BillsVet

It's a little late in the process. They've restructured Carpenter, K. Williams, and Graham after UFA began. I didn't expect them to go wild in UFA, but are they that busy franchising Glenn, re-signing Incognito, and tendering RFA's to preclude them from restructuring of other contracts?

State tax rate in CA above $526,444...12.3% http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/state-taxes-california.aspx State tax rate in MO above $9001...6.0% http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/state-taxes-missouri.aspx And people wonder why CA is losing the earning population to other states.

If it happens, you can bank on a bunch of fans ripping him for being greedy and therefore anti-team. and... EJ Manuel will remind fans or whatever draft pick will show they're nowhere near being a starting NFL QB. But I'd imagine Doug Whaley has a contingency plan. Except he has no cap room to execute it.

One of the things I liked that Buffalo did in 2014 was the Corey Graham signing. At the time they had Gilmore and McKelvin as the CB starters, but with teams throwing so much, you need 3 starting CBs. And it provided veteran depth at a critical position that typically costs good money. This gave the Bills a lot of flexibility and provided some insurance for injury. Now, I look all over the field and there's zero to little depth. QB, G, TE, WR, LB, CB, S, DL. Their depth players at those positions aren't really NFL starter or should be expected to fill in for an injured starter. And some people think the Bills will find 3 significant contributors out of the draft. Even last year, 2 of the 3 positions the Bills found "starters" were at easy to replace positions like RB and G. Try finding instant impact OTs, CB, and DL, particularly in rounds 2 and lower.

That's good. Except 31 other teams didn't see enough out of Hankerson, Salas, Little, Boykin, Dez Lewis, and Walt Powell to want to acquire/keep them. UDFAs and Street FAs are nothing to depend on going into the season. That's a wing and a prayer/delusional mindset.

Yep, you're right. Goodwin is on the roster and may be considered depth. The question is, what's the over/under on how many games he actually suits up? Does his commitment to an Olympic run preclude him from really being a factor in 2016. And how does his 3 catches in 12 games played over the past 2 seasons make him this amazing depth Buffalo has? Go ahead and keep quibbling about their lack of WR depth behind Watkins and Woods. I bow to your omniscience.

Whaley's new now? This is his 7th off-season with the Bills.

That means it's another position where the Bills "hope" someone stands out. Journeymen, low cost UFAs, and UDFAs aren't going to make this team better anytime soon. Oh, I see you skimmed over the part where he's caught 3 passes in 2 seasons while missing 20 games. Maybe that wasn't on the wikipedia page. He's more committed to going to the Olympics than playing NFL football. And who can blame him? He can't stay healthy.

Hogan caught 36 passes for 450 yards last year and 2 TDs. Buffalo's current depth behind Sammy and Robert Woods now consists of Hankerson, Easley, Salas, Dez Lewis, Greg Little, Walt Powell, and Jarrett Boykin. That group combined managed a whopping 30 catches for 426 yards and 4 TDs, most of which came from Hankerson who spent time with 3 franchises last year. Hogan isn't a world-beater. But their third receiver will be someone who's unproven. Maybe they'll run it 40 times per game next season.

Best debater on TBD right here. Someone writes a well thought out analogy and the response is two words. Typical. If another poster offends you because they have an opinion contrary to yours, deal with it. Don't have a digital meltdown and refuse to talk to them.

Those are some big "IFs." Reminds me of just about every season for Buffalo. Being good at RB doesn't offset being poor at QB, S, and LB. There isn't another position on the roster they have good starters and decent depth. Now, I'm sure someone will note that it's early in the off-season...and it is. Unfortunately, they have nothing besides draft picks to address those areas.

Agenda? Yes, I'd like them to win. And to that end, when they don't, I'll openly question their moves. If you're good with a combined .438 winning percentage (35-45) going back to 2011, then I'd say your agenda is fatally flawed.

I thought Doug Whaley said they could go with a number of positions on Draft weekend. Right now they have 2 guys with any decent NFL time at LB and one is a 10 year veteran. They have 1 DL on the roster, Dareus, who fits a 3-4. Their CB depth beyond Gilmore and Darby is thin, and at safety they hope Aaron Williams can play after he missed significant time. In short, they have defensive needs all over the field. How they'll address them is anyone's guess after last year's spending spree meant they couldn't do much in 2016. And expecting rookies to learn Rex's scheme out of the box is a wing and a prayer.

Buffalo needs starters at DE, NT, LB, and perhaps S. They need depth at G, DL, LB, CB, S, and WR. They have no cap money to work with and the normal complement of draft picks. Unless magic pixie dust comes upon this team I fail to see how the roster will be better.

Going from 8 to 10 wins is a big step. It's not like improving from 6 to 8 wins. (EDIT: Defensively) Rex is going to be working with less in terms of personnel next season. The "great" Aaron Williams may return, Kyle Williams is another year older, they need to find another starting DE, and they're thin at ILB and OLB. It appears guys like 10 year vet Manny Lawson will log serious minutes and the CB depth is minimal. I don't understand how this translates into a very good, as in top 10, defense. It's not an automatic Buffalo improves. They could just as well regress or, more likely, remain an 8-9 win team.

It's really hard to win in the NFL.

They spent a ton of money, particularly guaranteed last off-season. Whether the player was UFA, trade, SFA, or otherwise, the plan was to win immediately and it was unsuccessful. Conflating the way a player was acquired or their place on the depth chart does nothing to avoid that.

So why did Buffalo go that route last year?

It's amazing to watch the GM squander resources and produce so little in 3 seasons. Levy/Jauron/Brandon were able to pilot the team to three straight 7-9 finishes. And they "achieved" that record in a division where New England was so dominant and the other teams were average to mediocre. Not to mention, Marv, Dick, and Russ had much less financially to work with. I know there are those who think Whaley's outstanding and it's not his fault Buffalo's been mediocre during his GM tenure. If he trades up in 2016 it's because his and perhaps Rex have jobs on the line. Even if they sit tight at 19, the likelihood that player makes Buffalo tremendously better is slim to none.

This is a team 35-45 in their last 5 seasons, which to some is a span or underachieving not worthy of criticism And this is after 10 previous seasons where they won less than 40% of their games. Where's Buddy Nix with that baby he talked about...6 years ago?

TPegs may not issued team leaders an ultimatum per se, but I'm sure the writing is on the wall. Whaley and to a lesser extent Rex have accomplished very little in terms of a W-L record given how much cash was spent.

They spent more than 90M guaranteed last year, which led the NFL. And then went out and laid an 8-8 egg. I'm sure TPegs is happy he wrote out those big checks and watched the team remain mediocre.

The no-show still needs to be replaced. Primary depth at G and CB need to be replaced. Depth at TE, starters in the defensive front 7, and a backup QB need to be acquired. Yet, the Bills have very little cap space to do it and probably will depend on rookies or low cost veterans to do it. I've never understood why fans magically assume the team will get better. Every organization doesn't ride the mediocrity train for so long without ever getting really bad or makes the playoffs. Good franchises have an option on the roster before a veteran is cut loose. I don't expect it to happen all the time, but when you enter a draft using your picks to fill needs (which the Bills frequently do) then you're never getting better, just keep your head above water.

Releasing McKelvin, Mario, Urbik, and even Dixon means those guys need to be replaced. Who on the roster is there right now? And if you're talking about the draft, are rookies going to fit the bill? Doubtful. I'm sure you'll say the cap necessitated these moves, and they did. Which means they've badly mismanaged the cap in a go-for-broke 2015 which hurt them in future seasons. A NFL team doesn't win 6-9 games the last 5 seasons by accident. Then again, you've proven incapable of constructively criticizing this franchise.

There's nothing wrong with wanting the team to win after so many years of falling short. Last year Buffalo went for broke and it didn't work, resulting in some purging this year with other players not re-signed or franchised. With UFA about to begin, the Bills are getting weaker. You can say certain cuts were necessary to satisfy cap problems, but it doesn't remove the fact the roster has more holes to fill. And with less cap space to sign replacements it looks like Buffalo will once again enter the draft using it to address needs.