BarleyNY

That's actually why I used the current rookie pool estimate in my original example. That's the most cap space they can use on rookies so they're bound by that.

http://overthecap.com/draft/ Using your methodology the four pertinent players from 2015 add up to $3.66M. As you noted, the bottom two wouldn't displace anyone. (1.71+.85+.55+.55) Adding 8.3% we get $3.96M. At this time those four would displace players making $525k each. $3.96M-(525k*4)=$3.96M-$2.1M=$1.86M. The Bills draft picks would actually only require $1.86M in effective cap space. That is precisely what I calculated.

He's 29, but will be 30 before the regular season starts. That dude made some money in Miami and Minny so I'm not sure what he'd actually play for at this point. I'm always shocked when a player who has made huge money takes a low paying contract unless it's to play for a contender. I doubt he's a match for the Bills, but it's fun to kick things like this around sometimes. A similar style player might be a nice fit, though. The Bills have to look at cheaper options to fill needs and a one trick deep threat at WR is going to be easier to find (and cheaper) than a complete one.

I think a case can be made for Osemele getting paid large, but $8M for Boone? I think we're seeing agents trying to drive up prices during the legal tampering period. Things always get a little crazy around now. Let's see where things land. Of course, it only takes one team.....

Yeah. Signing Gilmore and Glenn to long term deals would help a great deal in both immediate cap relief and long term talent retention. Yes. The Bills' rookie pool is right at $5M, but under the Rule of 51 we will see 6 players fall out of the top 51 when those draftees are signed. Those removed salaries will be about $500k each, so the effective cap space the Bills will need to sign their picks only will be about $2M. $5M-(6*$500k)=$2M. That's good news.

Wallace is a quality deep threat, but that's pretty much all you get with him. He was a terrible, terrible fit in Miami's WCO that relies almost solely on short and intermediate timing passes. Oh, and Tanny doesn't even have the arm to have gotten him the ball deep with any consistency. It's just another example of Miami's incompetent owner meddling. He's gotta have every new, shiny toy of the year.

Who are you finding for that $5M that'll be better than Kyle? I think he's gotta stay for at least this season. Signing Gilmore and Glenn to long term deals should free up about that much this season. That's where I'd be focused.

That scenario would make a ton of sense.

That's his game. Go deep. Go deep. Go deep. But if the Bills were going to pick up a WR that is a one trick pony, that'd be the trick they'd want the guy to have.

WTF are the Colts thinking?

I can't believe that the possibility of re-signing Harvin is on the Bills' radar. Signing him last year was stupid, but re-signing him would be unforgivable. I know some people will throw around stipulations like "incentive based", "cheap" and "at the right price" - and a case can be made for that kind of deal, but no way do I want him on the team. He has done nothing but make teams regret having him on their roster. Mario has gotten a lot of grief for "quitting" on the team for dogging it on the field. How can anyone upset about that want to put the guy who quit and went home back on the team?

Rolled over cap does have anything directly to do with RI or other pending free agents. It does have an impact on reworking some deals and certain player releases. (Johnny Manziel of Cleveland is one example.) I should not have mentioned it in this context. Teams cannot ink deals with their own free agents until the 9th, however. This is a question that has come up repeatedly in another forum and it's been repeatedly answered by a guy who would know.

Yes, they do. They've rolled their remaining cap space from 2015 forward to the 2016 league year and we are in a designated dead period. Bandit is correct about what can be done: Teams and players can agree to terms, but a team cannot re-sign a pending free agent until 4 pm on March 9th.

A franchise QB is a big factor in a team's talent. Their recent records indicate that they've been average with an average amount of OVERALL talent compared to other teams. If they had an elite QB with a huge cap number, then they'd have less talent elsewhere because they couldn't afford some of the other expensive players. If their spending was in line with their record, then they'd have cap room to afford a franchise QB in addition to the current roster.

Good reminder. A lot of people (and not just Bills fans) are getting worked up about players not re-signing yet, but do not realize that teams and players can't officially do anything until the new league year.

Every team has players other teams would love to have. But the Bills don't have enough talent overall to warrant their spending. They're spending like a team trying to keep a Super Bowl contender together, but have been average. It's not that they are devoid of talent, they're not. They just don't have the talent level or success to warrant where they are from a cap perspective. They're going to have to dig themselves out.

Teams that draft well can always keep the cap reasonably in check. The Bills are not in a great spot from a talent and cap balance right now, so hitting in the draft is of even more importance than usual. While there are certainly some very talented players on the team, the wins just haven't been there to justify such high spending. There's not much to be done except to try to draft well and find deals in free agency. Planned or not, there's really no other reasonable way forward right now. The good news is that this is a great draft for defensive linemen. You're sure right about that.

It's a place I feel I can help out so no worries and I enjoy it. Everybody can contribute something.

Thanks. It is a part of the game that I find fascinating.

It sounds ridiculous, but that total includes incentives and there is nothing regarding structure. The reality of the contract might be far less extravagant. Leaking that selective information is probably a tactic used by the Broncos to create public pressure to push him to sign the deal.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. Currently they're in the 24th best shape for the 2017 league year, not including rollovers.

The $60M projected space would include the rise in base cap from what I've seen. The Bills are at about $107 in commitments for 2017 at the moment. The current base cap is $155. Next year will likely be about $168M. That's about $61M in cap room by my estimate. That might seem like a lot at first blush, but it doesn't include cap hits for Tyrod, Glenn, Gilmore, Incognito, this year's draft class or any other QB. Those players (or their replacements) won't take all of it, but they'll make a substantial dent in it.

This was Apple's entire comment on the matter: "I've been asked a lot of weird questions. I don't know if I could say on TV," Apple said. "The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, 'So do you like men?' It was like the first thing he asked me. It was weird. I was just like, 'No.' He was like, 'if you're going to come to Atlanta, sometimes that's how it is around here, you're going to have to get used to it.' I guess he was joking but they just ask most of these questions to see how you're going to react." It sure didn't seem like he thought he'd get anyone in trouble or create a stir. It's a slow media cycle and this is an easy article to write. Apple won't be hurt by it and the Falcons apologized. I should probably end there. Now that it hit the news every single team has probably communicated (for the umpteenth time) to their staffs that comments and questions like this are not acceptable. At some point this sort of thing becomes a stupidity test for career potential. It's sort of like players who smoke pot before the combine. If you're not smart enough to know you can't do it - or if you have such a big problem that you do it even though you know better - then you are a liability and we probably don't have much use for you.

Didn't Pat seem a little drunk in that video?

Incredibly stupid - and probably illegal - thing to ask.