BarleyNY

Yes, it is.

No. Dead money is already paid bonuses or guaranteed money yet to be paid. The only way to recoup that cap space is to recoup the cash (or if the guarantee somehow voids). Not the case here. The remaining $1.75M cap hit occurs next season due to the cut being post June 1st. Same total, different timing.

Buffalo by itself isn't, but if the Rochester area is included and WNY is looked at as a whole it certainly is large enough. That's not unusual to do. Akron-Canton is generally included in the Cleveland market, for example. For the team the bigger revenue problem is the lack of large company HQs which are your typical luxury box tenants. Buffalo has none in the top 500.

B for Bills. A for effort, C for execution. Glad he's willing to spend and very happy about coaching change, just not a fan of overspending for some of the players they've acquired and the lack of effort/results at upgrading QB spot.

I like watching good players who aren't total scumbags. I just like watching good football.

He'd have been soft for and NFL kicker.

I just seemed pathetic to me. Almost and admission that WNY isn't a big enough market for an NFL team (which I don't believe). Never again.

Post June 1st cut so most of the hit is next year. That said, the Saints are in deep cap trouble next offseason. True. And then there's the near certainty that he would have to serve a lengthy suspension if he would get picked up by a team.

If I was listing, in order, things that are the difference between winning and losing in the NFL, "Quality of starting QB" would be #1.

And I don't like that the writer is pinning extra on Watkins based on what the Bills gave up for him, who else they could have drafted, etc. That's a discussion solely about the FO and it should stay there. Watkins should be judged on how good of a WR he is, not how good ODB, Benjamin or Evans is. That's not fair. I'm happy to hear his hip is healing well as that's been a big concern.

Outstanding. Best comment of the week so far.

Completely

Yes, he has been formally charged. His court date is set for Aug 12th. There's no reason that the Bills should do anything before the case is settled. That will be in 2-1/2 weeks unless he reaches a plea deal first so why rush now? It's self-defeating for any organization to try to stomp out every rumor. The Bills have handled this well so far.

What matters is not a single year cap hit as teams can easily manipulate any given year in order to create or use up space (thus creating some in future years). What matters are the years a player is likely to see which on long term deals are generally 3-4 years depending upon guaranteed money. Both players have enough guaranteed money that they'll be here 4 years and neither have a balloon salary in a later year that would force a cut or new deal. Harvin's contract, for example, is a one year, $6M deal disguised as a three year, $24M deal so that $2M of cap space can be deferred to next season (and so Harvin's agent can tout a bigger dollar deal). Clay has a low cap hit so that the team could save cap space this season, but he . The team will change his big $10M roster bonus due next offseason to a signing bonus to spread it out. It was done that way to prevent Miami from matching and to protect the team in the event of something catastrophic happening with Clay. Looking at the important parts of his contract, he's being paid as a difference making TE, and he's fourth among TEs. Suh is being paid crazy money. His contract is insane for a non-QB and I fear it might result in Dareus getting some crazy offers in FA, which the Bills won't be able to match due to the deals they gave Clay and Shady. In fact, I fear those deals are what is preventing the Bills from extending Dareus now.

Rumors around Freeman included some substantial drug abuse issues (not talking stuff like pot) and that he's gay (not that there's anything wrong with that). Again, just rumors, but persistent ones.

This.

Lol. We should use that as a selling point.

Analytics are just a piece of the puzzle. People run into trouble when they base everything on them or ignore them completely.

Clay and Shady are both 4th highest paid at their respective positions according to OTC: http://overthecap.com/position/running-back/ A case certainly can be made for Shady that his is market value, but I'm not a proponent of paying RBs those kinds of deals and that contract isn't all it took to get him. What the Bills traded away for him is part of his cost and I hate losing Kiko (who is inexpensive). I can't imagine anyone making a good argument that Clay is close to top 4 at the TE position.

The Bills overpaid for Mario, but a team can do that on one free agent player (maybe two if they also draft well). He is an excellent player and plays a marquee position. The move set a tone and showed the Bills were serious about winning. I'm fine with it as an individual move, but you can't build a team that way. As for Clay and Shady, sure they haven't played a game with the Bills yet. But the Bills FO made decisions about what value to put on each of them when they traded for Shady and gave both huge new deals. I don't see why the fans shouldn't be able to make judgement calls on those moves now too. IMO they gave up and/or paid too much for both especially not knowing how well either will fit into the systems in Buffalo. Clay is a projection in any system with a ton guaranteed money to boot. And neither play a marquee position. Some moves are bad bets whether or not they pay off. C. Williams certainly qualifies.

It just show they are spending money, nothing else. Whether or not they've done that spending wisely remains to be seen. IMO it has been a mixed bag with some nice moves (Mario, Hughes) and some poor ones (Shady, Clay).

He "should" get playing time based on what you said, but Pittsburgh hasn't been a team that plays rookies much - not even first rounders. Maybe things are changing with Lebeau's ouster and due to need though. We will see. The big question with Dupree is if he's ever going to improve his technique to a decent level in the NFL. He relied solely on being a better athlete in college. He had no technique at all. Was that because he had terrible coaching in college and was never taught even rudimentary technique or because he never took to the coaching he got? His upside is undeniable, but he looks to be fools gold to me unless his college coaches were abysmal.

Williams is the easy pick for me, but I was deciding between him and Beasley. I can't believe Dupree is getting votes. Supremely talented guy, but no technique at all. He's the biggest boom or bust player in the draft, but if he does hit it won't be this season. It's going to take a bit. I picked White for offense, but I failed to consider his QB. I didn't think that through all the way. I like him that much as a prospect though.

Always take the QB. Rivers would be priority 1 if available and willing to come to Buffalo. This season should be a great reality check for a lot of Bills fans who think an exceptional DL and top 5 RB can make up for a crappy QB and below average OL. Edited to add: It is possible (but not likely) that Rivers comes available, but I seriously doubt the Bills would be on his radar. He's a Southern boy who would likely try to get closer to home if possible. You never know though. If he wants shot at a ring and the Bills look to be a QB away it is possible (if unlikely).

What 3 categories? You didn't list 3. He was 12th in QBR last season, 20 points below the highest rated QBs. QBR isn't perfect, but looking at the QBs above and below him I wouldn't put him above one of the 11 listed above him. I wouldn't move a single QB listed below him above him, however. 10-12th is about right. http://espn.go.com/nfl/qbr/_/stats/expanded Look at recent contracts. Heck, look at all contracts for QBs: http://overthecap.com/position/quarterback/ He should be very happy with long term deal at around $20M a year IMO. That's very reasonable considering all factors. As I've noted before, if he insists on $25M a year the Seahwks could franchise him for the next 4 straight years for just a hair less than that on average per year. So what would you pay him? How do you justify top 5-6?