Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

[patmoran2006]

According to Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News today.

[HHURRICANE]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

Absolutely no reason to jettison the o-line last year. We could have brought players in behind these guys and then replaced them as we went along.

You can hate Jason Peters all you want but he was the best player on the team and he proved it in Philly.

[Buffalogic]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

Jason Peters was average to bad last year in Philly. Mostly bad. So no, the only thing he proved in Philly last year was that we got more value for him than he was worth.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

$10M coming from rookie contracts... Maybe another $10M or so if we actually do get McNabb.

[patmoran2006]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

The salaries they spent thus far in Davis, Edwards and Green are less than the salaries they got off the books in Owens, Reed and Denney.

They also had some dead cap money from last year (Dockery, Walker) come off the books after this past season.

They may also get a heck of a lot more off the books if Schobel ends up retiring, which a lot of people think he will.

Not criticizing the organization for being cheap.. Just elaborating on why they are where their at right now.

But I will say this. When they couldnt reach a CBA and it became apparent there would be no cap, this is something that a lot of the people in the league were worried about. While teams (Chicago, Washington) can spend infinite amount of dollars, on the opposite end teams like Buffalo no longer have a salary minimum they have to spend either, and it seems like Buffalo and I'm sure a few other teams will take advantage of this.

[methos4ever]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

One thing about Wash and Chi town though Pat. Washington can't get out from under their bigger contracts because Cerrato made them guaranteed bonuses. Otherwise, DeAngelo Hall and perhaps Portis would hit the road, as they account for darn near 21 million dollars this year.

Chicago can get out of the Peppers deal next year (with a 20+ million sayonara for one year's service to Julius) and remember, they paid most of their money to Cutler's deal and getting rid of their draft pick, which would have been yet more beaucoup bucks.

And I agree, with the CBA being dissolved a ton of teams will look to go under the previous cap and save cash. Heck, that's half the reason the guys in Carolina got cut. Thank you for illustrating that it is a league wide phenomena and not just the Bills. Kudos.

[Don't Panic]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

$40 million and getting worse... wow. I don't even want to think about how good this team would be if we simply drafted well and spent near the cap. It's actually amazing that we've averaged almost 7 wins a year for the last four years...

[Raptor]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

Jason Peters was average to bad last year in Philly. Mostly bad. So no, the only thing he proved in Philly last year was that we got more value for him than he was worth.

Really? I suggest you drop by a Philly board and look around because the general feeling is they stole a ProBowl LT from us

He was far from bad last year, good most of the year, above avg in some games, and excellent in others

[Ebenezer]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

low internal cap = lower or no debt = more savings for new owners = more attractive to be purchased for $1B.


it's called autopilot folks.

[we are]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

Really? I suggest you drop by a Philly board and look around because the general feeling is they stole a ProBowl LT from us

He was far from bad last year, good most of the year, above avg in some games, and excellent in others

lol thats not true at all...did you watch any Eagles games this year?

[Ebenezer]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

lol thats not true at all...did you watch any Eagles games this year?

yeah, i did...overall, he was just slightly above average. worth more than the Bills were going to pay? yes. worth what the eagles paid? no.

[trapezeus]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

i'm not worried about the cap spending or the salaries. they had bigger budgets in 2006-2001-2003, etc. and those team sucked just as bad.

The problem isn't what they are spending, because they are either going to overspend in free agency (dockery, mitchell, owens) or they can get young talent in through the draft and have 3-5 years to get the most out of them.

I don't believe spending money alone is the answer. The team needs to nail drafts. and when they get close to fielding a mediocre to decent team, then they can add specific role players at the peak of their game with acquisitions.

[patmoran2006]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

i'm not worried about the cap spending or the salaries. they had bigger budgets in 2006-2001-2003, etc. and those team sucked just as bad.

The problem isn't what they are spending, because they are either going to overspend in free agency (dockery, mitchell, owens) or they can get young talent in through the draft and have 3-5 years to get the most out of them.

I don't believe spending money alone is the answer. The team needs to nail drafts. and when they get close to fielding a mediocre to decent team, then they can add specific role players at the peak of their game with acquisitions.

Agreed.. But when they do hit home runs in the draft (or undrafted) they have to find better ways to keep them (Winfield, Clements, Peters, etc).. Whether its forking out big bucks if they become FA or being proactive and getting them locked up long term.

Otherwise, drafting doesn't matter. We'll only be grooming them for the big pay day they deserve elsewhere.

[trapezeus]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

agreed pat. but of late, we haven't been in the position about worrying of keeping our own. Peters tried to mess with a system that works. I'm sure other NFL teams would back the bills up on that. it was throwing off other players ability to get their contracts taken care of.

He was our best LT, but from 2008 and his year with the eagles, he was not the best LT. I don't think if we got his eagles performance the bills would have been in any better shape than 6-10.

The bills need to find their core and keep them...but they haven't found a workable core for 10 years. I think they know that. i think that's why they've been less interested in keeping people.

I'm a homer with faith. i think maybe nix and gailey will make that a priority.

[Buddo]

Re: Bills $40 million under last year's actual cap

Thus far, the most refreshing aspect of Nix, is that he actually does what he says he is going to do, in general terms at least. His stated approach is to build through the draft, and retain the good players you have drafted. We obviously need to draft well, but I believe that Nix will do that. Where it comes down the line, is how well he manages to retain players worth keeping.

As to the debate about Peters, I can't say that I'm sorry he was traded, at all. Attitude, and the fact that imho he will never be a truly 'elite' LT, due to lapses that always seem to come when they aren't wanted, mean that I'm less bothered by his trade than many. Where things fell apart, was in the lack of a serious plan to ensure his leaving wasn't going to hurt. Oher should have been the pick over Maybin at the very least, or a viable enough vet FA should have been signed.