BarleyNY

Ryan "would love to have Percy (Harvin) back. This kid is one of the toughest guys you'll see. Would welcome him w open arms." WTF? Was he being sarcastic? Harvin is as fragile as china - both mentally and physically.

So what if he's unhappy about his current deal at this time? If he doesn't improve, then he's not going to be in the long term plans. If he does improve, then he's either getting that big payday and long term deal or a franchise tag (which is a hefty, guaranteed one year contract) and then that big long term deal.. You'll be surprised to see how all of the bad feelings wash away once that first big signing bonus gets deposited. One other thing that doesn't get brought up - TT is going to be under some very substantial pressure this season. By that I'm referring to pressure to perform because so much money is on the line for him. I like that. If he can rise to the occasion under this pressure, then I have no worries about playoff games or even the final two minutes of a Super Bowl. If he can't, well, it's best we find out now.

True. My comment was only meant to refer to restructures, but rereading it I see it was misleading. Yes, you're correct about seeing a cap savings of about $4M-$5M if Glenn and Gilmore get long term deals. There's just nowhere left to get immediate cap relief with restructures though.

Really? So spending big on Clay, Harvin and Shady didn't contribute significantly to the current cap crunch? And how exactly have the Bills been "successful"? There's really not much left that can be done. They could get a little out of Eric Wood's deal, but he's only signed through 2017 so they'd probably have to extend him to get much relief. I don't know that they really want to do that.

Boldin would be a nice pickup in combo with a youngster to be brought along gradually.

I HOPE those three add up to $40M-$45M. That would mean TT lit it up and that's a great place to be. The Bills put themselves into a position where drafting well is a must. Let's hope they nail this one.

Sure, the cap will probably go up another $10M or so. But the Bills will have some additional second year salaries from their draft picks too. I think we will see the Bills part ways with some more vets like Kyle to create some space. It should be better than this season, but the Bills won't have a ton of room.

$43M in estimated room for 2017. If Gilmore, Glenn and Taylor are all signed to long term deals you'll see that vast majority of that space disappear fast. Gilmore and Glenn getting LTDs this offseason would result in cap hits that would easily eliminate half of the space in 2017. Of course those deals need worked out. Taylor obviously has to prove himself to get a big deal - and the first year cap hit in such a deal can be a lot less than the average yearly hit - but QBs are getting paid large. I wouldn't plan on a ton of space in 2017 unless the Bills are still looking for a starting QB and/or a starting LT or CB.

I'd be very comfortable taking Miller in the 3rd. I think he's likely to get drafted before then though. Too much raw talent and it is just too thin at the top of this WR crop. Some team is going to jump at him and his upside.

I don't know that the Bills will take a WR early either, but they really need another speedster opposite Watkins. The problem isn't want or need, but supply. This is a crappy draft for top end WR talent. They'll find a speedy WR somewhere in the draft, but it likely won't be a guy who can step in and start (unfortunately).

Parting ways with those three players wouldn't make a dent in what Wilkerson will cost. You'd have to find a way to squeeze his first year hit under the 2016 cap then not extend either Glenn or Gilmore. Plus you'd have to give up some real compensation to the Jest. Why give up draft picks and put yourself in position where you must lose a very good or elite player you already have to acquire another elite player? I guess you could just offer up Gilmore for him, but that's kind of a push talent-wise even if they'd take it. And if they did, the Bills would need another starting CB and the Jest would have Revis and Gilmore. There's just no way to make Wilkerson's acquisition feasible and improve the team at the same time. The ONLY way I'd even consider something like this is if Gilmore was intending to get out of Buffalo and was going to make it a big fight to keep him here. But I doubt that is the case.

There's the matter of paying the man. Spotrac estimates a 5 year deal worth between $60M and $65M. The Bills can't reasonably do that.

I suspect that this is what will happen. I think the owner will want to give Mariota a rock at LT. Tunsil is probably the best LT prospect since Joe Thomas. Still, I'd probably trade out if I could get good value.

To your point about having 2 or 3 speed guys, isn't that what this offense is designed for? The offense is primarily predicated on running and throwing deep. Obviously throws of all depths are part of the scheme, but it's the deep ball that takes pressure off of the run and the run that makes teams load the box only to get beat deep. The Bills aren't going to have two or three WRs who are the complete packages, but they have to have speed across the board at WR to pressure secondaries so the offense can run properly.

Yeah. Everyone does stupid stuff when they're young (and many when they're older), but it always sad to see a kid pay the ultimate price for it. Condolences to his family, friends and teammates.

Experience in a system and an offensive line playing together are good things. You expect growth. But retaining a player who is mid-career is definitely a push from a talent perspective.

So you've just been chumming the water this whole time? You got me. Nicely played.

And anyone who would want him on the Bills at all, much less at a salary of $9.5M, is only going by name recognition and need. I wouldn't touch him at half that. Fair point.

Thank God you aren't the Bills GM. Clady hasn't played well - or much at all - of late. There are good reasons the Broncos decided to replace him.

My calculations were a little bit different from 550's, but I got about the same figure. I got $7.5M currently, $5.5M after accounting for rookies. Then a little space has to be set aside for the change from Rule of 51 to full roster accounting when the full 53 plus practice squad players will count toward cap calls. That happens just prior to the start of the regular season. Then the team also has to carry some space into the regular season for things like signing players to replace guys going on IR. $2M-$3M is probably the minimum amount a team would want to carry. Long story short, considering offsets the Bills probably have about $3-4M to play with. The Bills might want to look at some players on vet minimum deals as stopgaps. The league gives a cap space break on those contracts and the time is about right for those deals to start happening.

I'd be pretty happy with something like this (CBS board): WR LAQUON TREADWELL OLE MISS 49: R2P18 OLB JAYLON SMITH NOTRE DAME 80: R3P17 ILB DOMINIQUE ALEXANDER OKLAHOMA 118: R4P19 RB JORDAN HOWARD INDIANA 140: R4P41 OT FAHN COOPER OLE MISS 157: R5P17 DE RONALD BLAIR APPALACHIAN STATE 193: R6P17 CB DONTE DEAYON BOISE STATE 219: R6P43 DT NILE LAWRENCE-STAMPLE FLORIDA STATE

To put this in perspective, trading for Clady and moving him to RT would make him the second highest paid RT in the NFL after Lane Johnson. The third highest paid RT averages $6.75M/year. Clady is set to make $9.5M in 2016.

Exactly. And I'll bet Denver sure is trying to trade him. Salaries of $9.5M this season and $10M next. I'm thinking they'll not be getting a ton of action.

Ooof.

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts—for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang I think the point is that statistics can be easily be manipulated if there is a preconceived endgame. People can always go mining for something that supports the stance they are already entrenched in. For instance, this sort of thing goes on with economic statistical models quite a bit - particularly around election time. The assumptions they make for their models are usually far more telling than their results. But people who are actually looking for usable information and have some skill can generally find value in statistics and statistical modeling. Someone who truly wanted to know how good a QB was would compare that player to his peers and consider all pertinent statistics. They probably would even account for the relative talent around the player. That's how QBs from different eras could be compared. But no reasonable person would consider a single stat from two players from different eras as meaningful in any way.