Dibs

He's actually a close friend of mine and he told me the other day that he still didn't like you.

It's only useful though if there is a point of reference. Had he shown the numbers for Luck, RG3 & a chunk of other QBs for us to compare this years crop to we would be able to place some sort of weight to the numbers. As it is, that article is quite meaningless IMO.

That would cost an extra 1.5M in cap space.....not save any cap space. Cutting Fred would only save 1.64M in cap space.

Uggg.....it's impossible to keep up with. The one thing we can be sure about is that at this point we have an advantage over most teams......and with a few more strategic cuts(and a miraculous re-working of Fitz).....we will be in good position come Free Agency time.

I don't know about that.....it doesn't look that way from the contract sites. If cut he will add 2.2M to the cap.

Where'd you get that from? I figure us being a few more notches better than 8th at the moment.

Not really.....with the possibility of a firm "no". After the Wilson/Barnett cuts we have 17.9M in cap room......so not really. We also have the option to use an additional 9.8M of carry over cap from last year......totaling 27.7M.....so no. Cutting Kelsay/McGee/Smith will add another 9.2M.....totaling 36.9M. Lots of cap room......particularly compared to most teams.

Anderson stays. Cutting him will cost 1.5M in extra cap dollars. In cap terms, better to keep him.

I had no idea what K-Cups was. I only clicked in this thread because I thought it might link to some extra large hooters.

Like aspirin?

Do you have a strong history of psychic prediction? Please let me know if you do because I am looking for a reason to be extra worried about something.

Thanks for the post.....very interesting & a good read.

My point is that TQBR seems to be roughly as effective as the standard QBR in that they both typically show who the better QBs are....who the bad QBs are....and who is in the middle. They both occasionally get it wrong. Flacco's QBR in 2012 was more indicative of how he played than his TQBR. His TQBR had Flacco(46.8) just above Vick(46.0).....who was just above Fitz(45.8). It is total bollocks to suggest that Flacco's regular season performance was as bad as Vick/Fitz. It wasn't great....or even good.....but he wasn't a game-loser like those two were this season. As I said in my previous post.....I don't disagree that the TQBR has a better foundation for ranking QBs.......but it is not perfect & 2012 Flacco is an example of this imperfection.

I think perhaps that you don't understand the timing because you can't/won't accept that your assumptions might be different to those made by the Bills......let alone that they could be wrong(I'm basing that on your "BS" comment). Let's assume that the Bills "know" that they are going to cut Wilson/Barnett. Is there any benefit in waiting to cut them? In this case it could only have a negative effect as it would be perceived as unfair on the players.....and that could become a negative factor when trying to sign new FAs. Why would the Bills have made the 100% decision to cut them? It all comes back to value for money.....or bang for bucks. In regards to Barnett. Let's assume the Bills grade him as a 5 out of 10 player who played at a 3 last season. Cutting him saved 3.5M(from memory). He is also old and will be 32 next season. Let's also assume that the on field benefit between a 5 player and a 4 player is minimal. The options now are...... Go for a level 6-7 ILB in FA for a small amount more than what you saved with cutting Barnett. Go for a much younger level 5 ILB(with upside) in FA for likely less than what you saved with the cut. Go for a level 4 ILB in FA for a great deal less than what you saved....use the left-over to help sign Levitre/Byrd/FA WR etc......and make do with similar ILB production for a season(unless the draft has found the answer). Unless you run under the assumption that an old Barnett is much better than a 5 out of 10......there is really no logic to keep him as there are always journeymen LBs of similar talent available for a 1 year contract. There is even a decent chance that Barnett could be re-signed with the Bills for Veteran minimums.

Hmmmm......no. When looking at Brady's contracts, you will find he is usually either right at the top in salary(as per his 2010 contract that made him the highest paid player in the NFL).....or he is right at the top in cap hit(as per his highest in the league 2013 cap hit). He certainly asked to be the highest paid just 3 seasons ago......and was happy to restructure to save the Pats some cap room last year as it further boosted his annual $$$ intake.

It pans out as a 7M - 10M deal. If Vick doesn't play 10 games and under 50% of the snaps it will be 7M If he plays in 10+ games, 90% of the snaps & wins the SB he will achieve the incentives to be able to make 10M.

Thanks Ganesh......but I wasn't saying that I think all of that will happen. There are 31 other teams looking to sign good FAs and the likelihood that we can re-sign Levitre & Byrd and grab more than 2 quality FAs is quite against the odds IMO. Fingers crossed though.

Really? How do you get "...I feel Farrar is selling him short as a strait line runner...." from.... "Patterson is known for his straight-line speed, but don't ignore his ability to make gains in tight spaces on underneath routes -- and his ability to adjust to some fairly "interesting" passes from Tyler Bray. Still finding his feet at the FBS level, but could become a truly dynamic every-level NFL receiver in the right system." ???

Read past his first comma.

Though I agree that it would be difficult to sign all of the FAs you listed.....our situation is nowhere near as bad as you are making out. At this point, with the Wilson/Barnett cuts we are 27.9M under our spending amount(cap + rollover). Cutting Kelsay, McGee & Brad Smith will see us being 37M under. Counting Levitre & Byrd as FAs....and using your list, we need to sign......FS, SS, ILB, OG, WR, QB & TE When working a new contract, it is common to work it so that the cap hit for the first year is somewhat less than the average year of the contract. Also, cutting Fitz will see another 8M(?) of cap space come through in 2014. Safeties and TEs have relatively low salaries.....and there are no star ILB FAs on the market as yet so that salary will likely not be a bank-breaker either. Unless we go for Flacco or Smith, any FA QB will likely not be over 5M/year......and that's assuming we have to re-work Smith's contract. If we were to trade for him, he will only cost $7.75M(?). By my figuring we could manage to pretty much sign Levitre & Byrd.....plus a top FA WR.....plus Landry(SS)....plus a mid range LB & or TE. It's only if we get Flacco or Smith for QB that we would start having trouble.

....but will it be worth it at the price? Harris is due to make 11M salary this season.....only 7.1M next season(2014 final year) though.

Yes. There are many players that seem to take two or three seasons to "get it" and come on strong in their 3rd or later seasons. I'm not saying that Sheppard will be one of these guys.....but it happens quite a lot.

I don't disagree......but according to the TQBR, we are about to see the 2012 25th ranked QB receive best in the league type money(Flacco).

I have no idea either. Landry is 2 years older with a better pedigree(which is meaningless IMO). My thoughts run along the lines of.....Pettine knows he can have success with Landry in his system......and has no allegiance or history with Byrd.....therefore, if talent level is comparable he will go for Landry.

I've come to think that we may well be saying goodbye to Byrd. LaRon Landry is a FA and just made the pro bowl under Pettine's system playing FS. If we are going to spend probowler money at the FS position.....it makes more sense to me that we will go after Landry rather than Byrd.