Someone once said that you have to look to history to see the future. In the case of the Bills, to understand what is going on with the team I think you have to look to Ralph’s past. A product of the Great Depression, Ralph knows in hard times, you cut back. And in these hard times, Ralph is cutting back.
The release of Doc (prior to paying a roster bonus) and Royal saved Ralph actual money, not some pie in the sky salary cap accounting money, but real hard cash. Likewise, not signing Peters to a new contract saved Ralph a lot of currency. Now the proposed trade (or release) of Simpson, Parrish and Kelsay, all will save the team millions in salary. Even the T.O. signing was only for one year and it more than paid for itself in terms of false excitement and increased season ticket sales. All the other free agent signings were for lower level players and not for much money. The extension of Stroud I think was part of the deal from last year, so it is an exception.
I am not saying that all of these moves are bad football moves – Lord knows Royal needed to go – but I am saying that economics are playing a much bigger role in what is going on with the Bills than most fans appreciate. What is concerning is that next year there will be no minimum salary cap and Ralph can save a massive amount of money by dumping salary prior to the 2010 season and all of that savings goes directly in his pocket. And I think he will certainly do that if it looks like a lock-out is coming in 2011.
This all means that the Bills will draft this coming weekend for replacements for high-priced players they will be released in the coming purge --namely, Schobel, Denney, McGee, and possibly Whitner and Walker.
So, like everyone else I look for a DE in the first round but not to help the pass rush but to replace Schobel who will be gone much sooner than many expected. By 2010, we will have a new pair of starting DE’s. I also see more DB’s taken in this draft to replace McGee (who will be gone, if he wants going market value for a starting CB) and possibly Whitner. We also may see an OT taken not to replace Peters, but Walker after next season.
The bottom line is that the Bills will be drafting to not only fill holes that currently exist, but also holes they will be creating.
The release of Doc (prior to paying a roster bonus) and Royal saved Ralph actual money, not some pie in the sky salary cap accounting money, but real hard cash. Likewise, not signing Peters to a new contract saved Ralph a lot of currency. Now the proposed trade (or release) of Simpson, Parrish and Kelsay, all will save the team millions in salary. Even the T.O. signing was only for one year and it more than paid for itself in terms of false excitement and increased season ticket sales. All the other free agent signings were for lower level players and not for much money. The extension of Stroud I think was part of the deal from last year, so it is an exception.
I am not saying that all of these moves are bad football moves – Lord knows Royal needed to go – but I am saying that economics are playing a much bigger role in what is going on with the Bills than most fans appreciate. What is concerning is that next year there will be no minimum salary cap and Ralph can save a massive amount of money by dumping salary prior to the 2010 season and all of that savings goes directly in his pocket. And I think he will certainly do that if it looks like a lock-out is coming in 2011.
This all means that the Bills will draft this coming weekend for replacements for high-priced players they will be released in the coming purge --namely, Schobel, Denney, McGee, and possibly Whitner and Walker.
So, like everyone else I look for a DE in the first round but not to help the pass rush but to replace Schobel who will be gone much sooner than many expected. By 2010, we will have a new pair of starting DE’s. I also see more DB’s taken in this draft to replace McGee (who will be gone, if he wants going market value for a starting CB) and possibly Whitner. We also may see an OT taken not to replace Peters, but Walker after next season.
The bottom line is that the Bills will be drafting to not only fill holes that currently exist, but also holes they will be creating.
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