The Bills enter the offseason with $88.5M in cap space

[Jetsfan80]

In a previous thread, I brought up the notion that the Jets' seemingly great cap situation is deceptive.  After re-signing our own, our cap space will be, roughly, $25-40M.

The Bills, meanwhile, enter the offseason with $88.5M per overthecap.com.  Granted, they have a few of their own to re-sign.  But many of them are expendable:

 

Player	Pos.	2019 Team	2020 Team	Type	Snaps	Age	Current APY	Guarantees
Jordan Phillips	43DT	Bills		UFA	52.1%	28	$4,500,000	$2,000,000
Lorenzo Alexander  (RETIRED)	43OLB	Bills		UFA	47.6%	37	$3,750,000	$1,600,000
Kevin Johnson	CB	Bills		UFA	32.4%	28	$3,000,000	$400,000
Shaq Lawson	43DE	Bills		UFA	46.2%	26	$2,569,744	$10,278,976
Quinton Spain	LG	Bills		UFA	99.5%	29	$2,050,000	$200,000
Frank Gore	RB	Bills		UFA	34.9%	37	$2,000,000	$500,000
LaAdrian Waddle	LT	Bills		UFA	0%	29	$2,000,000	$400,000
Julian Stanford	ILB	Bills		UFA	7.2%	30	$1,500,000	$550,000
Mo Alexander	43OLB	Bills		UFA	6.9%	29	$1,000,000	$150,000
Corey Liuget	34DE	Bills		UFA	17%	30	$930,000	$0
Kurt Coleman	S	Bills		UFA	6.7%	32	$930,000	$0
Senorise Perry	RB	Bills		UFA	0.8%	29	$720,000	$0
Dean Marlowe	S	Bills		RFA	10.3%	28	$600,000	$0
Isaiah McKenzie	WR	Bills		RFA	41.6%	25	$600,000	$0
Jason Croom	TE	Bills		ERFA	0%	26	$527,000	$0
Robert Foster	WR	Bills		ERFA	20.1%	26	$525,000	$0
Levi Wallace	CB	Bills		ERFA	76%	25	$525,000	$0

 

 

After they make decisions on the likes of Shaq Lawson, Quinton Spain, and a few others, they'll still have probably double the cap space that we'll be left with. 

Clearly, UNCW grad GM Brandon Beane has done a terrific job at roster building.  And now he'll be able to enter free agency with a lot of funds to play with.  And much like us, the vast majority of their needs are on the offensive side of the ball, as they'll likely look to boost their Offensive Line and find another WR to support Josh Allen.  They could very easily be competing for the same types of free agents that we're looking for.

And unlike the Jets, they're going to be an attractive destination based on their recent success.  Granted, Buffalo is a tough geographical sell for a lot of free agents.  But winning trumps location in most cases.  

[The Crusher]

Stop making fun of other teams!

[bla bla bla]

I've been preaching this. The Jets are going to need to focus on their own FAs and build through the draft.

A lot of teams have a lot of money so players will have better options than us.

[Jetsfan80]

4 minutes ago, bla bla bla said:

I've been preaching this. The Jets are going to need to focus on their own FAs and build through the draft.

A lot of teams have a lot of money so players will have better options than us.

 

Jets fans:  "The Cap keeps going up, we'll have plenty of space!"  Ignoring that the cap goes up for everybody, not just the Jets.  

[drsamuel84]

As we've learned the hard way and even have seen from other teams like the Giants and Browns winning the offseason with big name free agents rarely leads to success.  While it's time for the Jets to start winning it all starts with good drafting.

[section314]

The most important advantage the Bills have over the Jets is their ownership. It really doesn't get much simpler than that. It all starts at the top. With the Johnson's at the helm, this ship will continue to go around in circles.

[Jetsfan80]

6 minutes ago, drsamuel84 said:

As we've learned the hard way and even have seen from other teams like the Giants and Browns winning the offseason with big name free agents rarely leads to success.  While it's time for the Jets to start winning it all starts with good drafting.

Who says the Bills will make it rain and spend on big name guys?  Perhaps they'll be smart and sign one top tier FA and a bunch of 2nd and 3rd tier guys?

Not everybody spends their massive cap space on questionable character guys (like the Browns) or overpay guys at non-premium positions (like the Jets).  Some teams are smart enough to avoid guys like Odell Beckham and Trumaine Johnson.

Take the Packers, for instance.  Last offseason they spent their money on 2 premium pass rushers in Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith.  That worked out very well.  Those 2 combined for 25.5 sacks this year.

[#27TheDominator]

Now I am supposed to believe that the Bills ownership is some great advantage over us?  These are the people that botched the Marrone deal and hired Rex Ryan who really needed some time to learn humility.  It does look like they hired a decent group now, but it they were here everybody would be moaning about some of their moves. 

[Jets723]

7 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

 

Jets fans:  "The Cap keeps going up, we'll have plenty of space!"  Ignoring that the cap goes up for everybody, not just the Jets.  

Nobody ignores that 

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, #27TheDominator said:

Now I am supposed to believe that the Bills ownership is some great advantage over us?  These are the people that botched the Marrone deal and hired Rex Ryan who really needed some time to learn humility.  It does look like they hired a decent group now, but it they were here everybody would be moaning about some of their moves. 

 

All that happened before Brandon Beane arrived in 2017.  Its a new era for the Bills.  

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, Jets723 said:

Nobody ignores that 

It sure seems like they do that based on the posts we've seen around here, talking about how we can afford to pay Robby, hand Jamal a shiny new contract, AND sign 2-3 premier free agents.

[JTJet]

You should know by now as a Jets fan

Lots of cap space means absolutely nothing. It has gotten us nowhere and I've seen teams with very little cap space, still sign great FAs. 

Regardless of current situations, the New York/New Jersey sports market will always be more attractive to players over Buffalo. 

Every. Single. Time. 

[UntouchableCrew]

Like 2/3 of the Bills starters are FAs, so their cap space is even more deceptive than ours.

That said, definitely agree with the sentiment that signing FAs is not the best way to improve this team and we should focus on the draft. Having cap space as a bad team only matters when you offer dumb contracts like the CJ Mosley deal -- stupid money.

[southparkcpa]

42 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

In a previous thread, I brought up the notion that the Jets' seemingly great cap situation is deceptive.  After re-signing our own, our cap space will be, roughly, $25-40M.

The Bills, meanwhile, enter the offseason with $88.5M per overthecap.com.  Granted, they have a few of their own to re-sign.  But many of them are expendable:

 

Player	Pos.	2019 Team	2020 Team	Type	Snaps	Age	Current APY	Guarantees
Jordan Phillips	43DT	Bills		UFA	52.1%	28	$4,500,000	$2,000,000
Lorenzo Alexander  (RETIRED)	43OLB	Bills		UFA	47.6%	37	$3,750,000	$1,600,000
Kevin Johnson	CB	Bills		UFA	32.4%	28	$3,000,000	$400,000
Shaq Lawson	43DE	Bills		UFA	46.2%	26	$2,569,744	$10,278,976
Quinton Spain	LG	Bills		UFA	99.5%	29	$2,050,000	$200,000
Frank Gore	RB	Bills		UFA	34.9%	37	$2,000,000	$500,000
LaAdrian Waddle	LT	Bills		UFA	0%	29	$2,000,000	$400,000
Julian Stanford	ILB	Bills		UFA	7.2%	30	$1,500,000	$550,000
Mo Alexander	43OLB	Bills		UFA	6.9%	29	$1,000,000	$150,000
Corey Liuget	34DE	Bills		UFA	17%	30	$930,000	$0
Kurt Coleman	S	Bills		UFA	6.7%	32	$930,000	$0
Senorise Perry	RB	Bills		UFA	0.8%	29	$720,000	$0
Dean Marlowe	S	Bills		RFA	10.3%	28	$600,000	$0
Isaiah McKenzie	WR	Bills		RFA	41.6%	25	$600,000	$0
Jason Croom	TE	Bills		ERFA	0%	26	$527,000	$0
Robert Foster	WR	Bills		ERFA	20.1%	26	$525,000	$0
Levi Wallace	CB	Bills		ERFA	76%	25	$525,000	$0

 

 

After they make decisions on the likes of Shaq Lawson, Quinton Spain, and a few others, they'll still have probably double the cap space that we'll be left with. 

Clearly, UNCW grad GM Brandon Beane has done a terrific job at roster building.  And now he'll be able to enter free agency with a lot of funds to play with.  And much like us, the vast majority of their needs are on the offensive side of the ball, as they'll likely look to boost their Offensive Line and find another WR to support Josh Allen.  They could very easily be competing for the same types of free agents that we're looking for.

And unlike the Jets, they're going to be an attractive destination based on their recent success.  Granted, Buffalo is a tough geographical sell for a lot of free agents.  But winning trumps location in most cases.  

As crazy as it sounds... former players loved the Buffalo area. The fans are rabid and support the team.  Jim Kelly has been known to make calls to players on the fence telling them what a great environment Buffalo can be.  Realistically, they are only their 5 months. They rent an apartment etc. 

[Jetsfan80]

 

7 minutes ago, JTJet said:

You should know by now as a Jets fan

Lots of cap space means absolutely nothing. It has gotten us nowhere and I've seen teams with very little cap space, still sign great FAs. 

Regardless of current situations, the New York/New Jersey sports market will always be more attractive to players over Buffalo. 

Every. Single. Time. 

Winning and money trumps location. Every. Single.  Time.

Also:

 

24 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Take the Packers, for instance.  Last offseason they spent their money on 2 premium pass rushers in Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith.  That worked out very well.  Those 2 combined for 25.5 sacks this year.

[JustInFudge]

What's the point of this thread?  You just started another thread a couple of days ago talking about how the Jets should not spend any money in Free Agency but now we're doing an exercise on who we're competing with in Free Agency?  

[playtowinthegame]

Buffalo is NOT a better destination for skill position players. 

[Beerfish]

1 hour ago, JiF said:

What's the point of this thread?  You just started another thread a couple of days ago talking about how the Jets should not spend any money in Free Agency but now we're doing an exercise on who we're competing with in Free Agency?  

It is valid because every one and their dog always talks about our cap room and how we can solve big problems via fa when you can't because teams sign their own guys and the few good players that shake loose have many teams after them because most teams have cap space and if they don't have it they create it if they want a player.

FA has never rescued the Jets in the past and it won't once again.

[BurnleyJet]

Just sign an Edge rusher and W.R. 

Then Draft:-

Oline.

Oline

Oline

Oline

Oline

Oline !!!!!

 

 

[JustInFudge]

7 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

It is valid because every one and their dog always talks about our cap room and how we can solve big problems via fa when you can't because teams sing their own guys and the few good players that shake loose have many teams after them because most teams have cap space and if they don't have it they create it if they want a player.

FA has never rescued the Jets in the past and it won't once again.

Cool.  Did I say it would? 

I simply pointed out how 80 a couple of days ago said we shouldnt spend in free agency and now he's doing an exercise on who we're competing with in free agency. 

[Jets723]

58 minutes ago, JiF said:

What's the point of this thread?  You just started another thread a couple of days ago talking about how the Jets should not spend any money in Free Agency but now we're doing an exercise on who we're competing with in Free Agency?  

Yeah I don’t get it either.  We all agree that we shouldn’t just focus on FA, we need to have a really strong draft in order to fill in the necessary holes like Oline.  

[Jetsfan80]

4 minutes ago, JiF said:

Cool.  Did I say it would? 

I simply pointed out how 80 a couple of days ago said we shouldnt spend in free agency and now he's doing an exercise on who we're competing with in free agency. 

How are these mutually exclusive points?  Not only is the FA class underwhelming, we'd have to beat out a team in our own division for some of the same crappy FAs AND the very few good ones.  

If a top-tier OL free agent can get the same money from us or a playoff team like Buffalo, which one do you think he'd choose?

[Jetsfan80]

12 minutes ago, BurnleyJet said:

Just sign an Edge rusher and W.R. 

Easier said than done.  EDGE rusher has a few guys out there, but we'd have to significantly overpay to get the likes of, say, Bud Dupree.  And the WR market blows.  It's Amari Cooper and a bunch of bums or aging guys.  AJ Green?  Yuck.  

[JustInFudge]

3 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

How are these mutually exclusive points?  Not only is the FA class underwhelming, we'd have to beat out a team in our own division for some of the same crappy FAs AND the very few good ones.  

If a top-tier OL free agent can get the same money from us or a playoff team like Buffalo, which one do you think he'd choose?

The team offering more money and the place said player would like to play?  

I mean, what are we doing here?  There are 31 other teams in the NFL, we're competing with every team who has money to spend.  This phenomenon you're calling out, happens every year and it's not exclusive the Jets.

If you're advocating not spending in FA, why does it matter what cap space Buffalo has?  If FA is underwhelming, who cares who they sign? 

You honestly dont see the contradiction here?

[Jetsfan80]

Just now, JiF said:

The team offering more money and the place said player would like to play?  

But the Bills can afford to pay them as much or more based on their cap space.  And they're not the only good team with as much or more cap space than us.  

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, JiF said:

If you're advocating not spending in FA, why does it matter what cap space Buffalo has?  If FA is underwhelming, who cares who they sign? 

Because the people who ARE advocating we spend big in FA are ignoring that we no longer have the most cap space.  The Mosley contract ensured that.  They think we can make it rain just like we did last offseason.

This thread ties into my thread about being conservative in free agency and mainly looking at 2nd and 3rd tier guys, or pretty much avoiding UFA's altogether.  I don't understand why you fail to see ANY connection between them.

[JustInFudge]

1 minute ago, Jetsfan80 said:

But the Bills can afford to pay them as much or more based on their cap space.  And they're not the only good team with as much or more cap space than us.  

Ok, but if think the FA class is underwhelming, who cares who they sign? 

[Jetsfan80]

1 minute ago, JiF said:

Ok, but if think the FA class is underwhelming, who cares who they sign? 

Because the few FA's that ARE potentially worth bringing in will either not come here OR require a massive overpay based on how many other more successful teams have equal or more cap space.  

What other teams are doing will impact what WE can do in free agency.  

[JustInFudge]

1 minute ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Because the people who ARE advocating we spend big in FA are ignoring that we no longer have the most cap space.  The Mosley contract ensured that.  

So this thread is to tell people who want to spend in FA that there is going to be competition in the market place for the services of available players?  

 

[slimjasi]

If I'm a WR, I'm not sure how attractive playing with Josh Allen in bad weather games is, but I agree with the general premise. 

[JustInFudge]

Just now, Jetsfan80 said:

Because the few FA's that ARE potentially worth bringing in will either not come here OR require a massive overpay based on how many other more successful teams have equal or more cap space.  

What other teams are doing will impact what WE can do in free agency.  

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, JiF said:

So this thread is to tell people who want to spend in FA that there is going to be competition in the market place for the services of available players?  

 

 

Yes, because that seems to be a foreign concept to a lot of posters.  I'm sure many of them had no idea a team in our own division is in a significantly better cap situation despite the disparity in the quality of rosters and success of the 2 franchises.  I'm sure many here assumed a team like Buffalo would be limited in cap space based on how good their roster is.  

 Many have been saying that we can just buy a WR and 1-2 quality OL in free agency.  That probably can't/won't happen.  Hence why I think we need to focus on re-signing our own, trade Jamal, and build almost exclusively in the draft.  Because the FA's that ARE available to us probably aren't much better than who we have on our roster already.  

[Jetsfan80]

3 minutes ago, slimjasi said:

If I'm a WR, I'm not sure how attractive playing with Josh Allen in bad weather games is, but I agree with the general premise. 

Robby Anderson would be just about a perfect WR to pair with Josh Allen.  Just saying.  

[slimjasi]

Just now, Jetsfan80 said:

Robby Anderson would be just about a perfect WR to pair with Josh Allen.  Just saying.  

I could see that for sure

[JustInFudge]

Just now, Jetsfan80 said:

 

Yes, because that seems to be a foreign concept to a lot of posters.  I'm sure many of them had no idea a team in our own division is in a significantly better cap situation despite our lack of talent on the roster.

  Many have been saying that we can buy a WR and 1-2 quality OL in free agency.  That probably can't/won't happen.  Hence why I think we need to focus on re-signing our own, trade Jamal, and build almost exclusively in the draft.  Because the FA's that ARE available to us probably aren't much better than who we have on our roster already.  

Got it!  You're just dropping that deep knowledge and educating the masses!

Preach on brother!  Let's bring everyone back and do it all over again!