Adding Credibility to Nix's Comment...

[Yasgur's Farm]

... "We can spend to the cap and we will".

On various boards all I'm finding is cynicism concerning this quote. Mostly statements like... "I'll believe it when I see it", "Ralph has proven he's a cheapskate and a liar", "He's talking about cash to cap" etc. And why not? Isn't that the way it's been for more than a decade?

Here's why I'm leaning toward believing him...

1) I don't ever remember Buddy making any statement to that affect in the past.

2) Logically speaking, in a rebuilding plan, it makes more sense to bring in the high end free agents toward the end. There are bound to be a few key roles remaining to be filled to supplement the few years of drafting. This way, as a business, you're not wasting a lot of finances and career years in the seasons where you're not going to be very competitive anyway.

3) I believe this upcoming season, according to the 3 year plan Buddy spoke of in '09, is the year it's supposed to all come together. And it appears extremely logical to me that we can expect to fill at least 5 key roles between the draft and this year’s free agency class.

In the end everyone can believe what they like. It's certainly justifiable to be pessimistic given the lack of output from this franchise in recent history. But I'm going to take Buddy at his word... I'm going to believe what he said about this being a 3 year plan... And I'm going to believe (being the 3rd year) what he said about being aggressive in free agency.

I have my fingers crossed!

[PromoTheRobot]

Someone pointed out to me the main reason the Bills leave so much cap room is because they negotiate incentives into their deals. So in the end we only had about $9M of cap left after incentives were paid out. Anyway that's what I heard, and $9M under is still $9M under, but it ain't $30M under.

PTR

[BLeonard]

I wouldn't get too excited... Here's the transcript of the PC: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Transcript-General-Manager-Buddy-Nix/037507a7-365d-401e-9d19-477e152d0082



On if he’s talking about spending cash to the cap:

Yes, exactly.

On no amortization bonuses on the team’s own books and that still being in place:

Right.


So, he IS talking about "cash to the cap."

-Bill

[PromoTheRobot]

I wouldn't get too excited... Here's the transcript of the PC: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Transcript-General-Manager-Buddy-Nix/037507a7-365d-401e-9d19-477e152d0082



So, he IS talking about "cash to the cap."

-Bill

Uhhhh...Nix said "cash-to-cap" in his presser. It's not a secret. Also you are aware that 22 out of 32 teams also follow cash-to-cap?

PTR

[BLeonard]

Uhhhh...Nix said "cash-to-cap" in his presser. It's not a secret. Also you are aware that 22 out of 32 teams also follow cash-to-cap?

PTR

Are you aware that 21 out of those 22 teams have made the playoffs in the 21st century...?

Guess which one hasn't?

Like I said before, if the Bills were winning, nobody would care about whether or not they used "cash to the cap."

They've been abysmal failures for 12 years now... Maybe they should try something different... Anyone that actually cared about winning would.

Also, Nix never actually said the words "cash to the cap." It was asked by the media which Nix confirmed... The same part of the transcript which I quoted initially.

All's that actually came out of his mouth was "We can spend the cap. We can and we will."

He said the same thing last year... So explain why the Bills are several millions under the cap.

The NFL doesn't measure cap figures by using "cash to the cap." I couldn't care less what other teams do... Every other team has made the playoffs in the 21st century.

The Bills get absolutely ZERO "benefit of the doubt" from me, until they earn it.

-Bill

[mysticsoto]

Are you aware that 21 out of those 22 teams have made the playoffs in the 21st century...?

Guess which one hasn't?

Like I said before, if the Bills were winning, nobody would care about whether or not they used "cash to the cap."

They've been abysmal failures for 12 years now... Maybe they should try something different... Anyone that actually cared about winning would.

Also, Nix never actually said the words "cash to the cap." It was asked by the media which Nix confirmed... The same part of the transcript which I quoted initially.

All's that actually came out of his mouth was "We can spend the cap. We can and we will."

He said the same thing last year... So explain why the Bills are several millions under the cap.

The NFL doesn't measure cap figures by using "cash to the cap." I couldn't care less what other teams do... Every other team has made the playoffs in the 21st century.

The Bills get absolutely ZERO "benefit of the doubt" from me, until they earn it.

-Bill
Except I don't think cash to cap has been the cause of our poor showing in the last decade. I think that is more attibutable to poor drafting. When was the last time we drafted a playmaker? Stevie is probably the closest and is definitely playing way above where he was drafted, but that's about it - and even he sometimes drops balls or gets us penalties.

LATE EDIT: Kyle Williams played extraordinary last year. I'll give him credit for that.

[trapezeus]

as crappy as this season was, i do think that they could be a playoff team next year with added pass rushing speecialists in the DE and LB core. i'm not terribly worried about the Db's. i think if we can bring the rush from the front 7, the other 4 guys on the field won't need to be all stars.

on offense, they need a back up for every position. because they didn't have backups in their natural position, we didn't have any chance to have cohesion. i think if they square the WR situation with 2 legits and run a two back system with fred and CJ on the field at the same time, they'll have a play action to screen or to the WR's down field.

Fitz can get us there if he has time. his delivery is slower than most. and when its rushed, he loses his accuracy. fitz might not win a SB for you, but if sanchez/tebow/dilfer can get to the playoffs with defensive help, so can fitz.

of course, if they sit on their hands and do nothing or accept plan B which is not even close to plan A, they will be dead in the water.

[PromoTheRobot]

Are you aware that 21 out of those 22 teams have made the playoffs in the 21st century...?

Guess which one hasn't?

Like I said before, if the Bills were winning, nobody would care about whether or not they used "cash to the cap."

They've been abysmal failures for 12 years now... Maybe they should try something different... Anyone that actually cared about winning would.

Also, Nix never actually said the words "cash to the cap." It was asked by the media which Nix confirmed... The same part of the transcript which I quoted initially.

All's that actually came out of his mouth was "We can spend the cap. We can and we will."

He said the same thing last year... So explain why the Bills are several millions under the cap.

The NFL doesn't measure cap figures by using "cash to the cap." I couldn't care less what other teams do... Every other team has made the playoffs in the 21st century.

The Bills get absolutely ZERO "benefit of the doubt" from me, until they earn it.

-Bill

All I was doing was pointing out cash-to-cap was not holding the Bills back, as Mysticsoto pointed out.

PTR

[don137]

Yea, he is spending to the cap however it's against the 2002 cap and not the 2012 cap. He never said the 2012 cap. The 2002 cap was around 71MM. That sounds about right for Ralph and company.

[Jan Reimers]

There are a lot of ifs, but
IF we retain our own good free agents (e.g., Stevie, Chandler);
IF we get our good players back from injury (e.g., Wood, K. Williams, Urbik, Merriman(?), Easley(?));
IF we have a strong draft that provides at least one quality pass rusher, a CB, a WR and OL depth);
IF we get a couple of key free agents; and
IF some of our young guys continue to develop (e.g., Dareus, Sheppard, A. Williams, Hairston, Searcy, Rogers)

Things might fall into place. But there are a lot of IFs.

[BLeonard]

All I was doing was pointing out cash-to-cap was not holding the Bills back, as Mysticsoto pointed out.

PTR

No, Ralph Wilson would be what is holding the Bills back.

Let me ask you this: You know that any leftover cap space from 2011 can be rolled over into the 2012 cap, right?

Do you think the Bills will take advantage of that?

I'm voting no.

-Bill

[DesertFox24]

No, Ralph Wilson would be what is holding the Bills back.

Let me ask you this: You know that any leftover cap space from 2011 can be rolled over into the 2012 cap, right?

Do you think the Bills will take advantage of that?

I'm voting no.

-Bill

Yes because spending lasciviously really helped the eagles this year, or Dan Synder in the past.

You need to spend in FA to retain your guys and fill some holes, but you need to draft your stars. We should us FA to try to sign one or two starters and then sign a couple of depth players. Then you draft your stars.

[BLeonard]

Yes because spending lasciviously really helped the eagles this year, or Dan Synder in the past.

You need to spend in FA to retain your guys and fill some holes, but you need to draft your stars. We should us FA to try to sign one or two starters and then sign a couple of depth players. Then you draft your stars.

Probelm with that is, anyone that the Bills draft that could be considered a "star" ends up leaving, because the Front Office refuses to pay them.

Keep this in mind if you see Stevie Johnson in a different uniform in 2012.

As for the Eagles and Redskins and their spending, get back to me when they haven't made the playoffs in a dozen seasons.

-Bill

[justasportsfan]

I think we're done spending. Ralph already reached his quota by singing Clowney and McKillop

[Bill Cody]

Every year we go into a draft needing like 12 1st round picks, of course even if we did have 12 like 11 of them would be busts.

As much as pass rusher is a top priority I'm just not sure how much longer I can stare at Fitzpatrick under center, beard or not so if there's a real live NFL type QB available when we pick I say grab him.

Cash to cap is just an accounting method. Blaming it for our troubles is absurd. We've drafted busts and we've signed busts. We've hardly ever been a country mile from the cap. Our best players are usually idiots that hate Buffalo. Sorry I'm in cranksville today.