John from Riverside Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 You just have to be smart about who you give that cash to. As the Redskins and Dolphins have shown, just going after big names for the sake of it is not the best approach. I trust Whaley and his team and Overdorf to formulate an exact plan and do their best to execute it. Sometimes that includes a big name or two sometimes it doesn't. This is correct Its a good thing they gave it to the right guys
Dr. Fong Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 Spending well below the cap hasn't exactly been working out for the Bills. It's nice to see a combination of deep pockets and good drafting is finally making the Bills roster not so cringe-worthy.
Nanker Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 The Bills had a lot of catching up to do. They're caught up now. This. The only move that wasn't calculated was Harvin. That money was reserved for an offensive linemen. McCoy was serendipity too.
The Avenger Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 Everyone knew that anyone linked to the old regime and 15 year drought had to be fired and paraded down Delaware Ave. in shame as revenge for screwing up so much. That included Whaley and Brandon. Anyone still feel that way? I'll gladly call for Whaley's public tarring and feathering if the team ends up spending money on guys who don't produce - as the football guy responsible for managing the talent that's his job. I hated Brandon as a football guy because he's not a football guy, but he's no longer making those types of decisions and he's good at the job he's got - selling the Bills and Bills tickets - amazing that they've had the ticket sales they've had considering the length and severity of the drought.
PS 56 Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I think it was calculated. The Bills know what they are doing.....finally CBF I think you are right. This was more than the acquisition of talent. This was a message to the players and fans that there is a new sheriff in town. The Bills will be a force to be reckoned with.
ko12010 Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I think you are right. This was more than the acquisition of talent. This was a message to the players and fans that there is a new sheriff in town. The Bills will be a force to be reckoned with. I think another thing we as fans have to consider is that we were finally in a position to actually have an aggressive offseason like this in which big names would be a part of it. When your roster is devoid of talent in so many areas like post Donahoe, it often is stupid to make FA splashes and dole out huge contracts. You're simply not ready for that. Big name 'stars' should produce and contribute, but when the rest of the roster isn't great, they get minimized pretty easily. It's why the Redskins kept looking foolish. They're overall roster was mediocre, and spending big on stars wasn't going to get them over the hump. So my point is, until probably the offseason we snagged Mario, our seeming lack of 'aggression' in FA shouldn't have necessarily been viewed as being cheap or not caring, but just wasn't the right time. Anyone who follows the Bills somewhat closely knows how talented this roster has become over the last three seasons especially. I think some credit does need to go to Buddy Nix for this. Some here viewed him as asleep at the wheel, but he had the thankless and necessary job of building the overall talent of the roster. He basically rebuilt the car's engine and then handed the keys to Whaley. Now, if Marv hadn't done such a terrible job during his tenure as GM, Buddy could have had the opportunity Whaley has had. We've all dreamed about an offseason like this, but it really wasn't possible until this one. We finally had assets to deal and a base level of talent to build on that was frankly nonexistent before.
TallskiWallski83 Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) I'm happy that they spent the money on the guys that they did, but everything is going to depend on the Mccoy trade. If he remains a top 5 all pro RB then we will be fine.o I like the signing of Percy Harvin a lot but I think the bills initially wanted to use that money on a lineman.I read somewhere that the bills are projected to still have tons of cap space over the next few years. However, a lot of that space is going to be eaten up by resigning core guys like Dareus, Glenns, Gilmoure and Woods. Im telling you right now were not going to be able to keep all 4 of these guys after the contracts we doled out to McCoy, Clay, M Williams, K Williams and J Hughes. Also consider the potential for EJ Manual/Taylor developing into a competent starting QB. That will require an extension and eat up plenty of $ too. Edited March 26, 2015 by TallskiWallski83
Jamie Nails Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I think my response to ever Rodak story or tweet moving forward is going to be, "shut the F up, Mike. You're out of your element"
ko12010 Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I'm happy that they spent the money on the guys that they did, but everything is going to depend on the Mccoy trade. If he remains a top 5 all pro RB then we will be fine.o I like the signing of Percy Harvin a lot but I think the bills initially wanted to use that money on a lineman. I read somewhere that the bills are projected to still have tons of cap space over the next few years. However, a lot of that space is going to be eaten up by resigning core guys like Dareus, Glenns, Gilmoure and Woods. Im telling you right now were not going to be able to keep all 4 of these guys after the contracts we doled out to McCoy, Clay, M Williams, K Williams and J Hughes. Also consider the potential for EJ Manual/Taylor developing into a competent starting QB. That will require an extension and eat up plenty of $ too. No one said it's an easy job! (Aside from a few of the resident genius posters here, of course).
Nanker Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I think my response to ever Rodak story or tweet moving forward is going to be, "shut the F up, Mike. You're out of your element" +1 His unabashed bias towards the Pats* is nauseating on a good day, and ebola-bad all other days. What The Bills did this offseason gave him toxic shock. I hope he never recovers.
Heitz Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 Sounds like Ross Tucker this week on the Sirius - the Bills are spending crazy, mortgaging their future, putting themselves in cap jail for the next few years. That of course with no facts on future contracts... I'm with everyone that says we have the money and the cap space, we might as well spend it! Nice having an owner that can pay those big bonuses and get the hit out of the way, right away...
Green Lightning Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 cuz the story was By Mike Rodak ??? you mean THIS year. 2015 season Yup. That's what I meant but sucked at articulating. to be fair, our top 3 were hughes (resigning our own), clay (a valid question) and a trade for mccoy (i suppose counts though we acquired him with a 3 year existing deal and decided to re-work it). you could include percy, but under a 1 year deal, its hardly a long term commitment with long term consequence. All true. If this year pans out this conversation will be more than moot.
billsfan89 Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 It's a bit wreck-less and a bit of calculated aggression. Let's look at each substantial move they made in the off-season so far. Jerry Hughes resigns- Nothing careless about this move. The contract price and cap hit were modest compared to what he could have gotten elsewhere. He has had results in our system and is young. LeSean McCoy trade and extension- Aggressive but not careless. The team traded Kiko a young talented LB who is coming off of a second serious knee injury for a running back about to be 27. On the surface it seems dumb to give cheap young talent away for an expensive running back. But Kiko has huge injury concerns, the defense played fine without him, and if McCoy gives you two great years at RB it jolts the offense and with the defense the team needs a spark on offense. Charles Clay- Aggressive and somewhat careless. Clay for sure fills a need with a talented player who fits the system that the new OC wants implemented. But we overpaid to get him. Granted the team would likely be able to restructure his deal to free up cap space next season. But still they overpaid for a player, but if he turns out to be the right player it might be worth the cost. Percy Harvin- Aggressive and somewhat careless. Harvin fills the need for another playmaker along the offense. But his steep price, injury history, and locker room cancer possibility all make it a highly risky and bad signing. Jerome Felton- Smart. Ground and pound needs a good full back, only knock is that he isn't a premium position but it was a fairly modest contract. Matt Cassel- Smart. There weren't many great QB options out there. The Bills got for a small price a Kyle Orton style low level starter high level backup type QB. Resigning Wynn and Easley- Smart. Keeping depth along the D-line and our special teams ace for a more than fair price was smart. Tyrod Taylor- smart but inconsequential. Project QB will probably take over the third string spot I can't see him being the starter barring injury. Maybe his impact is doing some sort of Wildcat thing. Overall I would say that the Clay and Harvin deals were overpays and a bit careless, The Kiko trade was a bit of both. Every other move was very smart and calculated.
Billsfansince90 Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 (edited) to be fair, our top 3 were hughes (resigning our own), clay (a valid question) and a trade for mccoy (i suppose counts though we acquired him with a 3 year existing deal and decided to re-work it). you could include percy, but under a 1 year deal, its hardly a long term commitment with long term consequence. I remember that well. I never felt the need to lambaste Overdorff simply because I'm obviously not privy to what's truly going on, so why even comment. I guess with me it's more that I trust Whaley's and the Pegula's trust in Overdorff more than I do. And that's only really because Overdorff is a behind the scenes guy, so one can't really get much of a read on him other than second hand commentary from others in the organization. Plus we already as a team had a solid core intact, minus quarterback. Teams that add to the core with FA tend to do far better than those who build it with the same. Edited March 26, 2015 by Billsfansince90
BigPappy Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I remember that well. I never felt the need to lambaste Overdorff simply because I'm obviously not privy to what's truly going on, so why even comment. I guess with me it's more that I trust Whaley's and the Pegula's trust in Overdorff more than I do. And that's only really because Overdorff is a behind the scenes guy, so one can't really get much of a read on him other than second hand commentary from others in the organization. Agreed. I always believed that the cash to cap philosophy that we followed for so many years was RJW's doing and not Overdorf and Littman. I'm a huge fan of RJW and I do not want to speak ill of the dead but, the last 10 years or so, he really had no business owning the team with the decisions he was making..or appeared to be making. Big Pappy
EasternOHBillsFan Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 The best move by far was McCoy for Alonso... what a steal and THEN on top of it look at what Murray got paid... awesome deal!!!! The worst move was not grabbing an OLman after talking about not being able to land one in FA. We need another lineman not on the scrap heap.
John from Riverside Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 +1 His unabashed bias towards the Pats* is nauseating on a good day, and ebola-bad all other days. What The Bills did this offseason gave him toxic shock. I hope he never recovers. He just needs to have my lunch money at the same place same time every day.......
808 Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 Agreed. I always believed that the cash to cap philosophy that we followed for so many years was RJW's doing and not Overdorf and Littman. I'm a huge fan of RJW and I do not want to speak ill of the dead but, the last 10 years or so, he really had no business owning the team with the decisions he was making..or appeared to be making. Big Pappy all of this. ill get flamed for saying it but the last 10-15 was all on ralph. his hires and his self imposed salary cap. some of those guys hired made some of the worst draft picks in a row. it was awful and then when they did get a good payer usually tat player either understood the team wasn't 100% dedicated to winning and wanted out or the team didn't wanna pay the player. pegulas are a gift. really excited for the future of this team
johnwalter Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 perhaps both? as i've posted on multiple threads, i am a little worried rex / pegula had a little more control over DW & JO than i would've liked. heard a lot through the charles clay process that rex was the guy really pushing for him, then we end up giving him almost 10% of our salary cap - sh*t.
QB Bills Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 I think, as always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I think the McCoy trade was reckless. But I'm of the opinion that Freddie and a rookie from the draft would have been able to handle the load this year, assuming the Bills couldn't sign Murray or another RB. Would have preferred to keep Kiko and the accompanying cap space. Having said that, the Bills play in an unpopular city for prospective players and they haven't been to the playoffs in 15 years. The only real selling point to convince people to come here is money. So they had to overpay here and there. As long as it doesn't jeopardize our ability to keep other good players, I'm happy with this new philosophy. When we're good again, we'll be able to attract players for less money. Think of this offseason as an investment in the future. Not just for 2015.
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