Navy Chief Navy Pride Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Buffalo Bills Cap room: $33 million It's hard to tell whether the Bills are ready to jump the 8-8 hurdle. Dick Jauron brought an air of stability to the franchise last season. J.P. Losman showed signs of being a promising young quarterback. But if the Bills make the wrong decisions in free agency, they will be in danger of sliding back. They figure to lose cornerback Nate Clements. They could lose linebacker London Fletcher and defensive end Chris Kelsay. With $33 million of cap room, it's hard to believe they would lose anyone, but these are the decisions facing Jauron and general manager Marv Levy. Finding a replacement for Clements will be impossible in this market unless they get Asante Samuel from New England. They will probably cut quarterback Kelly Holcomb. The Bills should be able to make some major upgrades along the offensive line. Mike Gandy is a free agent, and the Bills have to decide if they want to keep Chris Villarrial at guard. Through the draft and free agency, they have enough ammunition to improve the shaky blocking from last season. The line is the thinnest unit on the team.
SACTOBILLSFAN Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 I think a lot of his points are valid. The Bills have a lot of cap room and NC should be a huge priority, but Wilson has a reputation of...ahem...frugality and NC will be gone. Fletcher is a leader on the defense but his age may be the key in why he doesn't come back. They need to address the lines its pretty much that simple. A good OL will make a good RB and QB great. And a good pass rush will make a good secondary great. And great interior line play will make good LBs that much better too. It all begins and ends in the trenches. If they become stout against the run and a little better in the interior OL then this team can really really improve next season.
daquixers_is_back Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 I agree with everything Clayton wrote Me too. Especially this "With $33 million of cap room, it's hard to believe they would lose anyone..."
Rubes Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 He certainly is a pencil-neck geek, but everything he said is spot-on.
jjsiepierski34 Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 He is a geek, indeed, yet everything he says is dead on. What's not to agree here?
C.Biscuit97 Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 He certainly is a pencil-neck geek, but everything he said is spot-on. Actually, I disagree. I think he is more of a nerd. He has all the classic nerd qualities: a big head, glasses too small for that said giant melon, and very pale like he hasn't been in the sun for a while.
Navy Chief Navy Pride Posted February 10, 2007 Author Posted February 10, 2007 I think a lot of his points are valid. The Bills have a lot of cap room and NC should be a huge priority, but Wilson has a reputation of...ahem...frugality and NC will be gone. Fletcher is a leader on the defense but his age may be the key in why he doesn't come back. They need to address the lines its pretty much that simple. A good OL will make a good RB and QB great. And a good pass rush will make a good secondary great. And great interior line play will make good LBs that much better too. It all begins and ends in the trenches. If they become stout against the run and a little better in the interior OL then this team can really really improve next season. You my friend are dead nuts on target here...I never meant to come off as saying I didnt agree w/ Clayton but I guess I did. Can we get this sent to OBD ASAP....I do believe that they should know this as well. Though I think Marv may already...I hope.
Fewell733 Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 It's not a question of whether you can afford to keep the player, its whether spending such a large amount on that specific player is in the interest of the team over the next 3 to 5 seasons. Clements is great, but he's not going to be worth the contract he's going to get, especially in a cover-2 defense that doesn't emphasize "shut down" corners. Fletcher is another story - he's on the wrong side of 30 and I wonder if they think he might be part of the problem against the run. I can only speculate about that, but I would rather not lose him.
Ozymandius Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 It's not a question of whether you can afford to keep the player, its whether spending such a large amount on that specific player is in the interest of the team over the next 3 to 5 seasons. Clements is great, but he's not going to be worth the contract he's going to get, especially in a cover-2 defense that doesn't emphasize "shut down" corners. Wrong, it's almost ALL about being able to afford the player or being willing to spend the money. Check the number of teams that are way under the salary cap. Lots of teams will be able to sign Clements without doing any sort of long-term damage to their cap room. I don't expect the Bills to sign Clements because we are cheap / small-market. But they sure as hell better sign someone, or the fanbase will be very upset.
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 I don't expect the Bills to sign Clements because we are cheap / small-market. But they sure as hell better sign someone, or the fanbase will be very upset. I don't expect the Bills to sign Clements because he's worth more to other teams than he is to the Bills, a cover 2 team. Something would seem wrong if a cover 2 team were willing to employ the league's highest paid cornerback.
1billsfan Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Wrong, it's almost ALL about being able to afford the player or being willing to spend the money. Check the number of teams that are way under the salary cap. Lots of teams will be able to sign Clements without doing any sort of long-term damage to their cap room. I don't expect the Bills to sign Clements because we are cheap / small-market. But they sure as hell better sign someone, or the fanbase will be very upset. The Bills are a "work in progress" that still has many question marks yet to be answered. Meaning that giving 8 million a year with a 20 million signing bonus to one player, even though they have the cap space to do this, could seriously handcuff the team down the road. Here's the breakdown of what's ahead (if all of our players play to what's now expected of them): Losman = 6-7 million per + signing bonus Evans = 8 million per + signing bonus Peters will eventually be in line for a renegotiation = 6 million per + signing bonus Unless the Bills strike it rich in the drafting of a new RB and #2WR. These positions will cost a lot of cap dollars. Having so many young talented starters (Crowell, Whitner, Simspon, Williams, Ellison, Pennington) means they'll all be coming up on FA at around the same time. This will be a problem if the Bills don't have the cap money left. I'm ok with the Bills offering Clements 7 million with a 15 million signing bonus, beyond that the Bills could be doing a diservice to eventually having a very good "well balanced" team in the future. My support would then switch to Youboty, who could eventually be better than Clements for all anyone knows.
Oneonta Buffalo Fan Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 It's hard to tell whether the Bills are ready to jump the 8-8 hurdle. WE ARE READY!
DrDawkinstein Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 i read that yesterday and the only thing that angered me was that i actually agreed with everything he said
ThreeBillsDrive Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 i read that yesterday and the only thing that angered me was that i actually agreed with everything he said I thought it actually was a pretty sober, level-headed analysis.
DrDawkinstein Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 me too, i was surprised that it was Clayton that wrote it
Ozymandius Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 The Bills are a "work in progress" that still has many question marks yet to be answered. Meaning that giving 8 million a year with a 20 million signing bonus to one player, even though they have the cap space to do this, could seriously handcuff the team down the road. Work in progress, schmork in schmogress. If you're not thinking about making the playoffs next year, you're not setting high enough standards and goals. Letting Nate leave would be a huge hit, so the Bills had better spend some money to make up for that loss.
Ozymandius Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 I don't expect the Bills to sign Clements because he's worth more to other teams than he is to the Bills, a cover 2 team. Something would seem wrong if a cover 2 team were willing to employ the league's highest paid cornerback. He was pretty darn valuable to us this year. The number of coverage sacks that we accumulated had to be more than the average team.
Fewell733 Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Wrong, it's almost ALL about being able to afford the player or being willing to spend the money. Check the number of teams that are way under the salary cap. Lots of teams will be able to sign Clements without doing any sort of long-term damage to their cap room. I don't expect the Bills to sign Clements because we are cheap / small-market. But they sure as hell better sign someone, or the fanbase will be very upset. if all it takes is to please the fan base is to sign someone big in the offseason then maybe we were better off under Donahoe. It's not a matter of doing damage to the salary cap - its about avoiding overspending on that particular player and instead leaving yourself the flexibility to make moves that you think would better help the team.
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