Luxy312

I'm not sure how anyone could try to establish a comparison between boxing and the NFL. Boxing basically has almost random scheduling, cherry picked match-ups and promotions. It's hardly ever televised, and if you wanted to watch any of the major championship fights, you had to pay a mint for pay per view. I would very much argue that the advent of pay per view and the significantly reduced frequency of getting really good fights is what killed boxing. I think that MMA took a toll as well, but would contend that that's because MMA started off basically free to viewers as well. If you were going to say that CTE affected boxing, then that argument is already flawed by the growth of MMA, in which I would argue people take a hell of a lot harder blows to the melon. Football, to the contrary, is organized and scheduled at every level. From high school to the NFL. We know who's going to play each other at the beginning of every season, if not before. Championships, bowl games, and the Superbowl are a known commodity when the regular season is over. Most important, they're on television. If it's your local team you're cheering for, it's free every week (except for blackouts). It's easy to follow your team from the beginning to the end. With all that said, will some parents steer their kids away from football? Sure. They already have been for years. Will some kids that played at the HS or college level forgo playing in the NFL? Sure. Is football going the way of the dodo bird? Not in my lifetime. I seriously doubt any of the other major sports will come close to the revenue machine that is the NFL. NFL revenue is growing and sits at $11.9b. In the meantime, MLB revenue is falling and is the next closest at $8.7b. The NBA and NHL at $4.6b and $3.4b aren't even close. Sorry, but Tyler Sash barely makes the news.

That I can answer easily. He's under contract for 2016 and 2017. His deal in 2014 was a 4 year $17m deal with $6m guaranteed. His base is $2.5m in 2016 with $750K available in roster bonus and $250Kin workout bonus. For 2017, it's $3m base + $750K roster. I imagine if he has another good year in 2016 that he'll be looking for a new contract then. So his cap number is $4.4m for 2016 and $5.25m for 2017. Not huge, but not potatoes either.

Very misleading statement. In 2012, Gronk signed a $54m dea for 6 yrs. His guaranteed money is $19.1m spread over the term of the contract. The Patriots have a $10m option on him for 2016 (which they'll exercise). Chandler's deal last year was $4.75m for 2 years and $2m guaranteed. Hardly comparable when you look at the bigger picture. Sure, base salaries are within $250K of each other, but that's not the only aspect of their compensation. Their cap number right now isn't much better than Buffalo's. They're at $149.2m and have some deals to get done.

For anyone that hasn't tried P90X, it is a butt kicker. Zero question.

First, Clay is already being paid no matter what. The Bills are in salary cap purgatory. Buffalo has no need to sign an over the hill done tight end. It's a waste of a roster spot and a waste of salary cap dollars.

Very selective stats considering that the Panthers were +15 in just 4 games. It's not like they've been consistent. If you like selective stats and think Carolina is just going to light them up, then you might like that the Broncos shut down an offense throwing for 4,800+ yards. Your Panthers had nearly 1,000 less passing yards. 9 times, the Broncos held their opponent to under 100 yards rushing this year. That's a big deal for a Carolina team that hasn't been held under 100 yards all year. I still favor the Panthers, just like I favored the Patriots. I just seriously doubt that this is going to be so one sided. Broncos will put a lot of guys in the box. A lot of GOOD guys that can stop the run. Newton will be throwing to Ginn and probably trying to get it to Olsen in double coverage most of the day. Newton and his ability to escape the pocket and pressure is the question of the day.

Yup. They should change their name to the 0-fors.

I'll disagree there. Let's see, Minnesota had the best offense in the league. Threw for 4,300 with 41-16 TD-INT. 1,900 on the ground for another 17 TD. Top-10 defense to boot. Scored 556 and gave up 296 points. Carolina had 3,600 passing with 35-10 TD-INT and 2,300 on the ground for another 19TD. Top-10 defense to boot. Scored 500 and gave up 308. I don't think it's as different as you think. They got beat by a ball control team in the Falcons that they were supposed to completely demolish. That was NFC Championship game, but they were rolling everyone on both sides of the ball before the playoffs, just like Carolina has been doing. Just because it's Greg Olsen and not a WR doesn't mean they're getting it done differently. Cam is throwing his fair share. They're running more, but both teams were/are high powered offense backed by a good defense.

Does this team remind anyone of the 1998 Minnesota Vikings?

Excellent article. Very good read.

Denver's chances in the Superbowl come down to whether Manning can play without turning the ball over. In games where Carolina is +2 or better in the turnover battle, they're getting about 5.7 points a turnover. That means about 80% of the time, they're scoring touchdowns off of their opponents miscues. Carolina is young and hungry and Cam Newton is playing stellar football. For the Broncos to win, they need to get to him early and often, as they did with Brady.

Miller had a career day. 2.5 sacks and an interception. Was disruptive all day. Still, Patriots only lose the game because of a coaching blunder. It's somewhat ironic that they go down the same way they've won so many games. Miller will need another career day against the Panthers, along with the rest of the Denver defense. Carolina has a slightly better offense than the Patriots put on the field, as well as a slightly better defense. It's pretty close though. IMO, the team that wins the turnover battle wins the Superbowl.

Belichick's hubris beat the Patriots yesterday. Like he's done so many times, he forgoes what should be an easy call to do what he thinks his team can do at will. 2/3 of the time he gets away with it. How many 4th and 2's have we seen near their own 40 yard line that they pick up? Plenty, but not what you do playing against the #1 defense in the NFL. If he sets the arrogance aside, the field goal was the easy call and the Patriots would have been playing for their 2nd Superbowl in a row. Instead, weepy Tom Brady can watch it from his sofa.

Clays roster bonus this year is $10m. I didn't even remember that making my list, but certainly they can recap some of that with a restructure. They will have to offer him more guaranteed money as his salary and roster bonus are both guaranteed right now ($11.5m total). Cutting him outright would take his $13.5m cap number up to $19.5m. That point goes to TheBandit for sure.

The Bills are in a bit of cap trouble. Right now, they're projected to START above the cap by $3.8 million based on a cap of $150 million. For some, the sky is falling and we are not going to be able to sign anyone. To that I say nonsense. Here's some quick math for you: M.Williams - Buffalo not taking $19.9m cap hit this year. Get back $12.9m making the cut. K.Williams - Doubt they take $8m cap hit when they can save $5m. L.McKelvin - Counts $4.9m if left as is and saves $3.9m if cut. I expect restructure. D.Carpenter - No way they accept a $2.8m cap figure when they can save $1.7m by cutting. K.Urbik - Maybe they keep him for $2.6m but save $1.8m by cutting. I don't think he's critical to the line at all. B.Dixon - Absolute waste on the roster for $1.3m when they can cut and save $1.2m. J.Wynn - Another waste of space for $1.1m when they can save $1m by cutting. By my tally, that's $27.5m in claw back before you talk about signing Glenn and Incognito. Even after those guys, they probably have a modest amount of space for free agents. They also have quite a few for the NFL minimums that could go to get more space. Of the guys above, I think they restructure Kyle and Leodis and the others are as good as gone. Just my two cents.

I usually take my own notes. LOL. I'm a little bit of a geak on that front.

Certainly not disagreeing. I just don't see how the Bills reach given all of their needs. Personally, I don't have a single safety as first round value. Same with running backs. Guess we will see when we get closer to the draft. Certainly a lot of kids will be moving up and down the board.

Based on who the scouts are looking at so far, it appears that they're looking at exactly that. I could buy off these guys if they were to trade down in the first, but would rather they just take a guy like Reggie Ragland. I guess my mentality here is to take the best at a position instead of taking the 5th-7th best at a position. Lots of time to pass before draft time, but fun to discuss none the less!

Interesting, but consistent with them letting Mario walk and saving 12.0 million in salary cap. Outside of Bosa, Buckner, Lawson, and Bullard, does anyone see any other DE's as being worthy of the 19th pick?

These two things in a nutshell sum up her hiring. There was very little fanfare in the media after her initial hiring, until someone realized she was a woman. Then the Bills scrambled to do a presser because they realized that this was a big deal. If this was a guy, the media wouldn't have cared and there would be no press release. Business as usual. But this is ground breaking. Still, at least for me, it takes away ZERO from Manning v. Brady or what the Panthers and Cardinals have been able to do this season. Football plays on.

The robot still has more personality than Belicheat.

Good to know. I'll have to run it a few times and see what comes up for me. Thanks for heads up!

Don't you wish they would have done something similar with Mario for his productivity? At the end of the day, I'm fine with a creative contract for Harvin. No big guarantees though.

End of the day folks, this woman has been working for the Jets for 12 years and worked under Ryan there for 6. He knows what he's getting from her and quite frankly the special teams last season was anything but special. I'm not sure you can say that it's going to be meaningful in the W/L column, but at least the Bills front office isn't stuck in some misogynistic stone age where only men can coach men. It's ridiculous to say the least. This isn't a headline grab or an attempt to get attention. Rex worked with her before, knows what she brings to the table and put her in a position where the team needed help. If this were a guy, we would be saying "look...Rex hired Bob Smith, who he worked with previously with the Jets for 6 years and he's getting a little bit of a promotion." It would be no big deal. Good move on the equality front, but otherwise wouldn't be news worthy.

While this would pretty much be a dream draft, people need to just look at what some of the draft boards look like right now. Let's take CBS as an example. Walter's, ESPN, and others are very similar +/- a few spots. Deforest Buckner - Would love the pick at 19th. However, most boards have him as a consensus top-10 prospect. CBS has him 10th. Likely gone unless we trade up. Darron Lee - Most boards have him top-25. CBS has him 17th. So he's going to basically slide an entire round to us at the 49th pick. Joshua Perry - Again boards have him top-50 or so. CBS has him 52nd. He slides and entire round as well to 80th? Sheldon Rankins - Another guy in the top-50 and the Bills will get him with the 114th pick. No way. Braxton Miller - CBS at 130th, and they pick 144th. Possible. More plausible scenario: 19 - I do think DE is a priority for them in the first. How about Jonathan Bullard (Florida)? 49 - I'll give you OLB Joshua Perry, but again for the earlier pick. 80 - At this pick, maybe an OLB in Jordan Jenkins out of Florida. 114 - if you want a DE, Charles Tapper (Oklahoma) 144 - I'll concede WR Braxton Miller as a good pick here I like the positions being picked, but don't think every guy we like is going to fall 30-50 spots in the draft. Honestly, if the Bills got Buckner with the 19th pick, I would already give them an A grade, regardless of what they did with the rest of the picks. That would be a huge win.