PlayoffsPlease

I agree with this. Its an obvious solution.

You don't seem to understand the original post. Your "bottom line" makes no sense. The proper question isn't whether or not another team would pay Taylor $20 mm. The proper question is "Can Whaley build a champion while paying Taylor $20 mm (or 15, or 10, or whatever the number is). Obviously Whaley couldn't put the pieces together in 2016 even with having only 3 mm of cap invested on Taylor. It doesn't get any easier than that. in the NFL. If Whaley needs to use up $20 mm of cap on Taylor, why would anyone think all of sudden he can put together a winner with 17 million to spend on the rest of the roster.

Would you be happy with the Falcons since Ryan got paid? Or the Lions since Stafford got paid?

we used the 2014 and the 2015 first round picks for Watson. That is two picks. We used one pick on Stephon Gilmore for example. And if we had the 2015 first round pick, Darby still would have been their in the second round.

The NFL isn't fantasy football, but judging players must be done in the context of their cap hit. Taylors cap hit in 2016 is 2% of the top 51 number. The highest cap hit in the league is Brees at 20% (or 30 million) Brees is a great QB. Saints have been a non-factor since Brees signed his latest contract. At 20% of cap, the Saints have a a great QB but an awful QB situation. If Tyrod puts up the same numbers as last year for 2% of cap, the Bills have a huge edge at the QB position over most of the league. Failure to make the playoffs with that advantage means Whaley can't put together a team. It will never be easier than 2016. Lions, Chargers, Cowboys, and Falcons are all teams with very good QBs and pretty much terrible QB situations because they can't put together a winning team around their 20 million QB. Taylor isn't going to be signed for less than 10% of the cap if he is performing at 2015 levels (15 million). Honestly I have my doubts about Whaley's ability to assemble a playoff team with a 15 million cap hit. But if Taylor is pushed to the 15% of cap level ($22.5 mm), based on Whaleys/Ryans history, I think we can expect to see the same extended playoff success that the Lions, Falcons and Cowboys have had the last several years. I want a "franchise" QB very much. But the gap between Brady and Rodgers and Stafford and Ryan, in terms of performance is much much much much greater than the difference in salaries. I don't want the Bills to finally get their franchise QB, only to end up in the "Matt"Trap

If they changed the min, I am sure they would change the cap to accommodate it. In general the Salary cap has made the league more competitive. The big gap in the cap, is when a QB performs way over their cap hit. Tom Brady is in a personal position to be paid below market value. This is a huge advantage for the Patriots. Seahawks, Ravens, Niners all made the Super Bowl with QBs having great seasons on their rookie contracts. The big money for Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford, Philip Rivers, and Drew Brees and Joe Flacco has hurt their teams quite a bit. Heading into 2016, the Seahawks have hard decisions to make (losing Bruce Irvin, no similar cost replacement for Lynch), and may join the teams that labor under the burden of a high cost QB.

If the Bills finish last, I think fan reaction on this board will be something like this: "With a top 10 draft pick, Whaley will be able to steal one of the best players in the draft, probably the overall best player, I mean he got Darby in the second round, and last time we had a top 10 pick in the draft we got Watkins (boy I hope we can extend him this off-season, but it is going to be really expensive.) In Whaley we trust!!!"

I agree 100%. Similar situation with the defense too. There is little to no coherence to the talent and coaching staffs Whaley (and nix before him) have assembled. Putting together a winning team involves a lot more than identifying individually talented players. Giants are glad the Bills made the deal.

The best way to put a GM and his staff's results into perspective is in the win/loss column over time. Nothing much else matters.

I agree it really is time to move on to new management.

The will be creating a frankenwidereceiver out of the parts of these three guys.

You seem to be one of the fans that view production as somehow superior to potential, or prototypical size or speed or measurable. If you just pick the guy who is obviously better, than no one will know you are a genius. You need to pass on the obvious guys and dig out the diamonds in the rough and reclamation projects to truly prove how smart you are.

He was a warrior who sacrificed his body to help his team try to win a playoff game. Not the smartest move, but saying he is a malcontent or not a team player might be idiots.

Yes, the Steeler's have been better than the Bills because they have better players and coaching staffs. They have better players and coaching staffs because they are better managed. My response was based on the fact that some teams don't make big "splashes" because they don't have big needs. Some teams don't make big splashes even when they have needs because poor management left them in cap position to not address needs. Other times no one makes a big splash, because no one that is that great is on the market. I haven't checked but I think Mario was the most expensive free agent signed by a team other than their own so far.

Football doesn't lend itself to "moneyball" logic nearly as well as baseball. But at some point when their is a huge disconnect between actual production and how much salary cap is used up, the results show on the field. The Bills have $16 million in cap money for 2016 tied up in McCoy/Clay/Harvin (Harvin is $2mm of dead money). In 2015 that trio returned a little over 800 yards rushing and 1100 yards receiving and 9 touchdowns. That is a lot less production than the salary cap hit is worth. Fans can complain about injuries and luck plays a big part in that. But durability and age are factors teams account for when signing/drafting player.

The Steelers have drafted much better than the Bills over the last several years. They have also been more successful. Successful teams probably should be expected to make fewer changes in the off-season. The Bills have franchise QB money tied up in a RB and TE. The used two first round draft picks to acquire a very good #1 receiver. Steelers drafted Antonio Brown in the 6th round. He is pretty good two. They Leveon Bell on a rookie contract (second rounder money) . The Steelers got virtually identical production out of Heath Miller for 1/3 the cap hit as Charles Clay in 2015. The Bills' lack of "splash" is because they are/were over invested in under producing players. The Steeler's lack of "splash" is more related to a lack of needs. It is not really the same thing.

If Whaley hadn't botched salary cap management, it would be an obvious decision to work out some sort of extension this season.

I understand markets pretty well. But I also understand market efficiency and it is not clear that the market for NFL QBs is efficient. It is not as though any team has established that you can win a championship with QBs the caliber of Oswellier or Bradford. The Texans and Eagles are not exactly teams with the winning formula. In fact the Eagles with Foles, niners with Kaep, Bills with Tyrod have sort of shown that first year QBs that other teams don't have tape on might be just as successful as low end players like Fitz.

The second round pick will most likely be a productive player on the Pat's roster for 3 or 4 years. The Patriots obviously decided that their was no chance they would have Jones after this season, because they are not willing to pay top 5 salaries at pretty much any position. Even is Cooper is cut in training camp, the Pats are probably comfortable with the deal.

Its a bad idea. The commissioner should be in charge of this role. Goodell isn't good at it. They should change the commissioner not the job description.

yep Myth. The vast majority of QBs that eventually made the playoffs started by year 2 in the last 25 years. Aaron Rodgers being the rare exception because he was on a team with a HOF QB. Team has the exact incentives to put a QB on the practice squad, as Idea # in the OP, with the exception they need have player they think is worthy.

Rex thought Sanchez was worth mega guaranteed dollars in NY. Not sure Sanchez is designed to run the Chip Kelly offense. He is in a good spot to be "comeback player of the year" now with the Broncos.

whatever "pre-conceived" notions people had about Rex, is kind of besides the point after watching his dismal failure with the defense in 2015.

If Taylor, McCoy, Watkins, Glenn, Clay and Incognito all play as good as last year, and the defense can make up for the holes created with the losses of Williams and McKelvin, we should have a good shot to get to 8-8 next year even though we have a tougher schedule.

No one was worried about the Jets last year, because they had a rookie head coach. And while the Bills beat them, they finished a full two games ahead of the Bills in the standings. Philbin seemed pretty bad. At this point, the Dolphins look like they are positioned to win more games in 2016 than they did in 2015