mark gaugan view on nate

[djjimkelly]

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050612/2061392.asp?tbd2061392.asp


i couldnt agree with gaughn here more just like we renewed schobel last year the TOM's need to do the same with nate. id love to see nate sign a nice 6 year 40 mil contract with a 15 mil bonus it would be market value making him a top 5 paid CB and would in the end be a sweet deal for the bills.

if no other significant player is brought into buffalo this year my list of things to do for the TOM's is as follows.

1. trade henry

2. rework BIG mikes deal bring that cap figure back to reality at about 5 mil a year somehow

3. resign nate to a deal like described above

[Marvelous]

Is there any Bills out there who doesn't want to spend the big money and lock up Nate?

[Marvelous]

OOPS DP

[Jan Reimers]

Nate is a very solid CB who I would like to see in a Bills' uniform for several more years - but only at an affordable price. I'm not sure if we should give him the kind of money that the Vikes gave Winfield, for instance, even though I feel Nate is a better all-around corner.

[Voltron]

Nate is a very solid CB who I would like to see in a Bills' uniform for several more years - but only at an affordable price. I'm not sure if we should give him the kind of money that the Vikes gave Winfield, for instance, even though I feel Nate is a better all-around corner.
I tend to agree but you only get a player of Nate's caliber about once every 5 to 7 years. He is a force in the secondary and he commands a lot of respect by some of the top WR in the game. He deserves a big payday and I say even if we go a little above what TD and crew want to spend we still get an excellent CB that has had very little injury problems. I just worry he may choose to wait because his agent is in his ear telling him he will command the highest signing bonus a CB has ever seen in FA.

The worst part is if he is being told that by his agent the guy is not far off either!


I trust TD to do the right thing. He signed TKO, Sam Adams, and Schoble to very competitive Deals and I think when the talent is there TD will pay top dollar. He just is not known to over pay.

[Crisis]

Clements is turning into an ELITE cornerback. He's not even 26 yet, we need to lock him up at all costs!

[mysticsoto]

Which teams do people think will be interested in him next year? Will Washington still be interested? Who else?

[Jan Reimers]

Clements is turning into an ELITE cornerback. He's not even 26 yet, we need to lock him up at all costs!
In the Salary Cap Age, "at all costs" always scares me.

[Ed]

I'm not too worried about Nate. I remember when Winfield wanted out last year, Clements' agent was quoted as saying that Nate would love to stay in Buffalo and have no problem re-signing here. Obviously Nate is gonna want a big contract, but I don't think Donahoe would ever just let him walk. I think that's why they let Antoine go because they wanted to focus on being able to re-sign Nate.

If you think about it, Nate was the first player Donahoe ever drafted in Buffalo and it has been one of his best picks ever. He drafted him with the expectations that he would become a great CB, and now that he has I'm sure he's going to do whatever it takes to keep him here long term.

[BillsRockSOMUCH]

Which teams do people think will be interested in him next year? Will Washington still be interested? Who else?
Nate is a playmaker and a shut down corner. Pretty much any team could use a guy like that. I really want us to keep a rising stud like Clements. I think TD just has to find a way to keep him. CBs like Nate definately don't grow on trees.

[BidsJr]

If I have to choose between Nate and extending Willis after a big season this year (hopefully) I would extend Willis.

[ShadowHawk7]

What he did against Chad "Big Mouth" Johnson is proof enough. 2 catches, 10 yards. I would lock him down for 5 years, and pay him like a top 7 CB.

[G. Host]

Is there any Bills out there who doesn't want to spend the big money and lock up Nate?

Only lock him up if he is penalized for idiot mistakes as well as getting incentives (as are in all contracts) for being reoognized by "peers" for Pro Bowl.


Which teams do people think will be interested in him next year? Will Washington still be interested? Who else?

Nope. RBs can be replaced and Willis has been hurt before; as long as his agent is Rosenass he will be a headache.

[Marvelous]

Nate is top 3! If not the top CB. He is a awesome tackler, punt returner and is a showtime type catcher. Like a poster said above" his type only come around every 5-7 years. If he is top three then whats the problem with paying him what the top 3 commands? IMO this D is built around TKO & Nate. Everyone else can be replaced at some point. Schobel is a personal favorite and i bought a jersey but i accept he isn't 1/2 the DE that Clements is to CB.....

[kevinj22]

I think that the Bills want Nate and that Nate wants us. Saying that I still think that we shouldn't overspend on him. I like the idea of 6 years at 40 mil. We just have to hope that he likes it as well, if not then we move on. We lost Nate Odomes (who did nothing after he left) and we moved on, we lost Winfield (hands of stone) and we moved on. So I think that we will be a better team with him certainly but we won't fall off the map without him.

[Marvelous]

I think that the Bills want Nate and that Nate wants us. Saying that I still think that we shouldn't overspend on him. I like the idea of 6 years at 40 mil. We just have to hope that he likes it as well, if not then we move on. We lost Nate Odomes (who did nothing after he left) and we moved on, we lost Winfield (hands of stone) and we moved on. So I think that we will be a better team with him certainly but we won't fall off the map without him.
Clements has more big play ability then both of them. Also Odems had injury problems and barely played in Seattle..Paying market value for him is not overspending...

[clumping platelets]

I agree with trading Henry. That would give us enough cap space to sign our draft picks and maybe add a vets min. player or two. It is my opinion the Bills are NOT going to re-do Mike Williams' contract until the CBA extension is resolved. We can handle his cap number because other options still exist to create cap space if needed. Now Nate:

His salary is $2.5 million. His vet min salary is $540,000. That's $1.96 million in cap space that could be used for signing bonus proration. Remember, presently signing bonuses can only be prorated for 5yrs (thru 2009). His cap number is $3,484,375. The Bills could re-sign him to say a 5 yr extension (6 yr deal), keep his cap number approx. the same by giving him a tiered bonus structure. This would also, I beleive, help to avoid "Deion charges" in 2005 & 2006. Don't ask :dizzy:

So, without calculating expected "Deion charges", the max. signing bonus that he could receive to have his 2005 cap number remain the same is 5yrs X $1.96 million = $9.8 million. That would mean the Bills would need to give him other bonuses in future yrs of the deal but most likely an option or roster bonus in 2006. By using a roster bonus in 2006, the Bills could avoid "Deion charges". For a brief explanation of Deion charges go to Q14 HERE (http://redskins.scout.com/3/salary_cap_faq.html)

My deal for nate:

5 yr extension thru 2010 ( 6 yrs total)

6 yrs-$40 million ($16 million guaranteed)

salaries of $540,000 (2005), $1.5 million (2006), $3 million (2007), $3.5 million (2008), $4 million (2009), and $5 million (2010)

$16 million guaranteed money: $9.6 million signing bonus in 2005 (prorated at $1.96 million 05-09), $125,000 roster bonus in 2005 (most likely already paid), $6.275 million roster bonus in 2006 (can be converted to signing bonus to lower cap hit)

various incentives and performance bonuses to bring the total to the $40 million range (shade over $5 million if earned)

:idunno:

calculate deion charge

add salaries in capped yrs: $540,000 + $1.5 million = $2.04 million

add roster/reporting bonuses in: $125,000 + $6.275 million = $6.4 million

add both = $8.44 million


add all amortized signing bonus for capped yrs: $859,375 + $1.96 million + $1.96 million = $4,779,375

as long as salaries, roster/reporting bonuses in capped yrs are greater than the proration ($8.44 million >> $4.78 million), no deion charges under my proposal with room to spare

You can use the link to see how Deion charges are applied to the cap

[colin]

2 things

1: clements is one of the best secondary players in the NFL, including R williams, ed reed, and sean taylor. he will end up being a bigger impact player than ty law

2: mike williams is NOT making 9 million per year, he signed a slightly fairer than normal 4th overall pick contract, and it was back loaded, so we are paying for that now. bringing his cap number down is good IF IT ALLOWS US TO MAKE A MOVE WE NEED TO MAKE. otherwise, we are better just eating this season since there is no one else we want to sign. it also helps build goodwill with players on the roster and potential signees, if we only restructure contracts when we need to, do go out and sign the players we target, and cut/not re-sign people who don't play ball (williams, jonas, bledsoe, RJ, Flutie, antoine, etc.) then we get taken seriously as a professional team.

so if ogden was out there, then it makes sense to get a couple guys to re jigg their deal, but if there isn't anyone we think we need right now, it makes sense to just let the contracts sit.

[OpIv37]

there is one HUGE problem with paying for Nate- I definitely want him to stay, but Evans, McGahee and quite possibly Losman are going to want huge deals in the near future. It depends on their performance this season, but we have a good young core of offensive players and it would be a shame if we had to release them because of a cap hit from Clements.

[clumping platelets]

there is one HUGE problem with paying for Nate- I definitely want him to stay, but Evans, McGahee and quite possibly Losman are going to want huge deals in the near future. It depends on their performance this season, but we have a good young core of offensive players and it would be a shame if we had to release them because of a cap hit from Clements.


Not likely to be a problem because the roster has a number of older vets (Vincent, Villarrial, etc) who will be gone 2-4 yrs from now. McGahee is likely to be the 1st at the table. Evans second and then Losman.

[OpIv37]

Not likely to be a problem because the roster has a number of older vets (Vincent, Villarrial, etc) who will be gone 2-4 yrs from now. McGahee is likely to be the 1st at the table. Evans second and then Losman.

I have a really bad feeling that Willis is gone as soon as his contract expires- Rosenass will want TD to overpay him and TD won't do it.

[clumping platelets]

I suspect that he'll get a new deal long before it. That's Drew's MO

[H23]

Nate won't sign a deal unless the Bills pay him more money then everyone else and that won't happen because some team will come along and offer him a ridiculous amount of cash.

[Ron C.]

Nate won't sign a deal unless the Bills pay him more money then everyone else and that won't happen because some team will come along and offer him a ridiculous amount of cash.

That's where the franchise tag is important. Unlike Winfield, Clements would likely be worth paying top 5 CB money (especially in 2006 with Ty Law's number out of the mix). Nate is not going to want to pass up a large signing bonus, so the Bills will have an advantage over other teams in competing for Clements.

[ExWNYer]

Nate won't sign a deal unless the Bills pay him more money then everyone else and that won't happen because some team will come along and offer him a ridiculous amount of cash.

It's going to come down to whether NC wants to stay with the Bills and be handsomely compensated or hit the open market and try to break the bank. The Bills will certainly have to offer him fair market value and maybe a little more. The question is: will that be enough to satisfy NC? We shall see. If nothing can be worked out the Bills will almost certainly apply the Franchise Tag, IMHO.