $15-20M in one chunk shouldn't be more than $3.5M, assuming a 7-year contract, not $15M as CB contends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted February 16, 2007 Author Share Posted February 16, 2007 Chris Brown has it all wrong. You don't add the signing bonuses together; you amortize them and add them to base salary. Clements' cap hit for 2007 even assuming he gets all $15-20M in one chunk shouldn't be more than $3.5M, assuming a 7-year contract, not $15M as CB contends. Mad--I think the instruction is from Ralph is not to consider amoritization...the Bills aren't following the system--they are dealing only in real dollars -- read the accompanying articles on bb.com...its not great--but its what we have to deal with--and I think they can make it work if they get creative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheRocks Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Mad--I think the instruction is from Ralph is not to consider amoritization...the Bills aren't following the system--they are dealing only in real dollars -- read the accompanying articles on bb.com...its not great--but its what we have to deal with--and I think they can make it work if they get creative. this has left me scratching my head. if Ralph is worried about money, and if something happens in the area of "money sharing" among the owners it is more likely to happen down the road rather than right now.....why wouldn't he amoritize the bonuses? Makes no sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 They are thinking of it in terms of real dollars--do they want to dole out almost 30M in cash this year? That probably puts them financially in the red. However, as long as the money is guaranteed do the players really care? If you guarantee Clements 18M as opposed to an 18M signing bonus it is essentially the same thing. They could pay it out over 3 yrs (in addition to his usual salary) so he gets 6M extra each yr in bonus money--as long as it is guaranteed cash they probably don't care. That way if he is injured or cut he still gets a big pile of cash. Fletcher is good and I don't think you pay a 32 yo MLB huge money--just not a lot of value in that. Maybe for 3-4M a yr but not with a 10M SB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyJay1234 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 This all but guarantees the Bills losing Nate Clements to free agency. Even if he were to agree to a 12 million signing bonus that eats up 40% of the available cap dollars. This approach is idiotic. Unless they are willing to look at the cash to the cap and not include bonuses already i.e Spikes and that money is freed up then it is a different ballgame but I doubt Cheap ass Ralph would play by those rules. So a 7-9 team loses a shut down corner, middle lb locker room leader and somehow we are to believe that this is a better football team. Would someone please pass me the Kool aid and I will be ready to believe again.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike formerly from Florida Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 They are thinking of it in terms of real dollars--do they want to dole out almost 30M in cash this year? That probably puts them financially in the red. However, as long as the money is guaranteed do the players really care? If you guarantee Clements 18M as opposed to an 18M signing bonus it is essentially the same thing. They could pay it out over 3 yrs (in addition to his usual salary) so he gets 6M extra each yr in bonus money--as long as it is guaranteed cash they probably don't care. That way if he is injured or cut he still gets a big pile of cash. Fletcher is good and I don't think you pay a 32 yo MLB huge money--just not a lot of value in that. Maybe for 3-4M a yr but not with a 10M SB. Absolutely..Cash to Cap means, I believe, real $ spending versus the formulaic spending used for the cap consumption rules. Marv has already said they will spend $105MM on players either to resign or bring in new guys. This can translate into a lower cap # (i.e., $92mm) which will leave us still way under the cap budget, but the $105MM probably represents where Ralph and Overdorf have capped their real $$ budget in order to come in the black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 This all but guarantees the Bills losing Nate Clements to free agency. Even if he were to agree to a 12 million signing bonus that eats up 40% of the available cap dollars. This approach is idiotic. Unless they are willing to look at the cash to the cap and not include bonuses already i.e Spikes and that money is freed up then it is a different ballgame but I doubt Cheap ass Ralph would play by those rules. So a 7-9 team loses a shut down corner, middle lb locker room leader and somehow we are to believe that this is a better football team. Would someone please pass me the Kool aid and I will be ready to believe again.... I guess you missed the latest party line. We don't need good players because we use a Cover-2 Defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyJay1234 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 I guess you missed the latest party line. We don't need good players because we use a Cover-2 Defense. Cover 2 my ass... Well I guess if we count the money in Canadian dollars that might actually constrain us further. Ralph is now stating that the Bills will only spend 109 million Canadian. What does that translate to when talking cash to the cap?? We now are over the cap.. sh--! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLuca1967 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Absolutely..Cash to Cap means, I believe, real $ spending versus the formulaic spending used for the cap consumption rules. Marv has already said they will spend $105MM on players either to resign or bring in new guys. This can translate into a lower cap # (i.e., $92mm) which will leave us still way under the cap budget, but the $105MM probably represents where Ralph and Overdorf have capped their real $$ budget in order to come in the black. BullZhit! Ralph isn't paying a penny out of pocket. NFL salaries are paid by the TV Revenues. And all "Guaranteed" monies come out of the TV revenue at some point. It looks like Ralph is preparing this team for sale and a move. By not having any future TV monies committed it makes the Bills an even better bargain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloRebound Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 What a load of crap. If they don't want to count amortiozed bonuses, then you need to add $20m to the estimated $30m under the cap as the team will only be spending $50m in cash to players in 2007 so far. That means the Bills have $50m to spend on signing bonuses and salaries of free agents. If they are going to throw terms around like 'cash to cap', use it consistently and don't insult our intelligence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyJay1234 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 What a load of crap. If they don't want to count amortiozed bonuses, then you need to add $20m to the estimated $30m under the cap as the team will only be spending $50m in cash to players in 2007 so far. That means the Bills have $50m to spend on signing bonuses and salaries of free agents. If they are going to throw terms around like 'cash to cap', use it consistently and don't insult our intelligence. You do have a choice. STOP BUYING TICKETS!! I know, I know you need to support your team but at some point the only way to send a message to management is to stop going to the games. In Indiana the Pacers are a disgrace and fans have stopped going as frequently. It has sent a clear message. Clean your sh-- up Pacers... I can tell you the Pacers management is well aware of how the fans feel. Bills fans need to do the same or enjoy another playoffless year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Translation: The team will not be spending the amount of up front money necessary to retain or attract top tier free agents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 this has left me scratching my head.if Ralph is worried about money, and if something happens in the area of "money sharing" among the owners it is more likely to happen down the road rather than right now.....why wouldn't he amoritize the bonuses? Makes no sense to me. It is another way of saying that we are not going to spend up to the cap limit. Signing up to the cap limit will mean that Wilson would have to shelve out more than 40M. Either he does not have that kind of liquid cash or is refusing to part with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Translation: The team will not be spending the amount of up front money necessary to retain or attract top tier free agents. Which makes this draft all the more crucial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLuca1967 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 It is another way of saying that we are not going to spend up to the cap limit. Signing up to the cap limit will mean that Wilson would have to shelve out more than 40M. Either he does not have that kind of liquid cash or is refusing to part with it. Which means the Bills will stop competing? Is this nothing more than Ralph taking his ball and going home? He will only spend the money the NFL gives him upfront? It sounds just like what the Brown family was doing in Cincy. Which is why they have only had 1 winning season in 16 seasons. and that one came after they decided to spend some money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlamnSam Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 It’s just too bad. I understand teams like Philly and New England are very strict with their dollars. Maybe Ralph is getting some ideas from the way they run their companies. My gut feeling is that he is getting ready to get rid of this team. He has become a real complainer and it is pointing to someone who is ready to get his big cash and get out. I still bought my season tickets for this year. A championship team is one that overcomes all obstacles. It will all be up to the players as I believe Ralph is going to ride this team whatever way it goes. If it does poorly he can always say he did the best he could and blame it on the rest of the big market teams. If it wins a championship he can say he had the master plan. Either way this dude is getting out of the football team business. He has done a lot for the NFL in his years he has been around. When you start whining and stop finding ways to make it happen, then its time for you to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
generaLee83 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 BullZhit! Ralph isn't paying a penny out of pocket. NFL salaries are paid by the TV Revenues. And all "Guaranteed" monies come out of the TV revenue at some point. It looks like Ralph is preparing this team for sale and a move. By not having any future TV monies committed it makes the Bills an even better bargain. Your assessment is bleak but for once I agree with you. Something funky is in the making with the Bills and an the fact that they basically don't want to spend any money carries alot of weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daquixers_is_back Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 AKA ... we will be entering the season with 20+ mill in cap space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACor58 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Which makes this draft all the more crucial. That is how great teams are built my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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