Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills News, 1/13

by MattRichWarren on Jan 13, 2012 6:06 AM EST in Buffalo Bills News

Jim Kelly Chimes In On Bills Draft Needs, Tebow - WGR 550
"We need so desperately somebody to rush the quarterback," said the Hall of Fame Bills QB. "Put heat on the opposing quarterbacks. We haven't had that in I don't know how long it's been. Aaron Schobel used to be able to do it, I know that's why we brought Shawne Merriman in for. As everybody knows that didn't work out. But we need to find somehow, someway, a good dominant pass rusher."

Bills WR coach Hixon to be lead assistant at PSU - Rivals.com
"Buffalo Bills receivers coach Stan Hixon is returning to college to become the lead assistant under new Penn State coach Bill O’Brien. Besides being Penn State’s assistant head coach, Hixon will also mentor the wide receivers. A 32-year coaching veteran, Hixon tutored the wideouts for the Bills."

Bills Focus: Buffalo's Key Free Agents - BuffaloBills.com
Chris Brown takes a look at who could be in the Bills' off-season plans.

Receivers coach Hixon headed to Penn State - BuffaloBills.com
"Receivers coach Stan Hixon accepted an assistant coaching position at Penn State University Thursday."

Inside The Bills | Brad Smith’s future
"I think it’s exactly what we thought when we brought him in here," said Nix. "Brad can be a difference-maker if you use him in the right way. I think his versatility is the biggest thing about him and what makes him the most important."

Wildcat guru Lee named Bills' QB coach - The Buffalo News
"Lee coached at Arkansas from 1984 to '87 under Ken Hatfield, who was a mentor to Gailey early in the career of the Bills' coach."

On celebration penalties - The Buffalo News
Mark Gaughan provides clarification from the league on the celebration penalty that Stevie Johnson earned, including the specific rule and why he was flagged. He also disagrees with it.

Free-agency watch: One question - AFC East Blog - ESPN
"3. Will the Buffalo Bills really chase big names?" James Walker suggests former top overall pick Mario Williams.

Mularkey sees previous stops as learning opportunities | jacksonville.com
"It was a difficult decision, obviously," he said about resigning from the Bills. "I’ve never had any regrets. I always felt like it was the right thing to do."

Nix Has Bills on Track | wgrz.com
Ed Kilgore likes what Buddy Nix has to say.

Bills looking to keep Johnson, Bell, Chandler - Olean Times Herald
What did Buddy Nix say about personnel decisions at his year-end press conferece?

Tweet Comment 37 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Man, Walker needs to get up to speed on the AFC East fast.

The Bills have always been allowed to spend to the cap. It’s Ralph’s “cash to the cap” budget. So, you want to sign Mario Williams. His entire bonus counts on this years cap according to this Ralph’s budget demands. So, that’s why Mario Williams will not be here. We can get a step below Williams, but we won’t get Williams.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 13, 2012 8:09 AM EST reply actions

Yep

Chances of the Bills giving him a 100 million type Julius Peppers contract.

Zero to Nil, because Peppers set the market for a player like him when Chicago signed Peppers.

Girls use hair spray, Men don't.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND GROW UP BY NOT USING HAIRSPRAY MALES!

Don't be a Paully!

by The Buffalo Kid on Jan 13, 2012 9:02 AM EST up reply actions

If the Bills are serious about adding realized experience, they won’t let money stand in the way.

Drafting someone doesn’t guarantee they reach Williams’ status. The Bills better not be too concerned with what someone costs when they’re more likely to lose money in ticket sales. There are virtually no top-ten talents at any position. Fred Jackson and Moorman…maybe Kyle Williams (but i’m not even sure about him).

With all the messing around the franchise has done for near a decade and a half, the patience fans have for anything the team does is dissapating – matter IF this will only be Nix and Gailey’s third year.

"Go check on the ribs!"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 13, 2012 9:50 AM EST up reply actions

Cash to cap does not exist anymore...

From what I understand of the new CBA, the “cash to cap” methodology/acounting game does not work anymore. The impact of a contrat and bonuses, upfront money, has changed and does not affect your cap number so you have to actually change the way you do business.

by mquintieri on Jan 13, 2012 9:58 AM EST up reply actions

What cash to cap means (I’m fairly sure) is that for budget purposes, Wilson has said that all money paid out that year (total bonus money and that years salary) cannot exceed the league salary cap. So, if a guy gets a $20 million dollar signing bonus on a 5 year contract (I’m pulling numbers out of the air) the ENTIRE 20 million counts toward the Bills budget for the year, but only $4 million will count toward the league’s calculation of their salary cap. It has nothing to do with the salary cap other than that number is the number Wilson gives as his maximum budget number. Now, they still need to meet the minimum (which prorates bonuses for the life of the contract) but I see no way based on how the Bills budget works that they could sign a guy like Williams. One other thing: Based on this model, any bonus money this year wouldn’t count for the Bills budget next year.

Again, it’s not a league thing, it is Ralph Wilson’s budget. It basically is Wilson saying “I will spend a maximum of X amount of total dollars on players this year” with X being whatever the NFL salary cap is for that year. The league prorates bonuses for calculating a teams cap number….but for Wilson’s budget, the whole bonus counts the year it is paid out.

At least that’s how I’ve understood how the Bills’ budget works.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 13, 2012 11:11 AM EST up reply actions

If this interpretation of Ralphonomics is true

It will impossible for them to reach required minimums or I’m missing something.

It was Cookie's turn to lead the "easiest exercise" during the Monday practice after a game-- he said-- "we're going to do deep breathing--everybody inhale--dehale "---As told by Jack Kemp at my high school sports banquet circa 1966.

by radan on Jan 13, 2012 11:26 PM EST up reply actions

Yes it would and plenty of teams use a cash to cap system. Seems more like a I think ralph is cheap theory system.

"This is a chance to shine some light on the city, They say it’s too cold. I’m going to bring some warmth to it." Marcell Dareus

by matthew62 on Jan 14, 2012 11:52 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

What? I didn’t invent cash to the cap! I’m just explaining what I think it means. This isn’t new. Marv Levy was the first to explain this years ago. Someone else back me up on this please. I’m not crazy, I’m just saying that a guy like Mario Williams isn’t coming to Buffalo b/c of how the Bills calculate their budget (unless they are changing things this year). I haven’t heard anything to suggest they are changing it though.

So, if you are saying plenty of teams use a cash to cap system and that I’m just finding excuses to say Ralph is cheap, then:
1. Name those teams
and
2. Explain how I am wrong by telling me what it means.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 14, 2012 2:51 PM EST up reply actions

OK, ignore my thing about naming teams, b/c I think about 1/2 the teams do that, but read my reply to radan below…I’m pretty sure I was explaining it close to correct.

BTW….those 1/2 the teams will probably not be able to sign Mario Williams either. I was merely pointing out that he is not a realistic target, in my opinion, not that Ralph is cheap.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 14, 2012 2:56 PM EST up reply actions

Not really, they just don’t pay out that many huge bonuses.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 14, 2012 2:47 PM EST up reply actions

It (kind of…for the purposes of the minimum) balances out b/c this years bonus money won’t count on next years “cash to cap” budget.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 14, 2012 2:52 PM EST up reply actions

Not really following you on that one

Regardless, wasn’t cash to the cap a concept that may have worked when dealing with just a ceiling but not necessarily so when dealing with a floor and ceiling ? Aren’t bonuses too important in the overall competitive equation to say we won’t utilize/pay them ?

by radan on Jan 14, 2012 4:07 PM EST up reply actions

I NEVER said we don’t pay them…..Rather that we won’t (or can’t if we stick with the cash to the cap budget) pay the type of bonus that Mario Williams would need to get signed. It would eat up too much of the budget to accomplish all the other needs Buddy said he wanted to fill and resign Johnson, Chandler, and renegotiate Jackson. I did say (if you reread what I said) that we could land a step below Williams (and that’s OK, by the way) b/c the bonus money isn’t absurd. Again, read the link below this that explains it (almost the exact same way I did).

About 1/2 of teams (according to some of the reading I did) operate this way. But, again, those 1/2 of teams wouldn’t sign a guy like Williams, either. It’s about realistic expectations. My original comment was more a reflection of my annoyance with Walker (AFC East blogger) saying that the Bills would now spend to the cap. They always have spent “cash to the cap” which is what Buddy Nix meant. As far as the minimum goes: That bonus money is prorated. So, the Bills financial guys need to figure out how to make all that work and my brain hurts too much to try to think up an example.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 14, 2012 9:31 PM EST up reply actions

I'm not making my point/confusion clear

Regarding spending MINIMUM, if the league is scorekeeping one way to enforce it(prorating/averaging bonuses etc) and we’re scorekeeping it another way(cash basis), isn’t there a likelihood we won’t get to the MINIMUM required by the league. This was never an issue under the old CBA because cash to the cap never contradicted the objective.
Let me use an example. If we collectively spend 25mm on bonuses etc this year on contracts that average 5 years that’s 5mm towards the MINIMUM. Isn’t there a chance we won’t make the MINIMUM ? Of course we’ll stay below the max using our 25mm approach.
Is my confusion any clearer now ? I just don’t see how cash to the cap works when the league isn’t using that method to calculate whether you’ve hit the MINIMUM.

by radan on Jan 15, 2012 2:39 AM EST up reply actions

Until the pre-lockout year, there always was a minimum. The year below the lockout, I think the minimum was in the high 80%s of the cap. This past season, I think it was about 90% of the cap. That’s what the players miscalculated. Everyone thought salaries would explode, except that multiple teams shed salaries b/c they didn’t need to stay at the minimum during the lockout. So, if they Bills did it during the Levy era and it worked it would still work now. It may be more difficult, b/c the percentage increased, but I have no idea how to figure that unless I have access to their books.

How does that work reaching the minimum? Honestly I have no idea. But, since Nix confirmed that “cash to the cap” (see link below) is what he meant when he said they Bills would be spending to the cap, I take him at his word and was criticizing Walker for not knowing what Buddy Nix meant and thought it was something new that meant the Bills would be big-time free agent players. I just don’t see how that’s possible with cash to the cap. That’s not a “Ralph is cheap” argument, it is a reality of the situation based on their budget.

On your last point. The league as a whole never used that method. It was individual teams for budgeting purposes. I’m not sure how they reach the minimum, but since I found that about 1/2 the teams used that method back when Levy was GM, I imagine they must have been able to use it and still reach the minimum in some way.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 15, 2012 7:14 AM EST up reply actions

In the first line, I meant before, not below.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 15, 2012 7:14 AM EST up reply actions

Thanks for your patience

Hopefully some of these unknowns will become clearer as all this plays out.

by radan on Jan 15, 2012 10:41 AM EST up reply actions

Not a problem, I just didn’t want you thinking I was making something up here. I wasn’t (and still am not) completely sure I was explaining it entirely correctly, but was fairly sure I had the gist of it there.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 15, 2012 4:42 PM EST up reply actions

Also, see this link from 5 days ago where Howard Simon is commending Nix and his outlook but says that Nix confirmed that spending “to the cap” meant “cash to the cap”:

http://www.wgr550.com/SIMON—Nix-On-Target/11947142

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 14, 2012 9:34 PM EST up reply actions

Here is a link written by Chris Brown that explains it pretty closely to how I did.

http://assets.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=4621

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 14, 2012 2:55 PM EST up reply actions

Yes it does and Nix confirmed it:

Nix proudly declared “we can spend to the cap and we will.” He also said Bills owner Ralph Wilson has not placed any limitations on him nor has he told him he can’t do anything. Nix promised to use all the resources they can because “I want to win.” But he confirmed the spending to the cap is through cash to the cap means.

I’ll try not to make your head explode with the explanation. When NFL teams give out signing bonuses, in many cases that total is prorated over the life of the contract to create more cap room. If a player receives a $10 million bonus in a 5 year contract, it counts $2 million under the cap for each of those 5 years. By using cash to the cap, the Bills will count that entire $10 million under their cap in the first year of the contract. The flip side though is they won’t have to account for the pro rated number over the next 4 years on their books because its all out of the way up front. I don’t like that because its eating up cap room that could be used to sign a greater number of players. Don’t forget that long list of off season needs, although the draft will be used to fill them as well as free agency.

Source: http://www.wgr550.com/SIMON—Nix-On-Target/11947142

Thank you thank you thank you thank you sireric for bringing the furious punching cat back into my life. - poz

by bluecollarbuffalo on Jan 14, 2012 9:35 PM EST up reply actions

Haha great picture.

I hate that I love Buffalo.

by bflo on Jan 13, 2012 8:10 AM EST reply actions

Kelly on Merriman: Boom. Roasted.

"Go check on the ribs!"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 13, 2012 9:22 AM EST reply actions

This is why Kelly being a big part of some investment group makes me nervous. Merriman is still on the team and he’s already talking like it’s over and done with. My guess is that things like that get noticed by the current team.

Official ledge-talker-offer of the Buffalo Bills.
Citi Field loves the mets so much it smothers them. -the caveman

by WhyBillsWhy on Jan 13, 2012 11:15 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

He’d learn. Just like Elway is learning in Denver.

Give a monkey a typewriter and infinite time, and he’ll eventually release Maybin. -- stetzwebs
No one circles the waiver wire like the Buffalo Bills!

by thefourwinds on Jan 13, 2012 2:48 PM EST up reply actions

On a related note. John Randle said a little bit ago on espnradio that Jim Kelly is the only QB he’s somewhat friends with. Nothing but great things to say about him.

Nice to hear some Buffalo praise during their annual hibernation period.

"Go check on the ribs!"

by TheAfghanTwilight on Jan 13, 2012 3:21 PM EST up reply actions