Next Season

[Devin]

Free Agency:

Cut Jeff Posey, start Angelo Crowell instead. I think he has proven he is more of a playmaker than Posey at this point.

Reduce the salary of Mike Williams, reduce it to an average G's pay.

Reduce Moulds's contract to #2 money. I love the guy but Evans should be the #1 at this point.

Resign Clements

Sign Steve Hutchinson and Damione Lewis or Ryan Pickett

Draft:

Get Haloti Ngata rd 1, Eric Winston, or Marcus McNeil
Rd2 get Derek Hagan, Martin Nance, or Dominique Byrd
Rd3-1 Get Tamba Hali, Greg Blue,or Jeremy Trueblood

So, we would have upgraded both lines, grabbed another big possession WR, and retained Clements.


And heres my take only mine is realistic.

Firstly cutting Jeff Posey is not a bad idea and I agree Crowell should be elevated to starter. I believe he/spikes/fletcher manning the middle will be a FORCE.

Reducing Big Mikes pay is pretty much a given. Releasing him I believe gives us too big of a cap hit, and as clump already stated its pretty much a given he will be in a Bills uni next season.

Moulds as much as I hate to say it is probably gone, the lone Bill to be with this team and make a difference since 1996, he is likely gone after the season.

Clements is going to be a 50/50 shot. Clements will demand a contract similar in structure to Champ Bailey. Clements will command upwards of 50-60 mil, the CB position is the highest paid in football. Id love him here but I just dont see Donahoe paying out that kind of cash.

Instead I believe Clements will be in the same position as Price was, Franchised and traded for at the VERY LEAST a 1st rounder. At this point I would immediatley make moves to lock up McGahee long term. I would then lock up Jason Peters, this kid has been money at every position hes played for us.

Hutchinson is one of if not the best Guard in football, competition will be high as well as his price tag. He will not be in a Bills uni next season.

In the draft I would aim to pick up a starting calibur DT or OT, whichever is the best available at our pick. With our second pick the same and/or CB.

In FA I dont expect much noise again this year, perhaps a replacement for Moulds....and perhaps attention to our OL.

The wildcard here is our front office, year to year there is no rhyme or reason. We will either be big time players or hardly any activity at all. And with teams like Cleveland, Arizona, Minnesota, San Diego, and Cincinnatti all between 20-32 million UNDER the cap (assuming it goes to 90 mil) there will be far bigger spenders out their then us.

Hutchinson could land anyone of those OL desperate places.

[Jan Reimers]

Do you realize that Crowell is a quick, smallish weakside LB, while Posey is a big, physical stongside guy? You cannot substitute one for the other as if this were some kind of idiotic XBox game.

[Devin]

I should expound upon that.

Im not saying he should simply "take posey's place".

Im saying he should be inserted into the starting lineup.

[TigerJ]

And heres my take only mine is realistic.

Firstly cutting Jeff Posey is not a bad idea and I agree Crowell should be elevated to starter. I believe he/spikes/fletcher manning the middle will be a FORCE.

Reducing Big Mikes pay is pretty much a given. Releasing him I believe gives us too big of a cap hit, and as clump already stated its pretty much a given he will be in a Bills uni next season.

Moulds as much as I hate to say it is probably gone, the lone Bill to be with this team and make a difference since 1996, he is likely gone after the season.

Clements is going to be a 50/50 shot. Clements will demand a contract similar in structure to Champ Bailey. Clements will command upwards of 50-60 mil, the CB position is the highest paid in football. Id love him here but I just dont see Donahoe paying out that kind of cash.

Instead I believe Clements will be in the same position as Price was, Franchised and traded for at the VERY LEAST a 1st rounder. At this point I would immediatley make moves to lock up McGahee long term. I would then lock up Jason Peters, this kid has been money at every position hes played for us.

Hutchinson is one of if not the best Guard in football, competition will be high as well as his price tag. He will not be in a Bills uni next season.

In the draft I would aim to pick up a starting calibur DT or OT, whichever is the best available at our pick. With our second pick the same and/or CB.

In FA I dont expect much noise again this year, perhaps a replacement for Moulds....and perhaps attention to our OL.

The wildcard here is our front office, year to year there is no rhyme or reason. We will either be big time players or hardly any activity at all. And with teams like Cleveland, Arizona, Minnesota, San Diego, and Cincinnatti all between 20-32 million UNDER the cap (assuming it goes to 90 mil) there will be far bigger spenders out their then us.

Hutchinson could land anyone of those OL desperate places.

Agree on Crowell and Posey.

On Mike Williams, I think the only way to cut his salary is to cut him outright, then try to re-sign him. The only other thing you can do is restructure his salary. The players association, I'm sure has guidelines in place to prevent teams from forcing players into taking major cuts. Even with the cap hit for cutting him, Buffalo would save something like $3.45 million in cap money as per Clumpy's figures. They can certainly sign a serviceble guard for that.

Moulds. Wouldn't surprise me if he departs.

Clements. Probably gone in the scenario you suggest, though it wouldn't shock me to see the Bills franchise him and keep him.

Agreed, Buffalo won't sign a premium priced guard.

On the draft, agreed, except I lean toward DT.

I'm not sure what to expect of the Bills in free agency. I'll have to wait until Clumpy does a salary cap update in January.

[Devin]

On Mike Williams, I think the only way to cut his salary is to cut him outright, then try to re-sign him. The only other thing you can do is restructure his salary. The players association, I'm sure has guidelines in place to prevent teams from forcing players into taking major cuts. Even with the cap hit for cutting him, Buffalo would save something like $3.45 million in cap money as per Clumpy's figures. They can certainly sign a serviceble guard for that.


I meant dead cap space. We would save 3.4 mil this year but I thought clump said it would be a boatload of dead cap space later on.

[OpIv37]

Moulds is gone. We'll be fine without him.

Williams is restructured or gone. He's not even a starter now so who cares?

As far as Nate, he's an amazing player but I don't know if anyone is worth that much cap space. Our D is gonna be hurting without him. And I'd rather see Donahoe get a proven O-lineman or D lineman for him with the franchise tag, rather than a draft pick. The draft is such a crapshoot. Perfect example: Mike Williams lost his starting RG position to Peters, a TE who wasn't even drafted. (Speaking of Peters, we can't let this guy walk)

I don't know if Posey needs to be cut, but he's definitely a weak link. This is a big-play D and he's had like 2 big plays in 3 years. I like Crowell and we need to keep him too (I remember reading that he's a FA but I could be mistaken).

Draft: best OL or DT available first two rounds, find a CB in there somwhere.

[X-Era]

And heres my take only mine is realistic.

Firstly cutting Jeff Posey is not a bad idea and I agree Crowell should be elevated to starter. I believe he/spikes/fletcher manning the middle will be a FORCE.

Reducing Big Mikes pay is pretty much a given. Releasing him I believe gives us too big of a cap hit, and as clump already stated its pretty much a given he will be in a Bills uni next season.

Moulds as much as I hate to say it is probably gone, the lone Bill to be with this team and make a difference since 1996, he is likely gone after the season.

Clements is going to be a 50/50 shot. Clements will demand a contract similar in structure to Champ Bailey. Clements will command upwards of 50-60 mil, the CB position is the highest paid in football. Id love him here but I just dont see Donahoe paying out that kind of cash.

Instead I believe Clements will be in the same position as Price was, Franchised and traded for at the VERY LEAST a 1st rounder. At this point I would immediatley make moves to lock up McGahee long term. I would then lock up Jason Peters, this kid has been money at every position hes played for us.

Hutchinson is one of if not the best Guard in football, competition will be high as well as his price tag. He will not be in a Bills uni next season.

In the draft I would aim to pick up a starting calibur DT or OT, whichever is the best available at our pick. With our second pick the same and/or CB.

In FA I dont expect much noise again this year, perhaps a replacement for Moulds....and perhaps attention to our OL.

The wildcard here is our front office, year to year there is no rhyme or reason. We will either be big time players or hardly any activity at all. And with teams like Cleveland, Arizona, Minnesota, San Diego, and Cincinnatti all between 20-32 million UNDER the cap (assuming it goes to 90 mil) there will be far bigger spenders out their then us.

Hutchinson could land anyone of those OL desperate places.

Wow, Devin thats a BIG difference. Thanks for the critcism and for clearly? setting me straight?

This should have been a reesponse to mine.

[Devin]

Wow, Devin thats a BIG difference. Thanks for the critcism and for clearly? setting me straight?

NP dude :up: .

[Jan Reimers]

I should expound upon that.
Im not saying he should simply "take posey's place".
Im saying he should be inserted into the starting lineup.
I don't mean to beat this to death, but if we cut Posey, who is going to be our starting strongside linebacker? If Stamer or Haggans were better, they'd be starting now. Or do we pick someone in the draft or free agency?

Assuming Spikes recovers from his injury, that leaves him and Crowell at the same position, i.e., weakside LB. Neither seems suited for the strongside.

[X-Era]

I don't mean to beat this to death, but if we cut Posey, who is going to be our starting strongside linebacker? If Stamer or Haggans were better, they'd be starting now. Or do we pick someone in the draft or free agency?

Assuming Spikes recovers from his injury, that leaves him and Crowell at the same position, i.e., weakside LB. Neither seems suited for the strongside.

Just for gits and shiggles, what IS the difference between a strong and weakside LB? Why does Crowell not fit the bill?

[Jan Reimers]

Just for gits and shiggles, what IS the difference between a strong and weakside LB? Why does Crowell not fit the bill?
The strongside 'backer lines up on the side across from the opposing team's tight end, so he has what is often a 250-260 pound blocking machine to contend with.

One of the main reasons that Takeo - and now Crowell - can roam around and make so many plays is that they are not encumbered by the TE. Conversely, Posey is quieter in terms of big plays because he is generally trying to fight through the TE.

[dannyek71]

The strongside 'backer lines up on the side across from the opposing team's tight end, so he has what is often a 250-260 pound blocking machine to contend with.

One of the main reasons that Takeo - and now Crowell - can roam around and make so many plays is that they are not encumbered by the TE. Conversely, Posey is quieter in terms of big plays because he is generally trying to fight through the TE.


agreed

[X-Era]

agreed

Heres the problem with this concept then.

Posey is 6' 4" 241
Crowell is 6" 1" 235

so 3 inches in height and 6 pounds means Crowell cant do it?

Derrick Brooks, one of the best left or strongside LB's is 6' 0" 235

Julian Peterson is 6' 3" 235

Im not seeing why Crowell cant play SLB

[ShadowHawk7]

Or maybe since we don't seem to have two DTs who can cut it, we could move to a 3-4, w/ Kelsay, Adams, Schobel, and the Crowell, Spikes, Fletch, Posey?

[ParanoidAndroid]

We would have to make a couple of moves to get some depth at LB and another true NT. Also, we would have to get a DC that knows how to run it.
It's a good thought considering those 4 starting caliber LB's, but this would only happen if Gray moves on.

[ublinkwescore]

Don't go Gray.

[TigerJ]

Interestingly, one of the things that Crowell did particularly well against KC was his coverage of Tony Gonzales. Gonzales did have a lot of catches, but Crowell wrapped him up quickly to hold down his yards after the catch. And he had another interception.

[Jan Reimers]

I think a real possibility would be to move Spikes - if he loses a step due to the Achilles injury - to the strongside, and keep Crowell where he is now.

[ParanoidAndroid]

That was my thought as well. Crowell Fletcher Spikes is a nice group. Now we just need insurance behind Fletcher because I don't see him lasting much longer given the beating he has taken the last 3+ seasons here and his last couple in St. Louis.

[The_Philster]

The strongside 'backer lines up on the side across from the opposing team's tight end, so he has what is often a 250-260 pound blocking machine to contend with.

One of the main reasons that Takeo - and now Crowell - can roam around and make so many plays is that they are not encumbered by the TE. Conversely, Posey is quieter in terms of big plays because he is generally trying to fight through the TE.not only fight through him, but cover him.