I think if it walks like a duck...

[HHURRICANE]

"Such a deal would be more difficult in Buffalo today. Marv Levy announced at last Friday's press conference that the Bills would no longer amortize signing bonuses on their balance sheets. They'll still give bonuses, but they'll proceed as if every dollar counted against the current year's salary cap. From now on, as Levy explained, the Bills will spend "cash to the cap." I've never heard the phrase before. It's difficult to believe any team would want to advertise the fact that it won't be a big player in the open market, that it's abandoning the most common mechanism for affording the top free agents."

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070220/1043908.asp?tbd1043908.asp

Instead of sugar coating it and saying that everyone is "overreacting" let's be
realistic. You are giving away an advantage to other teams. The press conference wasn't encouraging. PERIOD.

[Night Train]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

When you capitalized PERIOD, you intimidated me.

[carybillsfan]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

Just a thought about this whole spend to the cap garbage. Any chance Ralph is doing this so it is easier to sell the team, that way a new owner wouldn't have to be cap strapped? I usually don't overreact to these things but the more BS that comes out of the their mouths...the more I feel new ownership is on the horizon. In a way I'm pretty happy about it, and no I don't think the team will move, but NFL teams make a ton of money and maybe new investors could buy it and help rebuild Buffalo.

[HHURRICANE]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

When you capitalized PERIOD, you intimidated me.

[Nighthawk]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

We can spin it all we want, but the Bills organization is a joke to many people in the NFL. I was listening to Sirius NFL Radio and they were discussing the weird things that Ralph does. It's time for Ralph to go.

[Typ0]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

be careful or you will be labeled a negative nancy from the flaming homers.

[Typ0]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

Just a thought about this whole spend to the cap garbage. Any chance Ralph is doing this so it is easier to sell the team, that way a new owner wouldn't have to be cap strapped? I usually don't overreact to these things but the more BS that comes out of the their mouths...the more I feel new ownership is on the horizon. In a way I'm pretty happy about it, and no I don't think the team will move, but NFL teams make a ton of money and maybe new investors could buy it and help rebuild Buffalo.

I think there are two sides to that. One is that it would be bad to have a cap strapped team that needed a lot of work. But on the other hand, it's not going to help to have a team with no talent either. Personally, I've seen signs and I think Ralph Wilson is losing his faculties and he doesn't make very good decisions.

[Romes]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

Newsflash: We aren't the only team that applies a "cash to cap" policy so can we stop acting like we are...please.

We are just the first to have coined the term.

I have been informed that other NFL teams have taken this approach too, but I don't know how many. I would estimate that it's not more than 10. And we can probably guess the market size for those teams too.

http://buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?blogger_id=1

Fact is Buffalo is a small market. Like other teams are too. The Bills are just doing what they need to do in order to be able to balance their budget. Small markets can still succeed in sports...it happens all the time. Giving huge amortized signing bonuses and signing big name free agents does not equal success.

[OpIv37]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

Newsflash: We aren't the only team that applies a "cash to cap" policy so can we stop acting like we are...please.

We are just the first to have coined the term.

http://buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?blogger_id=1

Fact is Buffalo is a small market. Like other teams are too. The Bills are just doing what they need to do in order to be able to balance their budget. Small markets can still succeed in sports...it happens all the time. Giving huge amortized signing bonuses and signing big name free agents does not equal success.

but we were the only ones dumb enough to tell the media, the fans, and potential FA's that we're not going to break the bank.

And you forgot the corollary to this:

Giving huge amortized signing bonuses and signing big name free agents does not equal success.

That may be true, but sitting back and doing nothing in FA, or giving medium-sized contracts to guys who don't do a damn thing like Josh Reed and Robert Royal sure as hell doesn't guarantee success.

A lot of you seem to forget that there is a happy medium between Danny Snyder's real-life Madden approach and the "sit there with your thumb up your ass" approach. We don't need to go out and get the biggest names or the most expensive guys, but we need 2-3 guys who will make this team BETTER if we're ever going to win.

No one expects the Bills to go out there and break the bank on tons of big-name free agents, but we have to do better than the crop of no-names and back-ups we brought in last year. This team has some holes- do something about it- preferably, anything other than going on TV and basically saying you're not going to fix them.

[feelthepain]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

Just a thought about this whole spend to the cap garbage. Any chance Ralph is doing this so it is easier to sell the team, that way a new owner wouldn't have to be cap strapped? I usually don't overreact to these things but the more BS that comes out of the their mouths...the more I feel new ownership is on the horizon. In a way I'm pretty happy about it, and no I don't think the team will move, but NFL teams make a ton of money and maybe new investors could buy it and help rebuild Buffalo.

For the fans sake, the Bills being sold might be for the best. Maybe you get an owner not affraid to spend, I seriously doubt you'll get one cheaper.

[Romes]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

but we were the only ones dumb enough to tell the media, the fans, and potential FA's that we're not going to break the bank.

I don't see it as dumb but as an honest, upfront approach by the front office. It is far better than the rhetoric that we heard from the TD era that sounded great but yeilded no results on sundays.

At least this front office tells it like it is and the team actually did progress last off-season, despite many people feeling the Bills didn't really do much to improve. I don't understand how people can critisizing the teams FA plan before they even see how it pans out.

A lot of you seem to forget that there is a happy medium between Danny Snyder's real-life Madden approach and the "sit there with your thumb up your ass" approach. We don't need to go out and get the biggest names or the most expensive guys, but we need 2-3 guys who will make this team BETTER if we're ever going to win.

Agreed on the fact we need to bring a couple guys in. But I thought the Bills did last year. Guys like Fowler, Tripplet, and Royal, eventhough they may have been no-names or back ups, were all improvements at their respective positions on this Bills team and they did make the team better.

No one expects the Bills to go out there and break the bank on tons of big-name free agents, but we have to do better than the crop of no-names and back-ups we brought in last year. This team has some holes- do something about it- preferably, anything other than going on TV and basically saying you're not going to fix them

Levy never said they weren't going to do anything. In fact last week he went to the podium and said that they needed to improve a lot in the OL and in the run D. To me that was a good sign. Afterall, this whole season people here were saying that the OL sucked and the run D cost us games. I can't wait to see what they do. It won't be a big name guy, but after all these players have been tagged what big names are really out there, that fit the bills need?

Now, if this team does nothing during FA and is still a .500 team or below I'll be pissed. I'll reserve judgement until then.

[Mr. Cynical]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

"Such a deal would be more difficult in Buffalo today. Marv Levy announced at last Friday's press conference that the Bills would no longer amortize signing bonuses on their balance sheets. They'll still give bonuses, but they'll proceed as if every dollar counted against the current year's salary cap. From now on, as Levy explained, the Bills will spend "cash to the cap." I've never heard the phrase before. It's difficult to believe any team would want to advertise the fact that it won't be a big player in the open market, that it's abandoning the most common mechanism for affording the top free agents."

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070220/1043908.asp?tbd1043908.asp

Instead of sugar coating it and saying that everyone is "overreacting" let's be
realistic. You are giving away an advantage to other teams. The press conference wasn't encouraging. PERIOD.

...

[G. Host]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

Instead of sugar coating it and saying that everyone is "overreacting" let's be realistic. You are giving away an advantage to other teams. The press conference wasn't encouraging. PERIOD.

You keep capitalizing the word period. Do you need some Pampin?

[Carlton Bailey]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

Newsflash: We aren't the only team that applies a "cash to cap" policy so can we stop acting like we are...please.

We are just the first to have coined the term.

http://buffalobills.com/blog/index.jsp?blogger_id=1

Fact is Buffalo is a small market. Like other teams are too. The Bills are just doing what they need to do in order to be able to balance their budget. Small markets can still succeed in sports...it happens all the time. Giving huge amortized signing bonuses and signing big name free agents does not equal success.

And there's the Chris Brown spin machine. He's such a Bills lackey.

[jamze132]

Re: I think if it walks like a duck...

I am going to try and hold judgement on this whole "cash to cap" thing until we see what the team beigns to look like.