BarleyNY

The lack of evidence that the cops hit anyone would be the problem there. McCoy and his friends should have gone to the police department to show their injuries if they had any. It didn't seem like they did judging by what people who saw them later that evening have said. At least nothing obvious. The video footage only shows McCoy & Co. beating and stomping on a guy on the ground. All of the reported injuries - which are severe - are on the two cops, not the four on the other side. There also doesn't seem to be a dispute that this started over a bottle of champagne that was served to the cops, but forcibly taken by one of McCoy's friends. That doesn't look good. That looks like four guys started things with two off duty cops, beat the crap out of them and didn't stop after one of them was unable to defend himself.

There is so much wrong with this..... Wentz at 2 over Goff? Bills passing on Treadwell at 19 for Lee? Treadwell even on the board at 19? Wow.

So if McCoy and his boys knew this, then they must be the dumbest people alive because that means they would have known these guys were cops. Also clubs, bars and restaurants comp stuff to cops all the time without charging anyone. And if a server is going to shuffle charges then they're likely to be pocketing the money, not giving it back away. Somebody pays cash for a $200 bottle, bottle gets put on some big spender's $2k tab, $200 goes in server's pocket.

You noticed that too? Internet tough guys are so cool, though!

Incidentally, it is illegal to pay someone off in order to avoid criminal charges. It certainly happens regularly where there is a monied party involved in something like this, but it has to be done quietly. The fact that these guys are cops might be a problem there.

That is incredibly stupid - and misleading. Situations differ. Would I help my friend if four guys were stomping his head? Hell yes. Would I help my friend if he and two other guys were stomping somebody's head and hitting him with a champagne bottle? Hell no.

So.....concussed AND drunk. Got it.

Couples has 4 accrued seasons in the NFL and thus would not be subject to waivers. He will immediately become an unrestricted free agent and could sign anywhere. His old contract is meaningless.

Since the cash has already been paid the Bills would be on the hook for the remaining cap hit from his signing bonus, of which $10.5M is remaining. 75% of that could be deferred until 2017 with a June 1st designation. His $4.8M salary for 2016 becomes fully guaranteed on the first day of the league year, which is March 9th. The Bills could almost certainly get out of that though. They'd also have to draft or find and sign another starting RB. The real problem here might be timing. Who knows how long the legal process will take? Or if Goodell would suspend or otherwise discipline McCoy in the meantime. I would not be surprised if McCoy played part of, or even the whole, 2016 season while the case is pending. This could go a lot of different ways.

Well, that video is going to be a problem....... Just one, low-key offseason.......

I didn't realize that those we the only options for that money.

I'll say this, it's not like no one brought up character concerns regarding McCoy. Just like injury concerns with Kiko got brought up on the other side. The combination of trading away Kiko plus the contract they gave McCoy was too much in total for my liking. His character was part of that. So was his position. McCoy performed very well in the games he played and, while he said and did some stupid things, he kept out of any real trouble. So I admitted that the trade worked out better than I had thought. Recently I have been sticking up for him. Now this. Should have just stuck to my guns.

There are often huge discrepancies between official attendance and actual attendance. With free student tickets and discount deals available to everyone else, one also has to consider PAID attendance. That revenue plus booster dollars are what drives programs' bottom lines. How could UB make money in an NFL stadium? They only way is if it got a lot - and I mean A LOT - better as a program. That would need to have to happen first. Also there is the big question of whether or not there is any advantage to the Bills if they share the stadium. They'll be the ones that have to be sold on the idea because without their support it wouldn't happen.

The Bills are not in not cap hell at the moment, but maybe cap purgatory or cap heck. They'll be able to navigate their salary cap situation, but I worry that to do so we will see a net loss of talent this offseason. Whaley will need to do well in the draft. Clay will restructure his roster bonus, Mario will likely be released and Gillmore will likely be signed to a long term deal. Those will collectively clear a lot of space, but talent-wise we are down Mario. Regardless of his use/misuse last season, that's a huge loss of talent. Incognito will likely re-sign and hopefully Glenn will. He could also get tagged. While important, those re-signing would just keep those positions even with last season. There will be other releases and signings to be sure, but there won't be space for any high priced free agents (other than our own Glenn or possibly his replacement). Things will clarify quite a bit in the next few weeks so sit tight. Heck, the official base salary cap hasn't even come out yet. Beyond next season there is concern, too. As you say, what if Taylor earns a huge deal? Heck, what if he just earns a moderate deal? The impact on the 2017 cap will start to come into a little better focus, too. The one thing that could really blow things up is the developing Shady fiasco. If they were forced to release him, it would create another huge hole in the roster as well as a significant cap problem.

I find it difficult to believe that the Saints did not attempt to trade Evans prior to his release. They must not have had any takers at any price. Very odd. Edited to add: Evans has been missing time recently and his play has fallen off a bit already. That's why no trade. It would be a safe bet that he will either chase a ring or his last decent check. Neither is is a fit in Buffalo.

$10.5M in dead money is cap relief? Plus what we have to pay another starting running back, of course. People really need to learn how the salary cap works. That explains a lot.

They face a hefty immediate cap hit - some of which could be deferred with a post June 1st designation. Oh, and they'd be out a playmaker and immediately in need of a starting RB. That's all. I'm not defending McCoy. In all likelihood he is probably a total dirtbag and in deep trouble. He also is probably going to hurt the Bills with those actions. I just don't get cheering about it.

Yeah! Then the Bills will only be out the $16M they've already paid him for 12 games played! Gosh, that is great news! smdh

The better question is why would UB warrant a "premier stadium"? That is utterly ridiculous. I don't know, maybe try to build the program up to a point where it is somewhat relevant first?

Exactly. Big, but average. Probably not an option for Buffalo with Shady on the team. No loss.

The league can chose to discipline a player even if he isn't charged with a crime. Obviously formal charges and convictions would both dramatically increase the chances of league discipline, but it can be implemented without either.

If restructured, the team would still have the option to roll over the same amount of space and take the same effective cap charges as they would have if they did not restructure. So, they just limit their options by not doing so. That isn't creating an advantage.

I am with MG Kelly on this. Those are all inflated numbers. Even if they weren't, it wouldn't be enough. I live in Williamsville and I've seen that stadium on many game days. And, yes, a college program does need to draw fans to make it worthwhile to utilize an NFL stadium. There is no way that UB could draw enough revenue to make it profitable - especially considering all of the deals, freebie tickets and and other specials used to get attendance up. Honestly, how many pre-game concert goers left before kickoff last season?

No way. UB can't draw 10,000 fans. How do you justify the added wear and tear on an NFL field for that? The Steelers share a field with Pitt and it is always in terrible shape (although it has drainage issues too). Just not worth it. Now that I think about it, an NFL stadium might actually lose money hosting UB games.

Look, a bunch of non-lawyers arguing about legal definitions. Here is this: Proof: The conviction or persuasion of the mind of a judge or jury, by the exhibition of evidence, of the reality of a fact alleged: as, to prove, is to determine or persuade that a thing does or does not exist. http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/p184.htm So it would actually be a jury that would decide whether or not the evidence of testimony would constitute proof in this case.