…Evans, Schobel, Kelsay, and McGee to pretty good sized contracts. We can argue all day about if the dollars were right and if the player deserved it… not the point though. Buffalo hasn’t been shy about resigning players.

Willis was an a$$ and needed to go. Fletcher and Clements were the results of a new regime cleaning house/making iffy decisions early on.

Well, they traded Willis for two 3rd rounders and essentially turned him into Edwards and Stroud. So I wouldn’t exactly call that one treading water.

And some of the guys Buffalo has let go have been because there’s somebody on the roster who’s ready to take over (Greer/McKelvin, Clements/McGee).

So who else has really left? Fletcher was a mistake. It seemed like the right move at the time, he was getting older and fans were starting to get on him for making tackles downfield, but looking back, it was a mistake. I believe that Peters was traded because Buffalo didn’t think he would be worth the money and not because they were unwilling to pay him. Spikes was traded because he wasn’t worth the money after tearing his achilles. Pat Williams and Winfield were a long time ago. Crowell isn’t the same player he was in Buffalo. I’m sure I’m missing some names, but who else has Buffalo let walk and had to replace via the draft?

And it’s also important to realize that every team loses guys through FA that they have to then replace. The Pats let Asante Samuel walk, got nothing and have had to sign some FAs and use a handful or early picks in an attempt to replace him. The Dolphins just let Andre Goodman walk to Denver and used two picks on CBs.

Working within a budget is something the Bills have to do to. Over the last two seasons, Buffalo has spent about 110 mil per season on players. They don’t use the cap like some teams do (and those team often spend 130 mil when they can and get stuck working within a cap budget and spend under 90 the next season). So every dollar saved by letting a player walk is a dollar that goes right back into FA. Buffalo isn’t letting players leave, drafting their replacements and sitting around doing nothing in free agency. Sure, they traded Peters and cut Dock and drafted two offensive lineman, but they also signed TO, something they wouldn’t have done had they not lost Peters and Dock. Fletcher walks and the Bills draft Poz, but they also went out and signed a couple offensive lineman. They’ve signed Kawika Mitchell, traded for Stroud, wasted money on guys like Royal and Triplett. The problem has been bad moves and not a lack of effort.

And the Bills have been one of the couple most proactive teams when it comes to handing out extensions in the league. Longer term deals for Butler, Evans, Williams, McGee (twice), Stroud and Jackson when these guys were under contract or the Bills’ control for awhile longer.

Well Evans’ contract places him in “stud” range. You said the Bills don’t resign studs. They considered Evans enough of a stud to make him one of the 12 highest paid players at his position. The Bills had the biggest payrolls in the league in the early 90s. Ralph has shown he will pay for studs.