We still have cap money to spend?

[X-Era]

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/cap-hit/

This has all the signings except Chandler, Spikes, and Dixon.

It has us still having 18 mill in cap room.

I'll update this thread over the next few days as the rest of the info comes in.

I find that hard to believe. If it is true I'd still go after Strief.

[Jaybird]

bring in strief, and i would take a chance on Kenny Britt. low risk contract, but we need another Wr

[sudzy]

They really need to bring in a veteran QB. I haven't looked at the list lately. I remember pickings are as slim as always. But, they need some experience even if it's a back-up.

[X-Era]

They really need to bring in a veteran QB. I haven't looked at the list lately. I remember pickings are as slim as always. But, they need some experience even if it's a back-up.
Whaley told WGR they won't be adding one.

[Yasgur's Farm]

After factoring in Spikes, Chandler, Dixon and rookies.. leaves about $4 or 5 M only.

[CoolBreeze]

If possible i'd like James Jones

[SpikedLemonade]

If possible i'd like James Jones

That would be a great add and I bet he could be had for $16.5M for 3 years.

[stuckincincy]

You have to reserve some cap $ for camp and season injuries.

[SpikedLemonade]

You have to reserve some cap $ for camp and season injuries.

Just convert some base salary into bonus. Mario has plenty.

[Night Train]

I'd be surprised if we signed more than 1 more guy...if any until the draft. We got far more additions than I imagined and this draft is deep. I heard it's like 4 Mil + left but I do hope I'm wrong and it's more.

[DesertFox24]

I think we are done

- - - Updated - - -

Might extend some of our own now. At least that is what I would do if I was gm

[Yasgur's Farm]

Just convert some base salary into bonus. Mario has plenty.Mario's base salary is only $1.9M... He has another $10.6M roster bonus, $.5M workout bonus and I think another $3M in likely to b earned bonuses. I imagine the roster bonus can be amortized throughout the remainder of his contract to give us another $7.7M cap room in 2014.

[Yasgur's Farm]

BTW... Look for a restructure for Mario next season...

3/15/2012: Signed a six-year, $96 million contract. The deal contains $50 million guaranteed, including a $19 million signing bonus and all of Williams' 2012 and 2013 base salaries. Another $4 million is available through incentives. Williams is eligible for an annual $500,000 workout bonus in years two through six. 2014: $1.9 million (+ $10.6 million roster bonus), 2015: $12.1 million (+ $1 million roster bonus), 2016: $11.5 million (+ $2.5 million roster bonus), 2017: $11.4 million (+ $3.5 million roster bonus), 2018: Free Agent

[YardRat]

Pears can still be cut also.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Oher for Pears salary swap works for me.

[Meathead]

idk how anybody cant be thrilled with this fa period. they got their number one guy. totaling four new starters for what byrd wanted and got. a terrific cb3, which is essentially a quasi-starter for most downs. the professor and mary ann, here on nappy heads island. thats a prety awesome haul for a three hour tour. a three hour tour

[Ed]

This site seems to have pretty much the same numbers and doesn't have Spikes, Chandler, or Dixon either.
http://www.overthecap.com/teamcap.php?Team=Bills&Year=2014

I think they usually like to save a few million for June cuts/late signings or whatever, so maybe they sign one more lower tier guy, but I wouldn't expect anyone significant. Unless they cut someone.

[GingerP]

I imagine the roster bonus can be amortized throughout the remainder of his contract to give us another $7.7M cap room in 2014.

If that roster bonus were converted into SB, his cap number would be at least $10.85M. That would be his $1.9M salary, $3.8M in amortization from his original $19M SB, $1.6M amortization from his $8M option bonus, $2.65M from converting his $10.6M roster bonus to SB, $500K workout bonus and $400K LTBE incentives from making the pro bowl last year. There are another $400K incentives that we are not sure what the trigger is, so his number could be as high as $11.25M.

The problem with that is his cap numbers would rise in future years: $19M to $21.65M in 2015, $19.9M to $22.55M in 2016 and $16.5M to $19.15M in 2017. Again, those numbers could be as much as $800K higher depending on incentives earned. The dead money hits would be huge as well, so you would be stuck with those high numbers short of a contract extension (which may be what they end up doing anyway on the back-end).

The Bills can afford to absorb those large hits in the future because they don't have a QB. If you have a good QB you have to pay him a lot of money, and the Bills are paying peanuts to theirs. Mario's contract is already so large, you don't want to go to the well on it, because it would lead to problems down the line.

[The Popcorn]

Wouldn't hurt to bring in a veteran WR. Somebody who will mentor the young guys.

[Yasgur's Farm]

If that roster bonus were converted into SB, his cap number would be at least $10.85M. That would be his $1.9M salary, $3.8M in amortization from his original $19M SB, $1.6M amortization from his $8M option bonus, $2.65M from converting his $10.6M roster bonus to SB, $500K workout bonus and $400K LTBE incentives from making the pro bowl last year. There are another $400K incentives that we are not sure what the trigger is, so his number could be as high as $11.25M.

The problem with that is his cap numbers would rise in future years: $19M to $21.65M in 2015, $19.9M to $22.55M in 2016 and $16.5M to $19.15M in 2017. Again, those numbers could be as much as $800K higher depending on incentives earned. The dead money hits would be huge as well, so you would be stuck with those high numbers short of a contract extension (which may be what they end up doing anyway on the back-end).

The Bills can afford to absorb those large hits in the future because they don't have a QB. If you have a good QB you have to pay him a lot of money, and the Bills are paying peanuts to theirs. Mario's contract is already so large, you don't want to go to the well on it, because it would lead to problems down the line.That's about spot on... current cap hit is $18.8M...Your projection is ~$11M... 2014 cap savings ~$7.8M.

[jimbohastle51]

You will more than likely see at least 3 more veteran signings.

Safety- (probably a vet min. Type unless a guy like DeCoud takes a 1 yr prove it contract.) We are very young back there and a vet would be nice to have at least through camp.

Tackle- this one is easy... A) we need 2 more on the roster to go to camp with. B) the amount of veteran options on the FA market suggest that a few decent options will be forced to take peanuts for a yr just to get on a team (not very often 3 legit high end left tackle FA's hit the market in one off season which makes it harder for the mid level players at the position.) C) Even if you take a tackle in the draft he is not guaranteed to be ready to play right away. A cheap vet is insurrance through camp at least.

Defensive End- there are so many mid level players at the position on the market that the team can get some real value out of the investment. Guys like Shaun Phillips who had 10 sacks last year, or john abraham who had 10+ sacks, are going to have to sign for 1-2mil because of this draft being so deep at the position and because of age and let's be honest here... If those guys are signing for little what do you think a guy like robert Ayers is going to get? That's right... Even less or minimum.

[Raptor]

Right now the Bills need to focus on some extensions with the first one being Dareus. If we have that type of cash still left than front load the deal a little bit to get him locked in. I dont want to be doing this Byrd dance with key free agents anymore

[feldspar]

If possible i'd like James Jones

I feel like I need to make some kind of joke about drinking the kool-aid.

[CoolBreeze]

I feel like I need to make some kind of joke about drinking the kool-aid.

I'm glad you didn't sir, because I'm sure it was outdated and no good.

[BLeonard]

Bills have $15,590,046 in cap room, as of 2:28:50 PM today: https://nflplayers.com/reports/RunPublicReport.aspx?report=top51

Great link to bookmark, IMO... It will show you how close the Bills actually come to the cap at any point from now until the end of the season.

Another interesting column on that link is the "Team Cap." At $134,994,694.00, the Bills have the highest team Cap availability in the NFL.

Whether they use either of those to their advantage remains to be seen...

-Bill

[SpikedLemonade]

Bills have $15,590,046 in cap room, as of 2:28:50 PM today: https://nflplayers.com/reports/RunPublicReport.aspx?report=top51

After the draftees get signed, that will leave only a little over $10M for Ralph's Wallet. Oh, oh, Russ may not get a bonus this year.

[X-Era]

Sportrac has the Spikes, Chandler, and Dixon numbers in and still has us at 15,49 mill. So yeah, we've still got money. Expect around 6 mill for rookie contracts... leaves us with almost 10 mill.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/cap-hit/

[BLeonard]

After the draftees get signed, that will leave only a little over $10M for Ralph's Wallet. Oh, oh, Russ may not get a bonus this year.

Relax, Spiked... The Bills have 72 players under contract, so some will have to be cut, which will likely increase the cap room available.

-Bill

[YardRat]

Nobody really knows how much cap room is left.

[BLeonard]

Nobody really knows how much cap room is left.

Well, the link I provided is from the NFLPA... I'd say they probably are a pretty good source to go off of...

-Bill

[casdhf]

Time to start locking guys up ...

[Night Train]

Time to start locking guys up ...

Absolutely. Get some extensions done now with the first contract guys. Started with Aaron Williams and they'll pick up.

[YardRat]

Well, the link I provided is from the NFLPA... I'd say they probably are a pretty good source to go off of...

-Bill

How much needs to be set aside to account for LTBE's for Buffalo this season, per the NFLPA? Or is that already included before determining the cap room left?

[X-Era]

How much needs to be set aside to account for LTBE's for Buffalo this season, per the NFLPA? Or is that already included before determining the cap room left?
Related to that maybe is this question... When do you have to be under the cap? Is it close of business each league year day?

If that were the case, things like incentives can be paid for when they are paid... maybe you can spend some of that money set aside for incentives on a player and see how he is working out at OTA's etc... and then not have to make any roster cut until the incentive on the other player is due... Like a roster bonus for example.

It gives the team leverage to spend the money now and put off the decision on what to do with the roster until they have to pay the incentive money on that day.

[GingerP]

How much needs to be set aside to account for LTBE's for Buffalo this season, per the NFLPA? Or is that already included before determining the cap room left?

LTBE that are not earned and NLTBE that are earned are adjusted off after the season and are not changed during the season. Other things are lumped into adjustments as well, like grievance settlements. If you look at that NFLPA page and do the math you notice it won't add up, because they don't list adjustments.

For instance, the Bills had -$217,235 in adjustments this year, to go with $17,801,975 in cap room carried over from last year. Thus, their available cap for this year is:

$133M + $17,801,975 - $217,235 = $150,584,740. They have committed $134,994,694 so far, so their cap room is $15,590,046.

The only thing to keep in mind is that site, while accurate, changes all the time and there is a lag. So if a player is signed, released or restructured, it takes a couple days for the paperwork to filter through and show on that page.

[GingerP]

Related to that maybe is this question... When do you have to be under the cap? Is it close of business each league year day?

If that were the case, things like incentives can be paid for when they are paid... maybe you can spend some of that money set aside for incentives on a player and see how he is working out at OTA's etc... and then not have to make any roster cut until the incentive on the other player is due... Like a roster bonus for example.

It gives the team leverage to spend the money now and put off the decision on what to do with the roster until they have to pay the incentive money on that day.

Again, the incentives are adjusted after the season, they don't effect he current year. The only caveat to that is if a players contract is changed during the season to add incentives. Any incentive added during the season is automatically considered LTBE, not matter how unlikely it is the player will achieve it, and ups his cap number in the current year. Teams used to use that loophole to carry cap room over year to year, as they would be added to the adjustments.

You have to be under the cap for the entire league year you are in. Thus, all teams had to be in compliance for 2014 at the start of the league year (Mar 4 this year). Before the start of the actual season (9/5 this year), all contract monies are counted on the cap. In the offseason (3/4 - 9/5), the Top-51 rule is in effect. That means only the Top-51 base salaries and all non-base salary compensation counts toward the cap. No matter which method is used, teams have to be in compliance at all times.

Keep in mind, the rule of 51 needs to be taken into account when a player is signed in the offseason. For instance, when Kevin Kolb was cut, his cap number was reduced from $3.5M to $500K in dead money for his remaining bonus amortization. That is a $3M savings in cash. However, since his salary was no longer counting toward the Top-51, another salary needs to take it's place. If that salary was for the NFL minimum (most likely), the cap savings are actually $3M - 420K, or $2.58M in cap room. This is true if a player is signed as well, for if he bumps another player out of the Top-51 salaries, that difference will not affect the available cap room.

[BLeonard]

LTBE that are not earned and NLTBE that are earned are adjusted off after the season and are not changed during the season. Other things are lumped into adjustments as well, like grievance settlements. If you look at that NFLPA page and do the math you notice it won't add up, because they don't list adjustments.

For instance, the Bills had -$217,235 in adjustments this year, to go with $17,801,975 in cap room carried over from last year. Thus, their available cap for this year is:

$133M + $17,801,975 - $217,235 = $150,584,740. They have committed $134,994,694 so far, so their cap room is $15,590,046.

The only thing to keep in mind is that site, while accurate, changes all the time and there is a lag. So if a player is signed, released or restructured, it takes a couple days for the paperwork to filter through and show on that page.

From what I understand, this is the correct answer, Yardy...

The webpage says that they update 4 times daily... At 8AM, Noon, 4PM and 8PM. There likely is some lag, especially when moves are made, but it's not like a $15 million number will evaporate into thin air between updates.

-Bill

[YardRat]

LTBE that are not earned and NLTBE that are earned are adjusted off after the season and are not changed during the season. Other things are lumped into adjustments as well, like grievance settlements. If you look at that NFLPA page and do the math you notice it won't add up, because they don't list adjustments.

For instance, the Bills had -$217,235 in adjustments this year, to go with $17,801,975 in cap room carried over from last year. Thus, their available cap for this year is:

$133M + $17,801,975 - $217,235 = $150,584,740. They have committed $134,994,694 so far, so their cap room is $15,590,046.

The only thing to keep in mind is that site, while accurate, changes all the time and there is a lag. So if a player is signed, released or restructured, it takes a couple days for the paperwork to filter through and show on that page.

I didn't even mention 'LTBE that are not earned and NLTBE that are earned'. I was referring to LTBE only.

[GingerP]

I didn't even mention 'LTBE that are not earned and NLTBE that are earned'. I was referring to LTBE only.

LTBE count on the cap in full the whole year.

At the end of the year, if that LTBE ended up not being earned, that amount is credited in adjustments for the following year's cap. Then the following season that LTBE will be NLTBE, since it wasn't met the year before, and doesn't count toward the cap. Incentives are just incentives, LTBE or NLTBE just refers to how they are accounted for that year.

Same thing with per=game roster bonus money. A per-game $500K roster bonus pays $31,250 per game for each of the 16 games that player is on the 46-man roster. If that player played in all 16 games the year before, the full $500K counts toward the cap, for the full year. If that player then only plays 8 games, $250K is credited in adjustments before the start of the next year. If that player has the roster bonus that next year as well, it will only count $250K toward the cap in that year, because he only played in 8 games the prior year.

[YardRat]

LTBE count on the cap in full the whole year.

At the end of the year, if that LTBE ended up not being earned, that amount is credited in adjustments for the following year's cap. Then the following season that LTBE will be NLTBE, since it wasn't met the year before, and doesn't count toward the cap. Incentives are just incentives, LTBE or NLTBE just refers to how they are accounted for that year.

Same thing with per=game roster bonus money. A per-game $500K roster bonus pays $31,250 per game for each of the 16 games that player is on the 46-man roster. If that player played in all 16 games the year before, the full $500K counts toward the cap, for the full year. If that player then only plays 8 games, $250K is credited in adjustments before the start of the next year. If that player has the roster bonus that next year as well, it will only count $250K toward the cap in that year, because he only played in 8 games the prior year.

So your perception is the LTBE are included in the salary cap by sites like the NFLPA at this point in time, representing used cap space.

[GingerP]

LTBE and NLTBE refers to whether an incentive count toward the cap or not.

[BillsImpossible]

GingerP, I love your comments, but holy acronyms!

This post has been FUBARD because of acronyms, pun intended.

GingerP is like the financial guru of the Bills Zone, and I really like her opinions!

[IlluminatusUIUC]

So are we done in FA until after the draft then? Haven't heard any movement for a few days now.

[stuckincincy]

So are we done in FA until after the draft then? Haven't heard any movement for a few days now.

The 32 Eyes of Sauron are busy prepping for the owner's meeting March 23 - 26. :darth: