Buffalo Bills Can't Rely On Free Agency To Address Pass Rush

I don’t think Williams will come here. I do hope he goes to a team ahead of us, except Miami, so whoever Nix likes has a better chance to fall to 10.

We do not have enough cap space to sign a signficant fa this off season.

I see Mincey as a player who is not as good as his sack totals may indicate. I trust thw powers that be would look at an awful lot of tape to see if these FA’s generate consistent pressure, or just luck their way into sacks, which often happens. I’ll take the guy that gets constant pressure even if he doesn’t get all the sacks, vs. the guy that pads his sack total by cleaning up the mayhem caused by guy number one. I’m just not convinced Mincey has shown it consistently enough. I agree with the poster who said hopefully some of the teams ahead of us in the draft sign one of the FA pass rushers if we can’t get them, and let the player we’re hoping for slide to us.

If a team ahead of us picks up Williams and Jacksonville keeps Mincey I could see Couples falling to us, I’m just not convinced I want him in Buffalo. He has some attitude issues and seems to take a lot of plays off, every time a player like that has been here it got worse and worse as time went on.

Plus Chix already said numerous times they want high character guys and he doesn’t sound like one, at this point. I hope I’m wrong because the guy could be a beast if he gets his head on straight.

What about Melvin Ingram in the first round? Does he have issues??

I know the odds of him leaving Arizona are slim and even if he did, odds are he wouldn’t come to Buffalo, but do you guys think he would fit as a 4-3 end or is he strictly a 3-4 type player.

People like Mario Williams will want to go to a team that can win NOW. As much as i would love to have him it’s not going to happen. I expect him to stay in Houston. Just a gut feeling. I’m on board with drafting a pass rusher. Much cheaper and leaves us with room to go after another wide receiver and a cornerback.

Last week, I wrote a lengthy post about the absurdity of the idea that Mario Williams would end up in Buffalo.

Fans know that this is one of the top 5 DE’s that could hit the open market. We all know that the Bills need a pass rusher. I don’t think fans are saying we will land him, but i think the fans EXPECT the Bills to take a run at him if he is in the open market. I made a comment on one of your other blogs, that in DW’s defense when he was in Dallas, there were 2 FA’s they went after, Deon Sanders and Charles Hailey. So what did the Bills do recently, the went after Routt. So what makes you think they wouldn’t go after Mario Williams also? If it’s the money, Peppers only made less then 9 million last season with the Bears as a Base. I think that would be fair for Mario as well. I also read an article on the internet where Mario had commented that the money would not be a deciding factor if he was going to hit the open market. He would look at best fit first. I’m also pretty sure he will also look at the opportunity to play for a team that could be headed to the Superbowl also. Maybe Mario would prefer playing in the 4-3 instead of the 3-4. To me it’s not that absurd to think the Bills wouldn’t at least attempt a run at him, and it’s also not absurd to think Mario wouldn’t be interested in playing here as well. Just saying bro.

Mario Williams will be a Buffalo Bill.

If I keep saying it, and thinking it, it WILL happen.

Who’s last last player signed as a FA since Paup thats been productive? Were not only not active in FA but pretty bad at when we try to get help thru FA. Mis-management at its peak.

Until Bills become a playoff team or build a new stadium/sign t.v. contract similar to new yorks, they are not and never will get a free agent the likes of a Mario Williams.

I like his athleticism and ball awareness, but what about his height? is 6-2 enough?

I know Mathis is like the same height, but i think Nix is looking for someone like Coples

With that, is Carrington not an intriguing player to watch this year in our new defense? I want I’m to break out so bad,

And he was always impressive. He plays with a big motor and he seems very versatile. I saw him line up at LDE, RDE, OLB as well as DT. He can really hustle for a big man.

Because they have so many very specific needs, I think that the Bills have to take a very flexible approach to free agency and the draft.

Yes, they should try to see if they might be able to sign Mario Williams or C.Avril or A.Spencer. And they should inquire about what it might take to pry O.Umenyiora from the NY Giants. But, if they can’t meet the price for these players (and Osi will want to be re-signed to a big contract if he is traded) and still sign Stevie and their other FAs that they want to keep (presumably D.Bell, K.Morrison and S.Chandler), they should be prepared to make a quick switch in their priorities in free agency.

Signing a DE in free agency would mean that they would probably have to settle for a mid-level WR or CB if they were to have a chance to re-sign all of their own free agents that they want to keep.

If they don’t spend money on a DE, they could then target a higher profile WR (perhaps Meacham, etc.) and/or CB (maybe Carr, etc.) in free agency and re-sign Stevie and the other free agents that they want to keep.

If they do this, they could address their weakness at DE and CB by taking Ingram or Perry in the 1st round; Curry in the 2nd round (or with their second pick since it might be necessary to trade up to get him); and Josh Norman in the 3rd round. Of course, they would then have to address OT, SLB and perhaps a developmental QB in Rounds 4-7, where they have enough picks to add a bit to their depth.

As far as rolling over money left over from last season is concerned: Everyone is assuming that the Bills have 10-20 million to roll over because they were reported as being that much under the cap. But, that may not be the case at all, given the Bills’ cash-to-the-cap method of accounting.

Let me explain what I mean: If the Bills gave Fitz, Kyle and Pears contract extensions that had signing bonuses, the way that most cap statistics are reported would pro-rate that bonus money (let’s say $28 million as for example—which, pro-rated would amount to $7 million per year over 4 years (yes, I know the contracts were of different lengths-this is just an example). But, under cash-to-the-cap accounting, the money would not be pro-rated at all (in my example, the Bills would count it as $28 million). As a result, there could be a very significant difference between what the Bills count against the cap versus what most “capologists” and the NFL would have counting against the cap (in my example, the difference would be $21 million—$28 million minus $7 million).

If the Bills counted all of the upfront bonus money that they paid out last season to all of the players that they signed to new contracts (Barnett, Morrison, etc. included), they might see themselves as having spent far closer to the cap than many think they did. Of course, counting that money in this manner would mean that the costs associated with those contracts would be lower in future years of those contracts than they would appear to be using the conventional method of calculating how close or far from the cap a team is at any given point.

We don’t know how much money might have been left over using the Bills’ cash-to-the-cap accounting. Given the number of contracts that they gave out that contained bonuses and the bonus money due on existing contracts, Ralph Wilson and the Bills’ money-men might easily and reasonably conclude (using their accounting approach) that the Bills have little or no money left over from last season to roll into this year’s budget.

Given Ralph Wilson’s age and history and the method of accounting that the Bills use, I would be very cautious about coming to the conclusion that the Bills have anywhere near the amounts available to roll over that have been bandied about. Moreover, I would expect that, using their cash-to-the-cap approach, the Bills would count the entire amount of any signing bonuses that they give out this year against this year’s cap as well—which means that, if they sign a player to a 4 year contract at $7 million per year with a $12 million signing bonus, they will count that as being $19 million against this year’s cap, not the $10 million that the NFL would count it as.

So, be aware of this as you look at what the Bills may spend on free agents (keeping in mind that they will count the entire bonus given to each of their draft picks against the cap this year as well). Most NFL teams are reportedly using a cash-to-the-cap accounting system now, but the specifics of what each team counts against their cap within that system remains a mystery.

At his age, Ralph Wilson isn’t going to take money out of his own pocket—money that he has ticketed to go to his wife and children, etc.—to pay for bonuses for his players. That money is going to have to come out of the Bills’ annual budget and will be counted against the team’s cap using their own accounting method. And we fans don’t know what the specifics of that method are.

What your talking about is called cooking the books and is illegal.
Just by the fact that the NFL is counting the 7 million (Part of the 28 million) in years 2, 3, and 4 in years 2, 3, and 4. You can’t count it twice.
that is bad math! (and one way how the rich stay rich)

They have the 21 mill, let’s see if they spend it…..

Go Bills!

About the money for his kids! Geesh! He has hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars!
He has more than his kids could even spend!
You’d think he’d at least pull an art modell and win one before he croaks.

And that 21 million is just pure profit. I mean after his salary, his kids salaries ( whichever ones who are on the books)
The cost for him to run the team is more than covered by his chunk of revenue sharing and all concessions by the Bills. That is the way he’s been running the team in most modern years.
And all these monies have nothing to do with his $25000 original investment that is now worth upwards of 500 million )/)@/&& bucks.
He is richer than you can even imagine.
You would have to work 100, 000 years. To even come close to that kind of money unless you make a half mill. now or something like that…..
He has taken every penny he ever could out of western NY and I hope, at some level, he has given something back.