Tortured Soul

According to your Mathis link, it says they gave him the "highest one-year tender" which I think means a 1st and 3rd in compensation, not a 5th. That would explain why there has been no movement on him.

It's not a question of if this happens. It's a question of has this already happened I'm not sure citing the Ravens and Lions supports your argument. Bottom line is it's a really bad mistake, but it's Donahoe's mistake, not Levy's. If Levy feels Losman is not the guy, and he knows better than we do, then he has to move on. It's really irrelevant at this point what round Losman was drafted in.

The deposits are refundable. I made sure.

Wells is a three-year vet. Is he restricted?

I think the point of the Senior Bowl is to reward the kids who stayed in school with one last chance to distinguish themselves. The NCAA isn't about to do anything to help underclassmen declare (which makes sense). That is why the only thing they participate in is the NFL-run combine.

I think we might get aggressive and make a move for Mario. Figure, we'd have to switch with GB and what would that take?

That's way below minimum. It has to be wrong.

Hey pollyanna, where's that number from? Do we know what Triplett's contract is?

Good point. I see Triplett replacing Edwards/Anderson as the undertackle. So I think the only way to compare the offseason so far is: Royal+Davis+Triplett vs. Adams+Edwards+Milloy+Campbell+Reed We're not ahead yet, but we're getting there.

I forgot. My mistake.

I find it hard to draw a line between Fairchild coaching the offense and Pickett or Lewis wanting to follow him.

Isn't Ralph getting mocked for saying he didn't understand the proposal?

Please tell me why. Why are baseball revenues and attendance higher than ever? Snyder bought the team after the stadium was built. I want people to stop complaining about the plight of multi-millionaire Ralph Wilson. Any of us would gladly swap our position for his.

Indy just leveraged the city for a new stadium. Watch that revenue shoot up. The ticket price example was hypothetical. I don't know the real numbers. Look at how team revenues match up to market size and you'll see they're not all that correlated. Smart owners make more money. They aren't fortunate - they were smart to make their money (at least Snyder was. I don't know where JJ's money is from), and they want to make more. Ralph isn't starving - he's making money. I don't have a problem with Snyder objecting to handing him even more.

Raising ticket prices might cause the stadium not to sell out, but 60,000 tickets at $50 apiece is more money that 70,000 tickets at $40 apiece. That is the point I'm trying to make. Didn't the Colts just get a $6 mil a year naming rights deal? Look at the revenue Carolina and Indy produce in a market not all that different from Buffalo. Personally, I love the fact that Ralph is loyal to his fans. But at the same time, I can't blame JJ and Snyder for holding it against him that he won't take his team somewhere more profitable. If you want to compete at the highest level, you have to pay the other prices. Otherwise, why shouldn't fans in Boston - who pay twice what we pay - get to see a better team than we do in Buffalo? It's a business until proven otherwise.

He hasn't sold the naming rights because he has lobbied so hard for a new stadiumfor so many years, it would be impossible to get someone else to buy the naming rights. Why have you made me defend JJ?!

Baseball has higher revenues than ever. Baseball is heading into a season in which there are probably no more than 5-7 teams that think they have no shot at the playoffs, avery similar number to the NFL. (By the way, that's also competing for fewer playoff spots.) Baseball has one club that outspends everyone else - and hasn't won in five years. Baseball is okay. The big revenue owners pay more for their teams and do everything they can to maximize revenues. The smaller owners don't. I think they have a reason to be pissed.

I think you're arguing both sides. Plus, you say this deal is good for the little guy. But from a business standpoint, is it fair to the Dan Snyders to make them give their money to the Ralph Wilsons if they are not maximizing their revenues in the first place? At the cheapest ticket prices in the league. What if they made those prices competitive?

It would kill us. Why would it kill the NFL?

Can't recall who St. Louis' tight end was. Graham and Watson are good but not great. When I think of the top tight ends - Gates, Crumpler, Shockey, Gonzalez, Clark are probably my top five - none have been to the Superbowl. They have one championship game between them. Most good offenses have a good tight end. Then again, most good offenses have good many things.

I thought it was more interesting that he had Davis at 11, Hali at 12, and Bunkley at 13. I think Bunkley at 13 (plus an additional 2nd) is a better value than Ngata at 8. And I was surprised to see Hali that high - right in the Freeney/Abraham range.

Good point, Ramius. That's the answer I couldn't figure out.

But even if he pays out large bonuses at the beginning of contracts, the base salaries are relatively low. So other teams who actually pay out the length of contracts are paying relatively large base salaries, I would think.

So a big sticking point between small markets and big markets is cash over cap - meaning the real dollars a team pays out every year vs. the imaginary salary cap dollars. The small market teams want there to be a cap on actual dollars spent as well. What I don't understand is shouldn't the cash over cap balance out over the course of a few years 9say, since 1993) due to salary cap restrictions?

If that's true, then it's worth it.