Number 1, ever Bills fan I know cares about now. The question is if you recklessly blow up the future for now. Everyone has different feelings about how conservative to be about this. But in general, here we are with a great young QB and opportunity to compete year in and year out for the next 15 years.
Number 2, yes New Orleans multiple times in the last 10 years.....they have had a lot of success but no ultimate success in that timeframe. Other teams too have gone all in and then had to blow it up. Doesn't mean you should not "go all in" now but yes teams have been killed by the cap. There are other examples. The Bills went all in under Whaley/Rex with bad contracts and had to eat it bad in McDermott's second year.
Number 3: Obviously the cap can be manipulated but in the words of Bills Polian "The cap does not forgive and the cap does not forget".
Do you think it is a fictitious figment of your imagination, a number that gets talked about but actually means nothing?