mob16151 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 thomas jones is the rb for the jets...thomas davis is the lb for the panthers but he just tore his acl last week and is done for the year. i would have loved him before the injury...the guy is an absolute stud but the injury is gonna set him back bad Aww my bad thx for the correction. Then if I cant have Davis I'll take Thomas Howard OLB from the raiders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvermike Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 The general read right now is that an uncapped 2010 will not be a Yankeesque spending spree, but a limited year for UFAs. Most teams have quite a bit of slack under the cap, so that's not being used as it is. There are further limits on playoff teams, and a few other things. Also bear in mind that the league wants to plead poverty in labor negotiations, so they'd be undermined by a spendthrift season. Of course, they can't all agree to keep costs do legally, but don't be shocked if it happens. I'm not worried about the overspending rich teams, I'm more worried that with labor unrest looming, the Bills decide to dial down below the cap floor - which will no longer be in force. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Without a cap in place, it will drive up the price for players. Big money teams will spend bigger bucks for playmakers making the second tier players cost even more. Do you really want to spend 10 million for a Ryan Denny type player ? Ralph spending more doesn't mean the bills will get any better. There is a misconception around this board in regards to Ralph spending money on players, he does. His problem is the bozos' that bring in the talent and who they are paying. Do the research on trends in the NFL: most teams are spending closer to the cap floor than the max. It is for this reason that the cap rose from 123M to 127M earlier this year. The CBA mandates teams spend a certain amount of real dollars on players, and teams aren't doing it in anticipation of a lockout. Jerry Jones and Dan Snider may break the bank, but most teams, particularly smart big market teams like the NYG and small market teams will not spend out of control. If you've read my posts, I'm not an advocate of throwing money at problems and hoping they'll go away. It takes a savvy personnel man to know where to spend and where not to. Again, this is why I believe the Bills must find a real GM to handle personnel evaluation who then can find a coach. Those two men, without interference from the owner, treasurer, or marketing guy, must be on the same page. One of the reasons the Bills overpaid for talent (Dockery, Walker, Kelsay) is because their GM had no clue what he was doing. It's taken a huge toll on this organization, so much so that RW is in the predicament he's in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Building through UFA is generally wiser for teams that are "one/two player/s away" from seriously competing, and are willing to overpay to fill a weakest link spot. These players aren't the best, but they aren't the worst. The conclusion: teams continually try to move the bubble gum around to fix holes in the dike, and some teams are better at doing this than others. Other teams use UFA to boost themselves marginally in areas where they've screwed themselves by not drafting well. Case in point, for over 10 years now, the Bills have used UFA to sign (second- and third-tier) OL b/c for whatever reason, they didn't put much stock into it during the draft. Maybe they didn't like rookie starters... maybe they felt snakebitten by Mike Williams... maybe they knew the scouts for OL were sh-- (OL was Linda Bogdan's area for a while, but what were they gonna do about that?!). Who knows. But what we do know is that we had a string of UFA Centers with Teague, Fowler, now Hangartner. There was Panos, Reyes, Walker, Dockery, Gandy, forget the name but... the aging backup T from the Steelers. Bill in NYC oft laments the fact (yes, it is a fact) that the Bills do not put great importance on building the OL in the draft. Instead, we've spent lots of coin in UFA on scrubs who didn't last long. Sometimes, it's a good fit. K. Mitchell a couple of seasons ago pretty much fits the mold of the first paragraph... generally a good pick-up that held his own and made plays to keep the D more competitive than it would've been without him. Our LB situation was --- and remains --- ****ty. There is next to nothing for depth, Jauron-ball (but then again, it was trending this way before DJ) turned our LBs into thinner and faster coverage types ---basically Safties who weigh a little more) meaning we're weak against the run. I fully expect demand that the D (minus the secondary, which has had such high investment due to Jauron man-love) be largely scrapped under the next coach, because it is not built for Buffalo or the AFC East. If you can pick up a guy/s who will fit your system that you can't find elsewhere, OK, but I wouldn't say that this is the norm. Otherwise, teams who build thru UFA are just spinning their wheels. UFA often ends up with a player who wasn't what was expected, and who eats a sizable amount of cap. We got **** lucky with Paup and Spielman... but even that was short-lived. Well, if you read Brian Billick's book, More Than A Game, talks about how every team has a position on the field that they purposely don't draft high for, as they have an overall philosophy that renders that position something of non-importance in relation to say the other skill positions on the field. Some teams don't draft high for the secondary, some don't draft high at the RB position, etc. Buffalo prefers to not draft high for the OL. To me, and after a near decade of mediocrity, this philosophy needs to change. Both the offensive and defensive lines need to be a priority, and things will begin to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Rob Johnson Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Free Agency tells the story. Last year, a LOT of fans on this board believed the Bills would go big in UFA fresh off the 2-8 finish to the 08 season. They ended up with a backup QB, former backup C, CB released from JAC, backup G, and a star receiver who came on a one year deal. The chances of getting a difference-maker in UFA are extremely thin, but this season it should be a lot more interesting if there is no cap. We'll know if RW is serious by how much he chooses to spend, because there is no cap floor in 2010 w/o a new CBA. Time will tell. But if there is no new CBA, then the amount of quality unrestricted free agents is extremely limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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