"Spending cash up to the cap, not over the cap"

[ghz in pittsburgh]

To me, that means we are not going to giving out many big signing bonuses. Maybe they'll do one or two roster bonuses like Antoine Winfield got from the Vikings.

That way Ralph meets the cap requirement by spending up to the cap, yet not paying much cash out of his pocket like he did before with signing bonuses. This looks like a strategy that they decided in Florida.

[camelcowboy]

To me, that means we are not going to giving out many big signing bonuses. Maybe they'll do one or two roster bonuses like Antoine Winfield got from the Vikings.

That way Ralph meets the cap requirement by spending up to the cap, yet not paying much cash out of his pocket like he did before with signing bonuses. This looks like a strategy that they decided in Florida.

If they are paying one or two guys big bonus up front isn't that Wilson paying more out of his pocket?

[patmoran2006]

I have no idea.
What I do know is this SHOULD be a time for excitement for Bills fans.. We win 7 games last year, Losman is really coming on, some young guys are looking good, and we got more cap room than almost any team in the league.

But nope-- now we're worried that our organization is going to go cheap and stop us from signing a couple of important tools. Im not talking about breaking the bank or spending ALL of the cap money, Im talking about just signing a couple of key guys.

Our main priority seems to be signing our own free agents.. Kinda ironic, you would think we were 12-4 last season or something.. To make matters worse, our two best FA's arent even a part of who we will be resigning.

So anybody can spin it any way you want.. Our defense was average last year.. and if anyone thinks that Fletcher and Clements will be replaced by Ellison and Youboty and the unit will improve, you're crazy.

[OpIv37]

no signing bonuses= no impact FAs.

Expect the same garbage as last year- a bunch of second-and-third tier role players, most of whom don't even play their roles that well.

Royal=bust, a few big catches, a few big drops, and too many penalties
Reyes= bust, benched halfway through the season
Bowen= bust, injured (and he had a history of injury before coming here)
Tripplett= overrated. He had a few good games after the bye but was not a factor before or after that.
Fowler= meh, not terrible but not dominant either.
K Thomas= ok
A Train= pleasant surprise
Peerless= OK as a #3 WR, but we needed a #2.

It's sounding more and more like this is what we have to look forward to on March 1.

[Ickybaluky]

If they are paying one or two guys big bonus up front isn't that Wilson paying more out of his pocket?

Except the roster bonus hits the entire cap in the current year, while the signing bonus is spread over the life of the contract.

That is not how I would interpret it. I think he is saying they aren't going to spend crazy in one year in hopes of winning short-term, paying the penalty for that in the future. They aren't going to be the Redskins, in short, playing games.

That said, I think the question is more what are they going to do when their key players come up for renewal? Granted, you are going to lose some players, but key guys should be retained even if it takes big money. What happens when Lee Evans deal is to be extended? Or Losman (should he continue to develop)?

[patmoran2006]

Except the roster bonus hits the entire cap in the current year, while the signing bonus is spread over the life of the contract.

That is not how I would interpret it. I think he is saying they aren't going to spend crazy in one year in hopes of winning short-term, paying the penalty for that in the future. They aren't going to be the Redskins, in short, playing games.

That said, I think the question is more what are they going to do when their key players come up for renewal? Granted, you are going to lose some players, but key guys should be retained even if it takes big money. What happens when Lee Evans deal is to be extended? Or Losman (should he continue to develop)?
I hear that.. They'd be stupid to go crazy with the cap this year... I dont know of too many people on here suggesting they do.

But a bunch of crap like last year's crop is unacceptable and will hinder their chances of catching NE (and I guess the Jets now)

There are 3-4 spots where they need an upgrade, and the defense is already young, they cant replace Nate and Fletch with Ellison AND Youboty.

[OpIv37]

That said, I think the question is more what are they going to do when their key players come up for renewal? Granted, you are going to lose some players, but key guys should be retained even if it takes big money. What happens when Lee Evans deal is to be extended? Or Losman (should he continue to develop)?

which is why we shouldn't re-sign Clements. Given the style of defense we're playing, guys like Evans and possibly Losman are more important to the team and we'll need cap space to keep them. If we give Clements a Champ Bailey contract, it's not going to happen.

But I think there's a gray area between being FA spectators like we were last year and trying to buy a championship like the Redskins. This team has a few key holes and I don't see a problem with picking up an impact FA or two to fill them and win a few more games.

If we're ever going to win the big one, sooner or later the guys like Evans and Losman are going to need some playoff experience. Right now, I think there are only 4 or 5 guys on our roster who have been in playoff games (and one of them, Fletcher, will be gone).

[patmoran2006]

Clements aint worth the money...

But if we aint gonna take his money saved and buy an impact player or two soemwhere else, I'd rather him back than youboty, whether he's worth it or not.

[Mr. Miyagi]

I read the excerpts of Marv's news conference. It sounds to me that they're going cheap again this year. :down:

[HHURRICANE]

I read the excerpts of Marv's news conference. It sounds to me that they're going cheap again this year. :down:

Pat's cynism was justified. This is the most assinine thing I've ever heard. Clements is GGGGGOOOONNNEEEE! And I wasn't expecting to sign Briggs or Steinbach but a Kris Deilman is still going to require a 7-8 million dollar signing bonus. They are ****ing nuts if they think that just signing some scrubs and 6 rookies is going to get them into the playoffs!

[patmoran2006]

IF (and only if-we'll have to see) this team is going CHEAP after having the third most cap room and being on the verge of contending .. then they may as well get the **** out of Buffalo now, cause this city is done putting up with that ****..

Attendance 2nd half of last year is only exhibit A. that was NOTHING compared to what will happen should this team go CHEAP on the fans and then come out 1-4 from the gate.. trust me on this.

[patmoran2006]

For the record, being cheap last year could've been justified.
New coach, new staff, new GM, average in regards to salary cap room, a lot of key players to make decisions on.. Young team.. Unproven QB.. It didnt take a scientist to figure out they weren't a playoff team.
But if they do this again, this is bull**** and a slap to Bills fans.. This is a team that's on the verge of being good.. they need to replace Fletcher and Nate (should they lose them) with adequate replacements at the least; and even more importantly than that, spend some money on a damn OL for once so we can better run the ball.

You guys bash the **** out of DONAHOE still for not addressing the OL enough.. and now you're going to PRAISE Marv Levy for having ****ing 6th AND 7th round draft pick 2nd year STARTERS on the unit?

Gimme a break..Hypocrites.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Not sure if it's Marv. I think Ralph is the cheap ass. Sell the team to Tom G already Ralph!

[ghz in pittsburgh]

My understanding is that cap money is ready cash - from TV revenue and maybe a small portion of gate receipts. That's why there is a requirement of spending enough percentage of cap money. The problem area is over the cap cash, i.e. signing bonus money. That requires the individual owner to use money outside of shared revenues every year. That, I believe, is Wilson is crying about competitive disadvantage because small market owners has less avenue to generate that cash. They will be at a disadvantage to attract top FA and to some degree coaching and facility upkeeping.

Spending up to cap is a direct result of that.

[patmoran2006]

All I know is we have the dumbest and most USELESS press conferences in NFL history.

why have a ****ing press conference to serve no purpose other than piss off fans ho see a team with $30+ million in cap room announce in so many words that they're going to be cheap, sign very few people and concentrate on resigning our OWN guys, ya know, the guys who are NOT GOOD ENOUGH to be a playoff team..

Great move, Bills PR dept

[Michael82]

All I know is we have the dumbest and most USELESS press conferences in NFL history.

why have a ****ing press conference to serve no purpose other than piss off fans ho see a team with $30+ million in cap room announce in so many words that they're going to be cheap, sign very few people and concentrate on resigning our OWN guys, ya know, the guys who are NOT GOOD ENOUGH to be a playoff team..

Great move, Bills PR dept
:bf1: