Bills vote YES to CBA

[Coach Sal]

Vote passed 31-0.

Raiders abstained.

[X-Era]

Vote passed 31-0.

Raiders abstained. Beat ya!

I wonder if the details show that the Bills can still wiggle to spend way less. But I also could see Ralph and Co. agreeing because the cap actually contracted.

[T-Long]

I think Ralph fell asleep and someone raised his hand for him! haha

[X-Era]

I mean could the Bills actually be FOR spending a new 30+ mill?

[Michael82]

Of course they are going to vote yes. It's a lower cap number and they had a ton more time to digest it.

[Night Train]

I think Ralph fell asleep and someone raised his hand for him! haha

Brandon was there. Ralph wasn't.

[Coach Sal]

Beat ya!

Only because you have tiny little girl fingers which allow you to type faster. :)

[ServoBillieves]

Aaaaaaand the players will screw this up completely

[Cntrygal]

Does this mean I should starting considering plane tix?

[X-Era]

Only because you have tiny little girl fingers which allow you to type faster. :)Or I am refreshing Twitter constantly.

[Night Train]

Raiders abstained.

Al Davis refused until he had a face to face with Pete Rozelle.

[SabreEleven]

I'm coming to the Opener also!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Coach Sal]

Or I am refreshing Twitter constantly.

Hope you're following me. :)

What's your handle?

[X-Era]

Hope you're following me. :)

What's your handle?xerabz... and I think I am following you...

[Michael82]

Does this mean I should starting considering plane tix?

I ordered 6 extra tickets for the Zone. SabreEleven has two reserved. :up:

[YardRat]

Beat ya!

I wonder if the details show that the Bills can still wiggle to spend way less. But I also could see Ralph and Co. agreeing because the cap actually contracted.

I really wish you could get off of this kick of accusing the Bills of somehow skirting any rules in the past....and the assumption that the agreement may 'force' the team to spend more.

[Michael82]

I really wish you could get off of this kick of accusing the Bills of somehow skirting any rules in the past....and the assumption that the agreement may 'force' the team to spend more.

Agreed! He keeps *****ing and moaning about the Bills and how cheap they were last year and how Ralph doesn't like to spend to the cap. That's not true. Look back and see how close the Bills have come to the cap in the past 10 years. It might surprise you, X!

[X-Era]

I really wish you could get off of this kick of accusing the Bills of somehow skirting any rules in the past....and the assumption that the agreement may 'force' the team to spend more.The information out there indicates that the team may very well be forced to spend way more than usual. It's a real possibility. And I never accused them of skirting any rules. They met the league rules.

To me this is about some fans buying into their accounting methods, which is fine. But assuming that a) the league is now adopting their methods or b) their methods can continue... We simply don't know yet. And as someone who wants us to play on an even field financially and be just as competitive in that regard, I am excited about the concept of a 99% cap floor and what that may mean.

What the details are and what it means for the Bills we simply don't know yet.

[X-Era]

Agreed! He keeps *****ing and moaning about the Bills and how cheap they were last year and how Ralph doesn't like to spend to the cap. That's not true. Look back and see how close the Bills have come to the cap in the past 10 years. It might surprise you, X!I want a competitive team and the FA phase is one of the areas that matters just as much IMO.

[Michael82]

The information out there indicates that the team may very well be forced to spend way more than usual. It's a real possibility. And I never accused them of skirting any rules. They met the league rules.

To me this is about some fans buying into their accounting methods, which is fine. But assuming that a) the league is now adopting their methods or b) their methods can continue... We simply don't know yet. And as someone who wants us to play on an even field financially and be just as competitive in that regard, I am excited about the concept of a 99% cap floor and what that may mean.

What the details are and what it means for the Bills we simply don't know yet.
It's not a 99% cap floor. It's 89%.

[Coach Sal]

It's not a 99% cap floor. It's 89%.

Although it is confusing and I thought that originally, as well, after looking it over, here's what it looks like to me:

It's 99% floor for each team this year and next
It's an 89% floor for every team from 2013-2020, but with teams paying out 95% of the floor as a guarantee, collectively.

Not sure how the NFL can promise 95% collectively when they are only going to force each team to pay 89%.....although I'm sure it will go beyond the 95%, it just seems odd to me.

So, 99% for 2 years, then only 89% that Bills must pay.

That's the way I interpret the new rules, if passed.

[Michael82]

Although it is confusing and I thought that originally, as well, after looking it over, here's what it looks like to me:

It's 99% floor for each team this year and next
It's an 89% floor for every team from 2013-2020, but with teams paying out 95% of the floor as a guarantee, collectively.

Not sure how the NFL can promise 95% collectively when they are only going to force each team to pay 89%.....although I'm sure it will go beyond the 95%, it just seems odd to me.

So, 99% for 2 years, then only 89% that Bills must pay.

That's the way I interpret the new rules, if passed.

ESPN said that it's an 89% floor this year and even gave the dollar amount. But the NFL has to spend 99% of their revenue.

[Michael82]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6791408/lockout-nfl-owners-approve-proposed-labor-agreement


• $120 million salary cap; team minimum 89 percent ($106.8M) as long as league spends 99 percent ($3.8 billion)

[YardRat]

The information out there indicates that the team may very well be forced to spend way more than usual. It's a real possibility. And I never accused them of skirting any rules. They met the league rules.

To me this is about some fans buying into their accounting methods, which is fine. But assuming that a) the league is now adopting their methods or b) their methods can continue... We simply don't know yet. And as someone who wants us to play on an even field financially and be just as competitive in that regard, I am excited about the concept of a 99% cap floor and what that may mean.

What the details are and what it means for the Bills we simply don't know yet.

I haven't seen any of that anywhere, except for your posts, and I still think you are misinterpreting some of that information.

If you want to play on an even field financially, then the the details of the revenue sharing plan are far more important.

[X-Era]

I haven't seen any of that anywhere, except for your posts, and I still think you are misinterpreting some of that information.

If you want to play on an even field financially, then the the details of the revenue sharing plan are far more important.Lots of links with lots of folks saying just that. Let's just wait until we get the details.

[X-Era]

NFP breaks down the new cap rules (in their minds), and no the article did all the bolding, not me:

"Cash Minimum (Guaranteed Spend)

In 2011 and 2012, there is league-wide commitment to cash spending of 99% of the Cap.

In 2013-16 and 2017-20, this number drops to 95%. Also during these years, each team must commit to cash spending of 89% of the Salary Cap. Analysis: This is perhaps the most player-friendly aspect of this deal. Previously there were Cap minimums but not cash minimums, requiring teams to collectively spend hard cash to the level of the Cap. To put it simply, this will require more spending on players. Teams will not be able to free-ride their way to Cap minimums only."

And on the what the new revenue sharing may mean:

"Supplemental Revenue Sharing

Although the NFL may unilaterally implement revenue sharing mechanisms, the Players feel as though this was sprung on them last minute.

Though this is an owner-to-owner issue, the key is for the Players is to ensure that there is language included that mandates teams to commit their revenue sharing funds on player spending. A revenue sharing system with no earmarks on where to spend has little meaning to Players."

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/We-have-a-proposed-deal.html

[Coach Sal]

In 2013-16 and 2017-20, this number drops to 95%. Also during these years, each team must commit to cash spending of 89% of the Salary Cap. Analysis: This is perhaps the most player-friendly aspect of this deal. Previously there were Cap minimums but not cash minimums, requiring teams to collectively spend hard cash to the level of the Cap. To put it simply, this will require more spending on players. Teams will not be able to free-ride their way to Cap minimums only."

I may be being optimistic here, but I believe the Bills were already doing this. As funny as it sounds, they were actually ahead of the rest of the league in starting this when they began "cash to cap" philosophy.

The cap will actually be LESS than it was in 2009, the last time there was a cap. And the floor was about $110 mil.

With cash to cap, the Bills have pretty much spent most of their cap money every year in cash anyway.

I know the floor is rising a lot, but so will revenues and the new way they split it with players will give the team more $$. So, the Bills should have no problem getting there. And the fact that Russ/Ralph voted YES to this deal means I'm not concerned at all about them having to spend more. They are obviously comfortable with it.

[X-Era]

I may be being optimistic here, but I believe the Bills were already doing this. As funny as it sounds, they were actually ahead of the rest of the league in starting this when they began "cash to cap" philosophy.

The cap will actually be LESS than it was in 2009, the last time there was a cap. And the floor was about $110 mil.

With cash to cap, the Bills have pretty much spent most of their cap money every year in cash anyway.

I know the floor is rising a lot, but so will revenues and the new way they split it with players will give the team more $$. So, the Bills should have no problem getting there. And the fact that Russ/Ralph voted YES to this deal means I'm not concerned at all about them having to spend more. They are obviously comfortable with it.
It's complex and I'm no expert. But, this whole issue is around how the league accounts for teams spending as cap. What I really don't think will happen is for the Bills to be vastly underspending compared to the rest of the league or really anyone for that matter. I don't think they will be giving out contracts where they pay a player some huge amount of money this year to make up the gap between where they currently are and where the minimum cap floor is. I think they will operate pretty much like most other teams in how they structure and pay contracts and that they will be accounting for what they have spent as far as the cap pretty much like everyone else as well.

And, I have never said that the Bills will suddenly become Jerry Jones and spend like he does. The Cowboys will probably still mortgage their future each year and be forced to cut a bunch of players each year. But in any given year, I think the Bills will now be spending pretty much the same money. I think the Bills will continue to re-sign their own to contracts that are fairly similar to what that players would get elsewhere... Kelsay withstanding. I think they will invest in UFA's but not go all out for anyone. But where I think it will be different is in the total amount they spend each year. Could it mean 2 or 3 more UFA's than before? I think so. Will they be less that top UFA's? Probably. But at some level the additional spending should upgrade some positions. Whether it's a few more semi-solid starters who fill holes enough so that we don't have to start a rookie or UDFA day one, or even just fortifying depth with some more vets... I think the team will be better in overall talent when they invest more in the talent. And I think that is what will happen with this new deal.

[YardRat]

Lots of links with lots of folks saying just that. Let's just wait until we get the details.

Really? You've been ranting about the Bills playing by their own cap rules, not spending competitively, being forced to spend more money etc but now it's "Let's wait to see the details"?

[X-Era]

Really? You've been ranting about the Bills playing by their own cap rules, not spending competitively, being forced to spend more money etc but now it's "Let's wait to see the details"?OK. Do you have proof it's the Bills version of cash to cap?

We have plenty of time to argue but right. Now were pooling ignorance. I don't have the details and you don't either. I'm simply willing to suppress the rhetoric until we know more... truth be known I'm obsessing over the details of getting a new deal done.