Takeo Spikes

[ghz in pittsburgh]

I was fully expecting the Bills to bring Spikes back next year to see if he can get back to close to his old self. I understand that his contract was front loaded - more than a third of the money went in the first two years of his 6 year contract.

Now I read somewhere that he has a $6 million roster bonus due this year (can someone on this board confirm this?). Wow does that change things!

For a $6 million signing bonus, the Bills can get a proven D-Line or O-Line help that can be counted on. So unless Spikes agrees to defer this roster bonus to some time like late September, I can see the Bills cut him out right.

[YardRat]

Re: Takeo Spikes

As far as I know, the only extra monies due to Spikes this year is possibly a $100k roster bonus. If clump doesn't have it on his cap page, the details of the contract are on another Bill's site, I believe.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Takeo Spikes

Nope... No roster bonus is due... But his $4.5M salary may make him an ex Bill.

[Historian]

Re: Takeo Spikes

If it were my decision, I would cut my losses here.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Re: Takeo Spikes

For 4.5, I'd keep him.

[Dr. Lecter]

Re: Takeo Spikes

Nope... No roster bonus is due... But his $4.5M salary may make him an ex Bill.

Except they really won't save anything by cutting him. Between the cap hit for the remaining un-accounted for bonus and signing a replacement, they save next to nothing or actually lose cap space.

[Dr. Lecter]

Re: Takeo Spikes

If it were my decision, I would cut my losses here.

And replace him with whom?

[jamze132]

Re: Takeo Spikes

I think it would be a mistake to cut Takeo since we are about to lose two veterans, three if you count Kelsay. Besides, I am interested to see how he responds next year while having a normal offseason.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Re: Takeo Spikes

WHY CUT HIM??? I don't get it? I say move him inside and we are fine. He will get better. Cowart took an entire year to get closer to his former self. He probably won't ever be as good as before but could be solid!

[Night Train]

Re: Takeo Spikes

I don't care if his salary is 20 mil and we can afford to carry it.

It's about on field production and why we sucked so bad at stopping the run. He WAS part of that problem.

I own his jersey and think the world of the guy but the eyes don't lie from the stands. He was a shell of himself this season and additional injuries began to mount. Missed a lot of snaps again.

I'm encourgaed a bit by his last couple of games but his explosion and superior lateral movement was non-existent. He missed a ton of tackles as teams were smart to run sweeps to his side. RB's had little problem cutting back inside from him, as he struggled badly to plant his feet. Many games, he was painfully slow and I wonder how much more he would have been pulled in favor of Ellison if Crowell wasn't hurt.

I want to believe he's returning to form but being on the wrong side of 30 with additional injuries showing up means the Bills staff WILL take a hard look at him this off-season. The staff is build a core of young players and rookies were everywhere on the field last season. Think about that. He might want a change himself, after watching friends like Vincent and now Fletcher depart.

Let's see how the off-season plays out first.

[alohabillsfan]

Re: Takeo Spikes

Except they really won't save anything by cutting him. Between the cap hit for the remaining un-accounted for bonus and signing a repalcement, they save next to nothing or actually lose cap space.

Clump help me out!

Spikes contract is for 6 yrs 32 million. His base for those 6 years is 21 million which leaves 11 in bonuses, not sure if he had an 11 million signing bonus or if there is a 2nd tier bonus incorporated into this contract? According to one website it reported that TS recieved a 9 Mil SB so that would mean that there is 2 million out there somewhere (it could have been a RB already given to him in a previous year of the contract). His cap hit is anywhere from 5.83 to 7.83 million.

[Dr. Lecter]

Re: Takeo Spikes

He has small yearly roster and workout bonus amounts.

[bloch1ef7]

Re: Takeo Spikes

I'd keep him and go with Spikes Crowell Ellison.

[Saratoga Slim]

Re: Takeo Spikes

I'd keep him and go with Spikes Crowell Ellison.

I'd keep him too. It'll be criminal if we let him go and he ends up with someone else in anywhere near his old form. But nonetheless, Spikes-Crowell-Ellison scares me, considering what we have waiting on the bench. At minimum I'd add a MLB through the draft or FA as insurance.

[madness]

Re: Takeo Spikes

I'm pretty confident Spikes will come back strong next year and agree it will probably end up being Spikes, Crowell, & Ellison. That doesn't bother me at all because I have full confidence Marv will address the depth issue in the offseason and through the draft.

I wish moving Spikes back to weak was an option. It could be the step needed to remove any mental hurdles he's facing from his injury by giving him the chance to play strictly on instinct again. Unfortunately this is probably not an option because of Ellison's size.