The cost cutting reason

[Buffaloed in Pa]

The release of veteran players or lack of need of free agents. This can only mean one thing. Ralph is cutting cost,to sell after this season. He has no choice next year with the new cap ,going into effect. Anyway, I can`t wait for the season to begin.Once a fool always a fool. Lets go Buffaloooo.

[JohnC]

The release of veteran players or lack of need of free agents. This can only mean one thing. Ralph is cutting cost,to sell after this season. He has no choice next year with the new cap ,going into effect. Anyway, I can`t wait for the season to begin.Once a fool always a fool. Lets go Buffaloooo.

 

The new cap system doesn't go into effect until 2013.

[Buffaloed in Pa]

The new cap system doesn't go into effect until 2013.

Thanks ,I read it somewhere,that it was next year. That just gives him another year to lower the payroll. This is going to happen after the season or the year after for certain .

[ganesh]

I still can't figure out this road to a sale.

 

If the Bills don't spend, they cannot be a competitive team, which means their FORBES (or equivalent) value as an NFL team goes down (You are measured by your success and not by the hype) and hence their sale price. Either way, Ralph is only going to get what he is due. If you have 25M in salaries and bonuses, the team is also likely to be sold (or may be more) for 25M or less due to their lousy record. Again, a new owner would have to come and pump more money to rebuild this team, so they would want to negotiate for a lower price.

 

The Bills don't hold any cards other than being part of the all-world NFL. It is in their (and Ralph's) best interest to build a playoff caliber team and sell it when they are on their high, not when they go down rock bottom.

 

And the biggest question of all: What happens if Ralph passes away before all these could be conceived...Now it is the decision of the trust and not in the control of Mr. Wilson.

 

And if it was really cost cutting, why pay for Williams, why bring in a FA like Barnett or overpay for Brad Smith or pay 3M a year for Thigpen to act as a backup. The numbers just don't add up.

 

Some of these Veterans are being sent packing, because they are NOT at the TOP of their game. When your top players are your backups, the laziness is likely to spread around. The Bills did the same when they drafted Edwards/Poz and Lynch...They cleaned house. They are doing the same with the bunch drafted in the past four seasons. Why would/should you pay for others mistakes.

[Reed83HOF]

IIRC, their lease at the Ralph is up in the next year or 2. I haven't heard to much since before the lockout that said they would address it. That is the big thing to keep an eye on....

[mead107]

Can we play some GAMES and SEE WHAT this TEAM can DO.

Doom and gloom sells. Give it a break.

 

 

If this team by some chance puts it together I can't wait to see all the I told you they would be better than you thought topics.

 

 

 

LET"S PLAY some FOOTBALL.

Edited September 4, 2011 by mead107

[flomoe]

I still can't figure out this road to a sale.

 

If the Bills don't spend, they cannot be a competitive team, which means their FORBES (or equivalent) value as an NFL team goes down (You are measured by your success and not by the hype) and hence their sale price. Either way, Ralph is only going to get what he is due. If you have 25M in salaries and bonuses, the team is also likely to be sold (or may be more) for 25M or less due to their lousy record. Again, a new owner would have to come and pump more money to rebuild this team, so they would want to negotiate for a lower price.

 

The Bills don't hold any cards other than being part of the all-world NFL. It is in their (and Ralph's) best interest to build a playoff caliber team and sell it when they are on their high, not when they go down rock bottom.

 

And the biggest question of all: What happens if Ralph passes away before all these could be conceived...Now it is the decision of the trust and not in the control of Mr. Wilson.

 

And if it was really cost cutting, why pay for Williams, why bring in a FA like Barnett or overpay for Brad Smith or pay 3M a year for Thigpen to act as a backup. The numbers just don't add up.

 

Some of these Veterans are being sent packing, because they are NOT at the TOP of their game. When your top players are your backups, the laziness is likely to spread around. The Bills did the same when they drafted Edwards/Poz and Lynch...They cleaned house. They are doing the same with the bunch drafted in the past four seasons. Why would/should you pay for others mistakes.

 

 

^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

 

I don't see any cost cutting going on here at all. The Nix/Gailey regime is doing what every other GM/Coach tandem has done throughout the league, they are cutting players from past regimes that aren't cutting it up to their standards. It has nothing to do with money but more to do with performance, loyalty and most likely youth. Nothing more, nothing less.

[outsidethebox]

I have heard from some pretty reliable sources Ralph is looking into buying a cryogenics machine. He wants to stick around when the Bills finally win the Superbowl. Those machines are pretty expensive. SO what would you rather have, Evans, Hangartner or Ralph?

[Buffaloed in Pa]

I still can't figure out this road to a sale.

 

If the Bills don't spend, they cannot be a competitive team, which means their FORBES (or equivalent) value as an NFL team goes down (You are measured by your success and not by the hype) and hence their sale price. Either way, Ralph is only going to get what he is due. If you have 25M in salaries and bonuses, the team is also likely to be sold (or may be more) for 25M or less due to their lousy record. Again, a new owner would have to come and pump more money to rebuild this team, so they would want to negotiate for a lower price.

 

The Bills don't hold any cards other than being part of the all-world NFL. It is in their (and Ralph's) best interest to build a playoff caliber team and sell it when they are on their high, not when they go down rock bottom.

 

And the biggest question of all: What happens if Ralph passes away before all these could be conceived...Now it is the decision of the trust and not in the control of Mr. Wilson.

 

And if it was really cost cutting, why pay for Williams, why bring in a FA like Barnett or overpay for Brad Smith or pay 3M a year for Thigpen to act as a backup. The numbers just don't add up.

 

Some of these Veterans are being sent packing, because they are NOT at the TOP of their game. When your top players are your backups, the laziness is likely to spread around. The Bills did the same when they drafted Edwards/Poz and Lynch...They cleaned house. They are doing the same with the bunch drafted in the past four seasons. Why would/should you pay for others mistakes.

It Is what it is. They are a NFL football team. Not too many for sale. Ralph will get the full amount . No matter what.

[please stop the pain]

Does anyone seriously believe that Ralph Wilson is trying to lower the overall payroll so it is easier to sell the team when he dies? For me, I cannot imagine anyone really wanting to go out a loser. Perhaps he also has plans to screw up all his other business interests and wind up homeless? Is this a pattern someone has noticed in his other business holdings?? Sounds more like WGR negative crap to me. Baseless speculation. Ralph is old and the team has sucked for way too long. Correlation does NOT indicate causality.

Really hard to read some of this crap sometimes. Makes me wonder about correlation between posts, IQ, level of intoxication, and overall number of conspiracy theories people accept as fact(there is no evidence, therefore it must be true!).

[outsidethebox]

Does anyone seriously believe that Ralph Wilson is trying to lower the overall payroll so it is easier to sell the team when he dies? For me, I cannot imagine anyone really wanting to go out a loser. Perhaps he also has plans to screw up all his other business interests and wind up homeless? Is this a pattern someone has noticed in his other business holdings?? Sounds more like WGR negative crap to me. Baseless speculation. Ralph is old and the team has sucked for way too long. Correlation does NOT indicate causality.

Really hard to read some of this crap sometimes. Makes me wonder about correlation between posts, IQ, level of intoxication, and overall number of conspiracy theories people accept as fact(there is no evidence, therefore it must be true!).

Don't you know? All the rich people do that know. Poor is the new rich. Ralphs just being cool.

[JohnC]

I still can't figure out this road to a sale.

 

If the Bills don't spend, they cannot be a competitive team, which means their FORBES (or equivalent) value as an NFL team goes down (You are measured by your success and not by the hype) and hence their sale price. Either way, Ralph is only going to get what he is due. If you have 25M in salaries and bonuses, the team is also likely to be sold (or may be more) for 25M or less due to their lousy record. Again, a new owner would have to come and pump more money to rebuild this team, so they would want to negotiate for a lower price.

 

The Bills don't hold any cards other than being part of the all-world NFL. It is in their (and Ralph's) best interest to build a playoff caliber team and sell it when they are on their high, not when they go down rock bottom.

 

And the biggest question of all: What happens if Ralph passes away before all these could be conceived...Now it is the decision of the trust and not in the control of Mr. Wilson.

 

And if it was really cost cutting, why pay for Williams, why bring in a FA like Barnett or overpay for Brad Smith or pay 3M a year for Thigpen to act as a backup. The numbers just don't add up.

 

Some of these Veterans are being sent packing, because they are NOT at the TOP of their game. When your top players are your backups, the laziness is likely to spread around. The Bills did the same when they drafted Edwards/Poz and Lynch...They cleaned house. They are doing the same with the bunch drafted in the past four seasons. Why would/should you pay for others mistakes.

 

You are taking a broader view perspective than the owner and his finance people are taking. At this point it is trying to maximize your return on a year to year basis. There is no long term perspective for an owner in his 90s and who has a history of managing the franchise in a particular manner for half a century. It is a Ralph Wilson/Littman stringent business model, not an invest in your franchise model for future returns.

 

As long as the current owner is getting ample annual returns and the franchise is steadily appreciating the owner is satisfied with the status quo. The value of the franchise has little to do with its on field success; the value mostly comes from the fact that it is a NFL franchise. A LA bidder or Toronto bidder doesn't really care if the franchise is exceptionally competitive or not, rather they care only in getting the franchise with an attractive balance sheet. Once they acquire their asset they'll do the spade work themselves to upgrade the stripped product.

[bowery4]

There is only one real and easy answer to not going to the cap or staying as low as possible. PROFIT, it has no or little bearing on the sale of the Bills. It is also why RW bought the team in the first place. I think that the current FO sold RW on themselves by telling him they can make a winner and do it on the relative cheap. That must of been part of the reason they were brought in.

 

That all said, I think building the way they are going about will lead to a longer term success, than the Miami plan (a few years ago) or even the Eagles, today (we will see how they do). I won't say Ralph is cheap ( just did) I think he has the final say but this isn't his doing so much.

 

At some point if you have a good team you are going to run into cap problems, so believe it or not it is a smart thing to build with a low cost long term plan. After we win a couple of SBs we are going to be happier that they can afford to hold onto our better players. We don't want this to be the Bills after the 4 SB runs, who can't afford to keep players around. Turning players around is part of the business. If we cut a Hang and bring in some one better bigger and younger it is going to make a bunch of nay sayers on here (and in the media) saying it was the right thing to do.

[PromoTheRobot]

The release of veteran players or lack of need of free agents. This can only mean one thing. Ralph is cutting cost,to sell after this season. He has no choice next year with the new cap ,going into effect. Anyway, I can`t wait for the season to begin.Once a fool always a fool. Lets go Buffaloooo.

This whole cost-cutting thing is complete nonsense invented by the Chicken Littles. Answer me this? If Ralph is selling next year why did we extend Kyle Williams, and talking extensions with Parrish and Steve Johnson??? DUH!!!

 

PTR

[ganesh]

You are taking a broader view perspective than the owner and his finance people are taking. At this point it is trying to maximize your return on a year to year basis. There is no long term perspective for an owner in his 90s and who has a history of managing the franchise in a particular manner for half a century. It is a Ralph Wilson/Littman stringent business model, not an invest in your franchise model for future returns.

 

As long as the current owner is getting ample annual returns and the franchise is steadily appreciating the owner is satisfied with the status quo. The value of the franchise has little to do with its on field success; the value mostly comes from the fact that it is a NFL franchise. A LA bidder or Toronto bidder doesn't really care if the franchise is exceptionally competitive or not, rather they care only in getting the franchise with an attractive balance sheet. Once they acquire their asset they'll do the spade work themselves to upgrade the stripped product.

 

I believe some of the NFL teams including the Bills lost their value in the past two seasons as the US Economy has also been fighting a failed system. I agree that the NFL "branding" means a lot and the fact that there are only 32 slots available in this exclusive club. Still, someone wanting to pay for this franchise is going to look at the money they would have to spend to bring back the franchise. Unless of course you are talking about a move to LA, where everyone seems to think that the money will come magically.

 

The Patriots, Eagles, Jets all were a lousy team. Their new owners pumped money and built the franchise. That had produced those three owners far more money than if they would have remained status quo.

[PromoTheRobot]

There is only one real and easy answer to not going to the cap or staying as low as possible. PROFIT, it has no or little bearing on the sale of the Bills. It is also why RW bought the team in the first place. I think that the current FO sold RW on themselves by telling him they can make a winner and do it on the relative cheap. That must of been part of the reason they were brought in.

 

That all said, I think building the way they are going about will lead to a longer term success, than the Miami plan (a few years ago) or even the Eagles, today (we will see how they do). I won't say Ralph is cheap ( just did) I think he has the final say but this isn't his doing so much.

 

At some point if you have a good team you are going to run into cap problems, so believe it or not it is a smart thing to build with a low cost long term plan. After we win a couple of SBs we are going to be happier that they can afford to hold onto our better players. We don't want this to be the Bills after the 4 SB runs, who can't afford to keep players around. Turning players around is part of the business. If we cut a Hang and bring in some one better bigger and younger it is going to make a bunch of nay sayers on here (and in the media) saying it was the right thing to do.

 

My buddy has a theory about Ralph. He thinks Ralph mortgaged the team and needs to make big interest payments every year. Why did he mortgage the team? To get the equity out of his biggest asset before he croaks. That could also explain why he won't sell all or part of the team now. He'd have to open his books and the he probably went against NFL rules doing this. Again it's just a theory.

 

PTR

[Buffaloed in Pa]

This whole cost-cutting thing is complete nonsense invented by the Chicken Littles. Answer me this? If Ralph is selling next year why did we extend Kyle Williams, and talking extensions with Parrish and Steve Johnson??? DUH!!!

 

PTR

Time will tell.Duh.He has to keep a few players.Hold the carrot out there.

[PromoTheRobot]

Time will tell.Duh.He has to keep a few players.Hold the carrot out there.

Say this out loud: "The Bills are dumping salary but they are signing players to new deals so they don't look like they are dumping salary." Does it sound ridiculous?

 

But that's the thing with conspiracy theories, people who believe them concoct even crazier theories to cover the contradictions.

 

PTR

[artmalibu]

The Ralf is cheap crap is getting old. If it was priority to cut costs why keep Kelsay, Mcgee. I dont understand many B word about overpaying certain players, and then say Ralf is cheap??? From the games last year few players even deserved jobs. Evens didnt do crap the last couple of seasons and at his age you cant expect him to get any better. It "seems" that we have some young WRs that have a lot of upside. Paul was offered more money than he was worth. If the Bills spent the money to keep him then all the Ralf is cheep posters would B word about wasting the money on him..

 

I think a lot of people around here need to become fans of other teams, because whatever decision they make is wrong.

[JohnC]

I believe some of the NFL teams including the Bills lost their value in the past two seasons as the US Economy has also been fighting a failed system. I agree that the NFL "branding" means a lot and the fact that there are only 32 slots available in this exclusive club. Still, someone wanting to pay for this franchise is going to look at the money they would have to spend to bring back the franchise. Unless of course you are talking about a move to LA, where everyone seems to think that the money will come magically.

 

I respectfully disagree with your analysis. Even in a very bad economy the NFL made more money than it ever did. If that is the case then how much more will the projections be for an increase in profit and franchise value? In addition, the owners just signed a more favorable long term labor agreement that enhances profit and franchise value.

 

The Patriots, Eagles, Jets all were a lousy team. Their new owners pumped money and built the franchise. That had produced those three owners far more money than if they would have remained status quo.

 

The current owner is 92 yrs old. He has a completely different vision on ownership than the more enlightened owners you referred to. He has run the franchise in a particular stringent way for half a century. Do you really believe that at this stage in life he is going to change his approach? Do you think at 92 he is going to infuse the franchise with his own money when his past history has demonstrated a reluctance to invest in the product?

Edited September 4, 2011 by JohnC