NFL Network says its official

[JP-era]

in cap space.

 

So doesnt that still give us a 6 mill hit for the guy?

 

I love him for sure, I think he can be a stud at times. I also think some of Moulds problems with dropsies were due to poor throws by Drew.

 

But 6 mill? Isnt that a bit much for a guy who arguably isnt our best player and may not even be our best WR?

 

I know we couldnt cut him, I didnt want to anyway. I just feel like TD should have played this a bit differently when he went to restructure him the 1st time so we wouldnt be stuck paying 6 mill in cap space to Moulds.

 

Am I way off the mark here?

[mead107]

moulds will catch a lot of balls from JP

[JP-era]

moulds will  catch a lot of balls from JP

235288[/snapback]

 

 

We can only hope. And to analyze this for a second, consider this:

 

JP looks to have better accuracy that Drew, at this point. I say at this point because the tape shows Drew under and overthrowing ALOT last year. I assume that JP will be a bit more accurate which should translate to more catches.

 

However, Drew had a very bad habit of locking on to Moulds and only Moulds. If JP looks him off more, he may throw elsewhere which is good for the team but bad for Eric.

 

So, it could be a mixed bag. The emergence of Evans may keep some double teams off Eric which may let him get the ball more, but that relies on JP to find him and hit him when open.

 

Just my take, I say its up in the air as to whether JP over Drew means better production for Moulds. Evans, JP's accuracy and presence, all have an impact on that.

[BillnutinHouston]

TD was not going to make the same mistake he made when he traded Peerless. He was trying to keep the guy as an offensive anchor.

 

But I dispute that Moulds' dropsies were due to poor throws. Some were, but overall Moulds had many games were he had inexcuseable drops.He was very inconsistent and the bottom line is we need him to be dominant to get deep into the playoffs.

[Ray]

Go to any other team and see what their best offensive player makes. That is pretty much where he should be paid for a top5-10 WR in the league. A franchise tag for a WR is about that much. Look at an OL specifically LT making 8M/yr. Yes a lot of times it seems ridiculous, but that is where the market is.

[CoachChuckDickerson]

This post was more interesting the first time I read it yesterday morning when the news broke.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

in cap space.

 

So doesnt that still give us a 6 mill hit for the guy?

 

I love him for sure, I think he can be a stud at times. I also think some of Moulds problems with dropsies were due to poor throws by Drew.

 

But 6 mill? Isnt that a bit much for a guy who arguably isnt our best player and may not even be our best WR?

 

I know we couldnt cut him, I didnt want to anyway. I just feel like TD should have played this a bit differently when he went to restructure him the 1st time so we wouldnt be stuck paying 6 mill in cap space to Moulds.

 

Am I way off the mark here?

235284[/snapback]

A $6 million cap hit drops Moulds back to below the average of the top 10 WR cap hits in 2004 (a number pulled up by huge salaries to folks like Moss and Harrison) and essentially gives him the same cap hit in 2005 that he had in 2004 when his salary was about in the middle of the top 10 WRs.

 

This restructuring sounds quite reasonable and improves our cap situation marginally but is not a huge shift which I took as an implication of some of the talk.

[clumping platelets]

His cap number in 2006 before restructuring was over $9 million....I would like to see a breakdown to see how much is saved on 2006 as well. No way TD added to his cap hit in 2006.

[mead107]

This post was more interesting the first time I read it yesterday morning when the news broke.

235311[/snapback]

slow times till draft day .

[JP-era]

A $6 million cap hit drops Moulds back to below the average of the top 10 WR cap hits in 2004 (a number pulled up by huge salaries to folks like Moss and Harrison) and essentially gives him the same cap hit in 2005 that he had in 2004 when his salary was about in the middle of the top 10 WRs.

 

This restructuring sounds quite reasonable and improves our cap situation marginally but is not a huge shift which I took as an implication of some of the talk.

235319[/snapback]

 

 

Yes, agreed, I expected more of a bang for the buck.

 

And I guess Im questioning the player ranking vs. cap hit when compared against the leagues top WR's.

 

Where is Moulds as far as production vs. salary

[RuntheDamnBall]

TD was not going to make the same mistake he made when he traded Peerless.

235305[/snapback]

If I recall correctly, defenses pretty much had the Moulds/Peerless thing figured out by the second half of '02. Then we parlayed a guy who wanted out, and wanted more money than he was worth, and wanted a #1 job, into a pick that yielded Willis McGahee. So how that was a mistake?

[BillnutinHouston]

I think TD learned that you can't have only 1 go-to receiver in a viable offense. Thus the Lee Evans pick at a time when the obvious move would have been to draft an OL.

[ch19079]

But 6 mill? Isnt that a bit much for a guy who arguably isnt our best player and may not even be our best WR?

235284[/snapback]

 

your kidding right.....how many receptions did he have last season?? how many yards did he have last season??? how many yards and receptions did Evans have???

 

6 mil seems high, but he demands double teams all the time, and still gets 1000 yards.

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

Yes, agreed, I expected more of a bang for the buck.

 

And I guess Im questioning the player ranking vs. cap hit when compared against the leagues top WR's.

 

Where is Moulds as far as production vs. salary

235348[/snapback]

 

I hope somebody takes the time to do a comparison and my feeling off-hand is that Mould will do well enough in terms of # of catches but will not do as well in terms of ranking for #s of TDs caught or yardage where I would be very surprised to find him int top 5 and not surprised to find he is even not in the top 10.

 

However, one needs to look past the mere stats on certain things to truly assess his value to the Bills:

 

1. I think with both the Peerless and the Evans examples one can see how much being paired with Moulds adds to a player's game. PP almost hit the century mark in catches and was one of our leading TD producers for several seasons with Moulds, but yet became a big diappointmet when he lost Moulds drawing coverage. PP racking up a TD beating and sprinting away from a Miami safety trying to cover him as Moulds drew the corner and double-team was the model for the Bills. Likewise Evans caught a number of long TDs last year as Moulds did the tough work of clearing out over the middle. this impact will not be seen on the stat sheet but it is there.

 

2. Moulds has had a number of notable drops, but these lowlights are easily equaled by him making some highlight one handed or seemingly impossible catches. He attracts the double team and attention because there is no telling what he will do if he goes up against a corner one of one all the time. Even if there is a bad drop or even two he might light up the opponent for seven and this has to be guarded against on every play. The circus catches will not show up on the stats sheet either but are important to making our O work.

 

3. Few receivers have both the athletic ability and the speed to do the fly and also the ability or willingness to roam the middle to play the slot. I think one of the Kevin Killdrive errors was when Reed was asked to move up to #2 he seemed to be asked too much to fill the downfield Peerless role when he is a slot kind of guy. Moulds should have been made the fly receiver and Reed used mostly in the slot.

 

4. He was clear and upfront about setting the example this off-season by agreeing to restructure his deal this year. The restructuring was an obvious thing to do as clearly no one would pay Moulds more than Harrison or Moss, but he showed some good leadership in embracing this restructuring.

 

I thin Moulds numbers lay a good foundation for him deserving the huge deal he has and intangibles or unmeasurables like the items listed above make this deal reasonable and need to be added to the stats which are indicative a lot but not determinative in and of themself.

[JP-era]

your kidding right.....how many receptions did he have last season?? how many yards did he have last season??? how many yards and receptions did Evans have???

 

6 mil seems high, but he demands double teams all the time, and still gets 1000 yards.

235365[/snapback]

 

 

OK, your a bigtime Moulds fan, so am I. I understand why you feel the way you do, and I respect that.

 

I just feel as if the guy with the best speed outof our WR corp is Evans. And that the guy with the best hands is Evans. In a really simple equation (to me) that leads me to think that Evans is our best WR.

 

As far as production goes, it cant be argued, you win there. But did Moulds get those yards because of any of the following:

 

1) Moulds was Drews favorite target, his number one option, and Drew was hesitant to throw elsewhere.

 

2) Evans was an unknown through much of the season.

 

If so, I would say that THIS year will be the litmus test on Moulds. Will he still get it done if Drew isnt our starting QB? if he gets less throws?

 

The part your didnt address is a comparison to the other WR's in the league who make as much as he does.

[LabattBlue]

slow times till draft day .

235347[/snapback]

Forget draft day...we are 19 days from the start of F/A!!!!! Who cares that there is no hockey, when you can talk football 365 days a year.

 

 

PS fug the nhlpa

[JP-era]

I hope somebody takes the time to do a comparison and my feeling off-hand is that Mould will do well enough in terms of # of catches but will not do as well in terms of ranking for #s of TDs caught or yardage where I would be very surprised to find him int top 5 and not surprised to find he is even not in the top 10.

 

However, one needs to look past the mere stats on certain things to truly assess his value to the Bills:

 

1. I think with both the Peerless and the Evans examples one can see how much being paired with Moulds adds to a player's game.  PP almost hit the century mark in catches and was one of our leading TD producers for several seasons with Moulds, but yet became a big diappointmet when he lost Moulds drawing coverage.  PP racking up a TD beating and sprinting away from a Miami safety trying to cover him as Moulds drew the corner and double-team was the model for the Bills.  Likewise Evans caught a number of long TDs last year as Moulds did the tough work of clearing out over the middle.  this impact will not be seen on the stat sheet but it is there.

 

2. Moulds has had a number of notable drops, but these lowlights are easily equaled by him making some highlight one handed or seemingly impossible catches. He attracts the double team and attention because there is no telling what he will do if he goes up against a corner one of one all the time.  Even if there is a bad drop or even two he might light up the opponent for seven and this has to be guarded against on every play.  The circus catches will not show up on the stats sheet either but are important to making our O work.

 

3. Few receivers have both the athletic ability and the speed to do the fly and also the ability or willingness to roam the middle to play the slot.  I think one of the Kevin Killdrive errors was when Reed was asked to move up to #2 he seemed to be asked too much to fill the downfield Peerless role when he is a slot kind of guy.  Moulds should have been made the fly receiver and Reed used mostly in the slot.

 

4. He was clear and upfront about setting the example this off-season by agreeing to restructure his deal this year.  The restructuring was an obvious thing to do as clearly no one would pay Moulds more than Harrison or Moss, but he showed some good leadership in embracing this restructuring.

 

I thin Moulds numbers lay a good foundation for him deserving the huge deal he has and intangibles or unmeasurables like the items listed above make this deal reasonable and need to be added to the stats which are indicative a lot but not determinative in and of themself.

235413[/snapback]

 

 

You raise a very very good point and it may be the whole key to what TD and Co. had in mind.

 

If you are seriously considering dumping Drew for your youngster, you will inevitably have a big loss of leadership. How long does it last, who knows. Your also looking at a very large cap hit on a aging Moulds.

 

Then, Moulds comes out and supports whatever decision the Bills take on QB. He did NOT simply give a pat answer that it was Drews team.

 

Next, Moulds offers to restructure.

 

Now, TD and Co, are looking at a guy who is either on the decline or close to it but is still one of the best players on the team. They now have a proven youngster in Evans.

 

So, TD and Co. want to keep leadership and cohesion and agree to restructure Moulds even if he is overpaid.

 

Now, Moulds can teach JP, in gametime situations, where he will be, where to throw the ball, or maybe even come up with a little gadget of their own. Like Drew and Moulds did with the fly pattern where MOulds comes back slightly and the cathces the ball behind the defender.

 

Moulds impact as a leader canbe huge and he did all the right things to prove to the Bills that he is capable and ready for that role which can only help Losman by releaving some of the leadership burden until he is ready for it on his own.

[BillsNYC]

You raise a very very good point and it may be the whole key to what TD and Co. had in mind.

 

If you are seriously considering dumping Drew for your youngster, you will inevitably have a big loss of leadership.

235431[/snapback]

 

yeah...leadership that is 'leading' us nowhere...

[JP-era]

yeah...leadership that is 'leading' us nowhere...

235458[/snapback]

 

 

I agree that he didnt have the "kelly" type of leadership and that all reports say that Losman does. But, he did have a vet's leadership presence that, in some players, kept them in line.

 

I would prefer a much more vocal leader who will grab the players bythe bootstraps sometimes and get in there faces when they are off their game.

 

I feel like it could mean the difference in some of those games where we were on say the 35 yard line and marching and then gave up a holding penalty that killed our drive and put us out of field goal range. Its at those times that a vocal leadr may make a difference. That a guy like, hopefully, Losman will step up and tell the players in every huddle during that march, No holding...no mistakes.

 

I hope that Losman turns out to be the on-the-field-general that we think his attitude may turn him into.

 

Just have to see.

[Rubes]

Thank God for the NFL Network.