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Now that the 53 man roster is set, I can give y'all a cap update for both 2004 & 2005. Mind you, 2005 is still very preliminary and it must be remembered that the Bills have a number of FAs, unrestricted and restricted, after the season.
2004
I presently have the Bills $5,894,754 under an adjusted cap of $79,759,085 with $5,327,910 dead cap. Bills have 54 players (includes Travis Brown) under contract. What's missing from that number?
1) Any roster or other bonuses that I'm unaware of for players that made 53 man roster. Some may be LTBE
2) ALL bonus information for J.P. Losman. I presently have his cap hit at only his salary of $230,000. However, while it's been reported he rec'd no signing bonus, he's likely to have rec'd a roster bonus of some kind.
3) Workout bonuses: every player receives modest workout bonuses during the offseason. Usually, they must be on the roster at the beginning of the League Year, which was early March. Each player makes a few thousand, but when added up throughout the roster, could be over $100,000. I have NOT included this in my numbers.
4) Practice squads are now up to 8 players. I do not know what the pay rate of these players are at this time. If it's $5,000/wk, then $5,000 x 8 players x 17 weeks = $680,000 that must be accounted for by the end of the season.
2005
Again, these numbers are very preliminary. However, I've been asked by many what the future holds. So........
with 38 players under contract for 2005, I presently have the Bills $14,677,052 under an estimated salary cap of $84,000,000 with $670,443 dead cap. What NOT is that number?
1) Cap adjusment: each of the past 3 seasons that I've known about cap adjustments, the Bills have had a debit which decreases available cap space.
2) Bonus information for J. P. Losman. (I hope to get this info very soon)
3) 13 more players need to be signed to comply with top 51 rule (even at minimum of $235,000, that's $3.055 million off the available cap space
4) Players who have (or may have) salary escalators: Mike Williams, Willis McGahee?, J. P. Losman(unlikely to achieve)
5) Bills have a number of FAs as follows:
UFA:DE Schobel, DT P. Williams, OT Jennings, FS Reese, OT M. Price, DT Edwards, QB Matthews, QB T. Brown, TE Neufeld
RFA:RB Burns, OL Pucillo, CB Thomas
EFA:DB Baker, LS Dorenbas, CB Greer, LB Stamer
Players likely to have contracts re-worked:
WR Eric Moulds: has a cap number of $8.75 million in 2005
OT Mike Williams: salary escalator which could take his salary from $726,875 to as high as $4 million. He also has a $3 million roster bonus due. His cap number is nearly $6 million.
Bills face a tight cap situation next year
I'll have more on the 2005 cap later in the season
2004
I presently have the Bills $5,894,754 under an adjusted cap of $79,759,085 with $5,327,910 dead cap. Bills have 54 players (includes Travis Brown) under contract. What's missing from that number?
1) Any roster or other bonuses that I'm unaware of for players that made 53 man roster. Some may be LTBE
2) ALL bonus information for J.P. Losman. I presently have his cap hit at only his salary of $230,000. However, while it's been reported he rec'd no signing bonus, he's likely to have rec'd a roster bonus of some kind.
3) Workout bonuses: every player receives modest workout bonuses during the offseason. Usually, they must be on the roster at the beginning of the League Year, which was early March. Each player makes a few thousand, but when added up throughout the roster, could be over $100,000. I have NOT included this in my numbers.
4) Practice squads are now up to 8 players. I do not know what the pay rate of these players are at this time. If it's $5,000/wk, then $5,000 x 8 players x 17 weeks = $680,000 that must be accounted for by the end of the season.
2005
Again, these numbers are very preliminary. However, I've been asked by many what the future holds. So........
with 38 players under contract for 2005, I presently have the Bills $14,677,052 under an estimated salary cap of $84,000,000 with $670,443 dead cap. What NOT is that number?
1) Cap adjusment: each of the past 3 seasons that I've known about cap adjustments, the Bills have had a debit which decreases available cap space.
2) Bonus information for J. P. Losman. (I hope to get this info very soon)
3) 13 more players need to be signed to comply with top 51 rule (even at minimum of $235,000, that's $3.055 million off the available cap space
4) Players who have (or may have) salary escalators: Mike Williams, Willis McGahee?, J. P. Losman(unlikely to achieve)
5) Bills have a number of FAs as follows:
UFA:DE Schobel, DT P. Williams, OT Jennings, FS Reese, OT M. Price, DT Edwards, QB Matthews, QB T. Brown, TE Neufeld
RFA:RB Burns, OL Pucillo, CB Thomas
EFA:DB Baker, LS Dorenbas, CB Greer, LB Stamer
Players likely to have contracts re-worked:
WR Eric Moulds: has a cap number of $8.75 million in 2005
OT Mike Williams: salary escalator which could take his salary from $726,875 to as high as $4 million. He also has a $3 million roster bonus due. His cap number is nearly $6 million.
Bills face a tight cap situation next year
I'll have more on the 2005 cap later in the season
OL Pucillo 
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