BarleyNY

I'm sure he does want $15M a year. I don't see him getting that much though. It's what is known as a "starting point" in negotiations. Gilmore will also want other things, like a bunch of guaranteed money. He'll get that, but he'll have to give up some of that yearly average to get it. (He's not accepting a 5 year, $75M contract that pays $15M/season with no guarantees or signing bonus.). He wants cash or full guarantees far in excess of his guaranteed $11M salary this season. He's going to have to give to get that. Ignoring the possibility that a tag might be needed for Tyrod Taylor or another player, the Bills could franchise Gilmore for 2017 and 2018 and he would not hit $15M per year on average from 2016-2018. Each side must gain something for a deal to get done. The Bills will pay a little less than what Gilmore would get as a FA (probably about $14M per season), they'll get a 5 season contract length and Gilmore will get guaranteed/paid a whole lot of money.

Bridge deal thoughts: - If Taylor played this season and was franchised next he would get about $3M and $21M, respectively. A franchise in 2018 would be about $25M. (Using rounded numbers for now.) - There's pretty much no risk for the Bills in that situation. All of that is on Taylor. - There's no way Taylor plays under a tag in 2017. He's on a very cheap "show me" year which implies that he'll get paid market value based on his performance in 2016. - A bridge deal would keep Taylor around through the 2017 season for sure and with no tag or renegotiation until after that season. - The franchise tag in 2017 would be about his average per season market value if he plays about as well as last season. That's not an opinion of whether or not his performance last season is worth that, only that it would be market value. So how about a 3 year deal like this?: $12M signing bonus 2016: salary of $1M fully guaranteed, cap hit of $5M (actually $5.133M due to previous SB) 2017: salary of $11M fully guaranteed, cap hit of $15M 2018: salary $25M + $5M roster bonus, cap hit of $34M ($4M of which would be dead cap if Taylor was not paid his roster bonus and became a free agent) Obviously this is a 2 year deal. Taylor would get the same 2 year payout of $24M, but he'd get cash now and the security of $24M guaranteed. The Bills wouldn't have to use their tag on him next season or deal with him refusing to sign it - and they'd get the same 2 year payout. Taylor's agent would get to crow about a 3 year, $54M deal with $51M in new money. The Bills would have two seasons to watch Taylor grow and determine his value, probably the same time Rex has to produce. After 2017 a new deal could be reached or ties could be severed with no real consequences. Thoughts?

Was excited until I saw the word "figuratively". Thought maybe some arrangements had been made.

Seems like it is certainly the case. That part is too bad. The name thing could get very complicated when he gets married and has kids - especially if his wife has strong feelings about her family name.

I've made the same point in other threads. It's a big reason why I don't think a deal gets done - except MAYBE a bridge deal. If Taylor plays as well as he did last season, then he's in line for a deal better than Osweiler - whether that's from the Bills or some other team. The Bills could tag him, but thats a tough road after a "prove it" season. They can't reasonably expect him to play under a tag. I see that scenario playing out with him not signing it and getting a long term deal or traded. The Bills would be paying market value at that point. Once you drop a contract value to reflect what Taylor is making this season, things get so out of whack I think it gets unrealistic. A bridge deal would be better for both sides at that point. 3 years with an effective length of 2. The Bills would be tied to Taylor for 2 years rather than 1 as it is now, Taylor would get cash and some guarantees to protect him financially from anything catastrophic. Then, in 2 seasons there'd be a new, big contract or a parting of ways. I'll think about what I'd do for a bridge deal and post it later.

True. They have made some bad signings the last several seasons. It shows when you look at their cap situation. They've tied themselves to some players that aren't worth their contracts. http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-york-jets/cap/

Heres PFF's outlook on the Jest: https://www.profootballfocus.com/pro-offseason-grades-new-york-jets/ It's from 2 months ago so it doesn't have Fitz's grade, but it does show a lot of problem areas for them. Clady and McLendon replacing Ferguson and Harrison are huge downgrades. Still a lot of talent on that defense and at WR, but the OL is looking brutal. The Bills success against them last season was due in large part to our defensive front abusing their OL. That looks to be an even bigger advantage for the Bills this season.

I don't blame Elway for not retaining Osweiler. That was the right decision. But every other thing he has done regarding the QB position this offseason has dumbfounded me.

Totally agree. At $1.6M you'd have to think there'd be some interest. Anything. Conditional pick, player about to be cut, a team's next 7th round comp pick, whatever. Signing Foles would make EJ more attractive too as there is not much out there on the QB market after him. Dallas would make some real sense.

Oh! That's right! He was on Green Bay and lit up the Lions for some insane yardage, then got a huge deal from Seattle and got beat out by Russell Wilson in preseason. Never did anything after that. Good call.

Yup. He did. Derek Anderson had a statistically stellar 9 games for the Browns too. He was Baltimore's backup QB prior to that season and had been brought in for depth. Charlie Frye blew chunks week 1, got released and Anderson took over and rolled from weeks 2-10 throwing to Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow Jr. Cleveland was winning and fans were talking playoffs. Then defenses adjusted and it all came crashing down. Anderson has sucked ever since.

Exactly. The Rams are still going to pay Foles $6M in guaranteed salary this season. It's a sunk cost. Ditto EJ's $1.6M guaranteed salary. It would depend on what Foles costs (obviously), but it sure makes sense from a personnel standpoint. My only concern would be his contract as paying a backup more than Taylor might create some turmoil there. As little as Tyrod is making this season ($3M), he's still the highest paid QB on the team. I'd be careful on my contract offer to Foles, but I'd take him.

Josh Gordon 2013: 14 games played, 87 receptions, 1,646 yards, including (30) 20+yard catches and (9) 40+ yard catches and 9 TDs. He was the NFL's #1 WR that year. All that on the Browns with hot garbage at QB.

WOW! The Rams still owe him $6M in guaranteed salary for this season. http://overthecap.com/player/nick-foles/773/ All four of those teams make sense. All could use an upgrade at backup. EJ might actually be the best backup in the group, but it's probably best for both parties to move on from this failing marriage. He won't be here next season and Jones won't be ready so signing Foles to a backup level 2-3 year deal would provide more continuity at the QB position.

All true. But my thinking was that a leak like this would achieve the same thing with Gilmore whether or not it was true. There are certainly contracts I'd sign Taylor to at this point, so I'm not arguing against doing that. It's just that we haven't heard anything about negotiations with him lately, but talks with Gilmore seem to be hot and heavy.

Seems funny that this would be leaked now. It makes me think it's about pressuring Gilmore to get his deal done. He wouldn't want all the money to dry up, would he?

Except this is a league matter, not something in the legal system. Standards are very different here. Bell is said to have missed multiple drug tests. He has been informed of a pending suspension and is still able to appeal. If he successfully appeals then he won't be suspended (or perhaps he'll have a reduced suspension). If not, he will be suspended. The general media reported this information. That scenario happens regularly and none of it is an issue. The only problem is that a person who works for the league's media outlet confirmed this when asked about it. That's it. That NFL media person and/or the league person who gave him the information regarding Bell may be disciplined, but it doesn't change Bell's case at all. And what would be the difference anyway? The information is already out there and there's no jury pool to taint.

It's funny, I get frustrated by people when they give passes to athletes on stuff like this. I'm going to judge him as a person based on how he acts. I'm not giving him a pass because he's a talented Bills player. I'll root for him on the field as a Bills player just the same. He's certainly not the worst person in the world, just kind of a tool.

Yeah, well I suspect the drinking can probably wait until he's a bit older. But I'd like him to have that kind of camaraderie. Plus he'll have a good build for playing the game.

Rex is the coaching equivalent of Ochocinco. His ancillary behavior isn't my cup of tea, but the vast majority of it doesn't bother me. I understand that different personalities exist and they're all fine as long as they aren't hurting others or having a negative effect on their organization. For me the red flag with Rex was the big step back the defense took last season. I didn't expect that. He's got this season and probably next to make that squad substantially better than average. If not, his reputation will take a big hit with just about everyone.

You are correct. It's just a negotiation tactic, mostly for PR purposes. Look at the options we're giving him! Plus they can point to specifics in the different contracts as well. Look, we offered him X guaranteed dollars! Look, we offered him a one year deal! Plus it gets negotiations moving again.

Any word on if the umbrella delivery guy moved their beach chairs? Who knows how far Bradham was pushed here?

No, but I've heard tale. It went something like "We beat the crap out of each other for 80 minutes, then both teams go get hammered together." Funny thing, my 13 year old son just told me he wants to try rugby and we found him a league to play in next season. Good. He could use that in his life. I fought full contact Tae Kwon Do and it was largely the same drill. We got some Mexican fighters so drunk one night they missed their flight home the next day. "¡Una mas tequila, Carlos!" Good times.

That's great. Sounds like you got yourself an alright lady. After we were dating for awhile my then girlfriend, now wife took me back to meet her family. She's from rural Central PA and she was sure I was going to bail. My mom's side of the family is from a couple towns over from hers so I knew exactly what I was in store for. She was so freaked out all weekend. It was hilarious.

I read a post from an Iggles fan years ago and wish I could find it. The thread had to do with fan behavior. He said he was a long time season ticket holder. He avoided taking his girlfriend and eventual wife to a game for years, but finally gave in took her to one. He sat in a rough section. She was appalled at the behavior of the fans there and couldn't believe he had gone there for all of those years with what she saw going on. He wrote that they had had their fair share of issues as a couple, but he was sure that she never looked at him the same way again after that game and it definitely contributed to them getting divorced.