jahnyc Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 The Bills have traded or allowed to exit via free agency the following players: Clements, Fletcher, McGahee, Spikes and Holcomb. I understand that some of these players were free agents, but if you add up the 2006 compensation for these players and compare it to the 2007 compensation (assuming the bonuses are amortized, which they are not) of the three players brought it in (and Kelsay), it is close to a wash. We had a lot of cap room to find replacements, but the problem is cash to cap. The Bills are counting a significant chunk of the the bonus money to be paid to the free agents signed or re-signed this year in the 2007 cap. As a result, we have the worst of both worlds, you allow some quality players to depart, and the free agents that the Bills sign count an inordinate amount against the cap for the 2007 season, which does not allow the the Bills the ability to sign players to replace the departing players. It is a system that penalizes the Bills for signing free agents. Another effect of cash to cap is that the Bills will be very far under next year's cap as well. While I see the rationale behind some of these moves, a team cannot improve if they do not find replacements for the quality players that leave. The draft will offer the opportunity to develop depth and hopefully at least one starter, but it will be very difficult to replicate last year's draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStranger76 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Cash to cap=RJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills_Chick Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 duh. we are a small market team. deal with it. draft or bust baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 yawn </thread> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanInSouthBuffalo Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 It is a system that penalizes the Bills for signing free agents. Another effect of cash to cap is that the Bills will be very far under next year's cap as well. No they won't. Let's wait and see how this offseason progresses. They are re-shaping the team right now and I think they plan is worked well so far. Spending money doesn't equal success, ask the Redskins. Bottom line, none of the players you mentioned about have brought us to the playoffs. Neither did Sam Adams, Drew Bledsoe, or Lawyer Milloy. Big name-high dollar free-agents don't always equal success. In our case I'd say the return on our investment was VERY poor. I'm at peace at the moment knowing the entire Bills organization seems to be on the same page as to how they want to shape this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 First of all, the Bills could have easily retained all of those players, at the expense of signing no one else. That would have been incredibly dumb. McGahee was a goner and a waste of space. Fletcher didn't fit the scheme. Spikes couldn't be counted-on to return to his pre-injury form. and Holcomb would have been 3rd string next year. As for Clements, it would have been nice to keep him. But for $80M, I shudder at the thought of him having a year like 2005, or the first half of 2006. Again the Bills could have easily outbid other teams for him, but decided to let him go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oneonta Buffalo Fan Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 The Bills have traded or allowed to exit via free agency the following players: Clements, Fletcher, McGahee, Spikes and Holcomb. I understand that some of these players were free agents, but if you add up the 2006 compensation for these players and compare it to the 2007 compensation (assuming the bonuses are amortized, which they are not) of the three players brought it in (and Kelsay), it is close to a wash. We had a lot of cap room to find replacements, but the problem is cash to cap. The Bills are counting a significant chunk of the the bonus money to be paid to the free agents signed or re-signed this year in the 2007 cap. As a result, we have the worst of both worlds, you allow some quality players to depart, and the free agents that the Bills sign count an inordinate amount against the cap for the 2007 season, which does not allow the the Bills the ability to sign players to replace the departing players. It is a system that penalizes the Bills for signing free agents. Another effect of cash to cap is that the Bills will be very far under next year's cap as well. While I see the rationale behind some of these moves, a team cannot improve if they do not find replacements for the quality players that leave. The draft will offer the opportunity to develop depth and hopefully at least one starter, but it will be very difficult to replicate last year's draft. You do realize Spikes and Fletcher we getting old right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 but it will be very difficult to replicate last year's draft. And why is that? If anything, it might be even more productive since there are more starting positions up for grabs with the exit of all the Vets. Some rookies are going to get some serious playing time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndirish1978 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Maybe now that revenue sharing passed we can afford to amortize bonuses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oneonta Buffalo Fan Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Cap to Cap is not hurting the team. 2 of the guys we got rid of Clements and McGahee had character issues and Fletcher and Spikes were getting old. Plus all these guys would have wanted big bucks come next offseason. I love that fact we are getting younger and finally getting rid of the last bits of the Donahoe regime. We keep only the GOOD CHARACTER players who still play well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahnyc Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 Since when did Clements have character issues? I can see trading Spikes or not re-signing Fletcher this year, but both? Ellison may have potential, but he is unproven. Crowell in the middle? Not sure, particularly after coming off a broken leg that ended his season last year. Who is the third starting lb, and where is the depth? Just because rookies get playing time does not mean that they will develop into quality players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Just because rookies get playing time does not mean that they will develop into quality players. Sure, but if last year's draft success is based on landing two quality starters and a handfull of immediate contributors, why can't that be repeated this year? Competition for playing time is going to be a big plus for this year's rookie class and a good draw for priority undrafted FAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMIEBUF12 Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 The Bills have traded or allowed to exit via free agency the following players: Clements, Fletcher, McGahee, Spikes and Holcomb. I understand that some of these players were free agents, but if you add up the 2006 compensation for these players and compare it to the 2007 compensation (assuming the bonuses are amortized, which they are not) of the three players brought it in (and Kelsay), it is close to a wash. We had a lot of cap room to find replacements, but the problem is cash to cap. The Bills are counting a significant chunk of the the bonus money to be paid to the free agents signed or re-signed this year in the 2007 cap. As a result, we have the worst of both worlds, you allow some quality players to depart, and the free agents that the Bills sign count an inordinate amount against the cap for the 2007 season, which does not allow the the Bills the ability to sign players to replace the departing players. It is a system that penalizes the Bills for signing free agents. Another effect of cash to cap is that the Bills will be very far under next year's cap as well. While I see the rationale behind some of these moves, a team cannot improve if they do not find replacements for the quality players that leave. The draft will offer the opportunity to develop depth and hopefully at least one starter, but it will be very difficult to replicate last year's draft. the only player the bills really lost in this whole cash to cap was nate clements.the bills could afford london fletcher if they wanted .the bills did not want london.marve already said as soon as the season ended he wanted a attacking linebacker.not a linebacker that gets jillions of tackles after the runningback ran for 6 yards.i am happy marv and tom modrak had the forsight to draft ashton youtboy last season.that aslo means that marv had a plan last offseason and stuck to it.i don't care how well nate plays this season.he is not worth 80 million dollars.........now the moves the bills made this offseason i thought were awesome.we rebuilt our offensive line.marv did in his second season what td never accomplished in his whole tenure here.posters think we created another hole today.to me it was obvious we are drafting a runningback and a linebacker.so now we get a player to help the defensive line(darwin walker).another hole gone.marv said from day one that the lines were the prioritys.man of his word.and the final stroke of genius was getting rid of that jackass willis mcgahee!the bills will be turning the page very soon.with last years killer draft and this years rebuilding the linesthis will be marked down as one of the most significant offseasons since bill polian was in charge.go marv and tom modrak and go bills in"07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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