HardyBoy

I haven't read any of the thread, but this is comp pick wizardry! They weren't gonna cut him though right?! What is the benefit to Millano for doing this?

How many other teams were in an opening super bowl window that had just paid their qb and were maneuvering to plan for an ongoing transition of the roster to keep that window while keeping it open over the next three years while staying super bowl contenders? https://www.si.com/nfl/bills/news/latest-on-bills-salary-cap-issues Also, Star opted out of the 2020 season and that caused his contract to stay frozen for the year and I'm guessing he was planning on cutting Star after either the 2020 or 2021 season, and that totally screwed that (if he was cut after 2021, which is possible, there would have been a much bigger dead cap hit). Also, I know he extended or restructured Star somewhat confusingly, just can't remember if that was right before or right after covid, but obviously whatever plan he had with that contract totally got screwed by covid. Beane has talked extensively about how the cap dropping in 2021 significantly impacted them specifically because of where they were in the team building window. It caused them to have to restructure contracts on players they would have likely cut or worked out lower contracts with had they not had to push the cap hit out into future years. Following the 2021 season and 13 seconds, you would expect Beane to have been super aggressive in getting top players...the drop in the cap started a sequence of events and contract decisions that were forced as a result of the cap drop and derailed a whole bunch of stuff...Beane has talked about it (maybe not in those specifics, but he did), I'm not making it up.

The cap dropping because of the covid season is the answer...picking low doesn't help, but that was already baked into the plan years and years out...the cap dropping caused all sorts of issues that finally they are able to get past. Covid also is the only reason they had a shot at getting Rousseau also, so...

And drafting and having a season where hopefully it is someone they could see wanting to extend and doing it after year 3. Benford not signing yet makes me think he's going to want to risk not signing and playing the year and cashing in if it goes well. I'm not sure the Bills can afford it, but if beane is saying it's a cap issue and they're planning on getting it done when the cap lets it happen, I could see it happening next season at market value or halfway through when it's impossible for some of the incentives from being possible...maybe even earlier with two players facing a six game suspension

Wait, this is for sure legit the case?! I got $17 to donate to the league fine charity if that means the bills can keep some cap space.

Also, anyone one how this impacts the comp pick calculations? Like everyone saying this is embarrassing needs to reevaluate why they feel so confident talking so confidently with such limited information... I'm not judging your first post btw, my initial reaction was why can't we have anything nice ever, but they're so much we don't know and beane has a plan. Larry O kinda feels like a jet ski to the knee type situation though. Also, speaking of confidence, I'm about to walk into an open mic night with my guitar and I'm feeling...um yeah confident is the word for how I feel for sure, definitely...

When do the bills get the cap relief? This season or next season?

And the Hoecht situation is probably what made him available at that price. I don't know that that one is embarrassing, he knew about it and it was calculated into the price of the contract I'm sure...plus it opens up a roster spot at the start of year to keep an extra player. Like I'm confused on what's embarrassing about any of this? The Larry O situation stinks, but again, how is it embarrassing? It sucks that he's on a one year deal for sure and the contract was agreed on before the info came out...but at the same time, that frees up more money for a potential trade since I'm gonna assume the Bills aren't on the hook salary cap wise for the games they are suspended for (which could also mean they have the cap space to take on dead cap to trade an existing player, which could make things interesting).

Correct, logging and mining and whatever else should not exist if the owners of the companies, likely raking in massive profits should not be allowed to exploit people. I'm confused how this is even a question in your mind? You're cool with corporations that outsourced manufacturing to other countries using contractors that pay their workers less than a dollar a day? You don't think that's exploiting them? You'll probably say, well they shouldn't accept the job if they don't like it and if that's all they can do, well that's on them...do I have your perspective right? How about when we've gone into those countries and destroyed their local economies through things like donations, which on their face sound awesome, but the local person making clothes...well would you rather buy a shirt or get a bunch of 90s bills super bowl shirts for free? Why aren't there other opportunities for them? Now, if that's something that was done externally, you don't think for a second that stuff might be occurring internally here and has been going on for a very long time? Like this "no excuses" approach without looking at the potential systemic structures that cause kids born in certain zip codes to have a massively higher chance of ending up in poverty than kids born in other zip codes...it's unfair, and taking advantage of that lack of fairness is exploitation. You aren't born with bootstraps dude

The whole system is a scam...how many of the people playing in the UFL have college degrees? How many only got into the college because they could play football, and then their scholarship doesn't even pay them lunch, and until recently they couldn't even work. How many would have been better off going to a vocational school that are now in situation where they need to accept $55k for playing a season of football where the chance of long term sigingificant injury is high, and the chance of getting an injury, likely a lingering one is really high. Why are there so many zip codes where what I'm saying above is the case. You didn't have a choice on where you were born; your zip code should have no input into how much opportunity you have to meet your potential, be it the most urban zipcode or the most rural or some suburb in between. We are not responsible for the sins of our parents, I thought that was a core tenant of all of this...fairness is a fair chance for everyone, the players destroying themselves for not enough to buy a fairly nice car, and likely not enough for a year's worth of car and house payments after all is said and done with taxes and paying for your nutritionist and agent and whatever else is required to stay in peak athletic shape on your own dime. If the league has no money to pay fair wages, they should not exist...period...end of story... that's literally the point I am making. It is not enough money and the benefits are too low...cool, let's talk about another example of how spring football doesn't work instead of how we can blame the exploited for getting into a situation to be exploited...like for real dude, listen to yourself spouting out just things you've heard...go listen to My Back Pages Good and bad I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

I'm not going to get into the nuance of why those prospects are the way they are and the exploitation that is being faced by many, if not most players in that league across their lives and the profound lack of fairness based on predictive outcomes based solely on zip code. Paying desperate people low wages for extremely risky work that they accept because they are desperate and calling it a decision they make...I don't agree with that as being a fair choice, i believe it to be an exploitative ultimatum and the reason unions should exist honestly. We probably agree on more than we disagree on this topic for what it's worth, I'm just saying that $55k for playing professional football with all we know about what the risks and long term impacts are is really low and if the reason that you might say it's not is because they're willing to take such low pay because they are desperate...I mean it's kinds the definition of exploitation. Anyway, I'm about to see Sierra Hull in a small venue and I'm super pumped for that

They believe they are being exploited, they are choosing not to play under the current conditions. The NFLPA came around to protect against what players perceived as exploitation by NFL teams against the players. I think it's fair to say likely the same reasons the NFLPA was something the players felt necessary in terms of perceived exploitative actions and likely present in the case of the UFL. Like the basic issues of player compensation and fair compensation and benefits are present in a league such as the UFL as well, I don't think it's somehow special or different. Also, absolutely it's the players choice, but making what I read above as $55k of a season, where you have a damn good chance of experiencing life long pain and disability, if not catastrophic life long injury is not a fair trade...especially when looking at the hourly rate and taking into consideration that when they are traveling or spending the night in a hotel the night before a game...that is all work time. Also, "it's $55k for four months"...like they aren't keeping their bodies in shape all year long and paying for personal trainers...$55k a year for the majority of players playing in a nationally televised football league is flabbergasting low and I'm sorry, but bone on bone arthritis at 35 is not something that $55k compensates for fairly, even if the people playing are in situations desperate enough to accept that as payment...training, nutritionists, massages, agents, etc...cut that in half post taxes and then take the overhead out of the rest...it's pathetically unfair

Do you realize how insane it is for people in terms of affording stuff, especially younger people... I'm not talking food, but like owning a house without previous equity to put on a down payment...do you have any idea how much rent has gone up in the last 5 years? You can't get a car loan under like some wild number now without a solid down payment, plus the car's crazy expensive. The UFL not being able to afford to pay fair wages and benefits because the league could clearly not secure enough funding to ensure proper payment and protections...there potentially never should have been a league. They're very likely being intentionally exploited, and you're not even willing to entertain that extremely likely situation. It's like the NFLPA exists for literally no reason

I don't think the American people are greedy on the whole honestly, look at tipping, look at bills fans donating to charities, etc. That said, agreed and what they tried to do to the Champions League in Europe with that super league they tried before fan backlash was so crazy (US owners drove that). It's not infecting the world with greed as much as going in and taking control (like they did with top level EPL teams) and changing things from inside.

Do you hear yourself and how contradictory your first sentence is compared to the rest?! They're literally saying we're not going to play if you don't treat us at a level of these specific standards. They're literally saying they are willing to not play...nobody is forcing them and they're saying they won't play in these conditions...like seriously dude, seriously with this?!