2015 Bills: Go Rex Go

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Shelterdog said:
 
You can be almost certain that the Bills would require Bradford to renegotiate his contract before they did a trade.
 
Exactly.  Bradford has held one of the worst contracts in football for some time but if you can get him to renegotiate and sign a reasonable 3 year deal then this isn't a bad gamble given the other alternatives.  But if they go this route, they really need to invest in the OL or else he's going to get killed again.
 

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
 
Exactly.  Bradford has held one of the worst contracts in football for some time but if you can get him to renegotiate and sign a reasonable 3 year deal then this isn't a bad gamble given the other alternatives.  But if they go this route, they really need to invest in the OL or else he's going to get killed again.
 
I'm not sure either side would want a 3 year deal at this point. Bradford may think he's better off on a one year prove it deal, and the Bills probably don't want to commit to anything that's going to potentially cost them beyond this year anyway. Maybe they can get it down to 10 million or something this year, but if Bradford doesn't want to go there, he may just prefer to end up getting released. Either someone picks up his contract, or he's a free agent. He'll have more leverage and choice as a free agent, so I'm not sure why he wouldn't want that anyway. Maybe the Rams threaten to hold him until the Bills spend money on someone else, but it's not like there are any more talented options.     
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Ed Hillel said:
 
I'm not sure either side would want a 3 year deal at this point. Bradford may think he's better off on a one year prove it deal, and the Bills probably don't want to commit to anything that's going to potentially cost them beyond this year anyway. Maybe they can get it down to 10 million or something this year, but if Bradford doesn't want to go there, he may just prefer to end up getting released. Either someone picks up his contract, or he's a free agent. He'll have more leverage and choice as a free agent, so I'm not sure why he wouldn't want that anyway. Maybe the Rams threaten to hold him until the Bills spend money on someone else, but it's not like there are any more talented options.     
 
I don't think the Rams releasing Bradford is very likely at all.  Everything I've read suggests that they're willing to explore trade options but otherwise he's the favorite to start at QB for them in 2015.  Its either Bradford or drafting somebody (and there aren't many choices unless they want to trade up for Mariota) because Austin Davis got found out big time and definitely isn't the future.  Given those parameters, if Bradford wants to secure his future or lock up more money then it makes plenty of sense for him to think about a trade and a new deal.
 

Super Nomario

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
 
I don't think the Rams releasing Bradford is very likely at all.  Everything I've read suggests that they're willing to explore trade options but otherwise he's the favorite to start at QB for them in 2015.  Its either Bradford or drafting somebody (and there aren't many choices unless they want to trade up for Mariota) because Austin Davis got found out big time and definitely isn't the future.  Given those parameters, if Bradford wants to secure his future or lock up more money then it makes plenty of sense for him to think about a trade and a new deal.
Their options aren't great, but I can't see them keeping Bradford when they can save $13 MM by cutting him. And unless there's competition for him, why would teams give up anything significant? It's analogous to the Revis situation last year where the player has value (tremendous value in Revis' case), but not at his contract figure. If I had to put money on it, I'd guess he does get cut.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Super Nomario said:
Their options aren't great, but I can't see them keeping Bradford when they can save $13 MM by cutting him. And unless there's competition for him, why would teams give up anything significant? It's analogous to the Revis situation last year where the player has value (tremendous value in Revis' case), but not at his contract figure. If I had to put money on it, I'd guess he does get cut.
 
That makes some sense in the abstract, especially if one is down on him longer term, but everything I read suggests the most likely scenario is a restructure, with some trade talk also being explored if the price is right (the Browns and Bils both have been linked).  There's very little out there suggesting he's likely to be cut, although it obviously could happen.
 

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@AdamSchefter: Filed to ESPN: Bills have notified LB Kiko Alonso he is going to be traded to Philadelphia for RB LeSean McCoy. Trade official next week.
 

DJnVa

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That's...interesting. Rex may run him into the ground.
 

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RedOctober3829 said:
What a home run for Chip. He saves $8.5 million against the cap by offloading a player who will regress each year and gets a cheap potential star at MLB
 
And, of course, a player he's very familiar with
 

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RedOctober3829 said:
What a home run for Chip. He saves $8.5 million against the cap by offloading a player who will regress each year and gets a cheap potential star at MLB
Word was Shady was possible cap casualty. Of course, he'd likely never have gone to Buffalo, so this makes some sense from Bills standpoint. But now maybe Eagles get Spiller too?
 

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Weakens a pretty good defense (maybe substantially) for no real upgrade. McCoy's a great back but is he that much of an improvement over Spiller? I think it's a slight upgrade in the backfield at the expense of a pretty big hit on D.
 

Eck'sSneakyCheese

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McCoy>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Spiller. Spiller is/was never as consistent as Shady. This is pretty fantastic for the Bills. Which really sucks. Roman got his Frank Gore and more.
 
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I was thinking that maybe Rex is so confident in his D personnel and in his scheme that losing a guy like Kiko - who perhaps he sees as not a great fit (I have no idea if he is or not) - is a trade-off he can live with to land a dynamic player to the Bills offense, which he is less adept at coaching. Not the worst argument in favor of the trade from a Buffalo POV, IMO.
 

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I like the trade for both teams, particularly since McCoy's contract becomes reasonable the next two seasons. I think Buffalo is going to have serious issues on offense this season with a number of holes and cap issues, but they set up pretty well for next season.
 

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Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
McCoy>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Spiller. Spiller is/was never as consistent as Shady. This is pretty fantastic for the Bills. Which really sucks. Roman got his Frank Gore and more.
 
pfref ProFootballReference
McCoy had heavy workload w/ #Eagles. Tied w/ Forte for most offensive touches in NFL over last 5 seasons (1,566)
 

Super Nomario

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fiskful of dollars said:
Weakens a pretty good defense (maybe substantially) for no real upgrade. McCoy's a great back but is he that much of an improvement over Spiller? I think it's a slight upgrade in the backfield at the expense of a pretty big hit on D.
Alonzo didn't play at all last year and Buffalo had the #4 scoring and yardage D. They're better with him, but I think they'll be plenty good without him.
 

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I think Shady is much better than Spiller in the Bills offense, both past and future. But I think Spiller might be at least equal to Shady in Kelly's offense if not better. Puts Spiller back into an offense that fits his ability.
 

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Darnell's Son said:
Wheelin' and dealin':
 
@AlbertBreer: Bills announced that they've traded for Vikings QB Matt Cassel.
 
Undisclosed (as of yet) draft picks in return
 

nattysez

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What are the chances that Cassell is significantly better than EJ Manuel at this point?  Although I suppose this ensures they have a semi-competent back-up, regardless of who starts.
 

E5 Yaz

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AdamSchefter Adam Schefter
Bills announced they will acquire QB Matt Cassel from Vikings and an undisclosed draft choice in exchange for undisclosed draft choices.
 

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Darnell's Son said:
That's what I get for posting the Breer tweet and not waiting two seconds for the Schefter tweet.
 
But you're still better off than the guy who will come in a couple of hours from now and post as though it's breaking news
 

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nattysez said:
What are the chances that Cassell is significantly better than EJ Manuel at this point?  Although I suppose this ensures they have a semi-competent back-up, regardless of who starts.
 
Hey - Cassell played behind two Heisman winners in college.  He could've been the second best QB in the draft.
 

RhaegarTharen

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I'm sure the picks involved are mostly worthless; but that's fine with me.  I'd take the proverbial bag of (foot)balls.   Guessing Vikings get a 5th and send back a 7th. 
 

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I found this kind of surprising:
 
@darrenrovell: Matt Cassel had made more than $70 million in his NFL career.
 

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With Orten retiring, you need a body to fill the jersey. Getting Cassell for essentially nothing plus the salary cap hit (~4.75m) is as good as you'll get to fill the 2A or 2B QB role (projecting Manuel is the other 2). While they search for ways to get a real #1 QB in there, they could have done much worse finding a placeholder.
 

Stitch01

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Eck'sSneakyCheese said:
McCoy>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Spiller. Spiller is/was never as consistent as Shady. This is pretty fantastic for the Bills. Which really sucks. Roman got his Frank Gore and more.
If its the guy we saw in 2013, first part is true. 2014 McCoy wasn't very good (he lost his short yardage carries to Chris Polk by the end of the year).  Always hard to separate out line play and know about nagging injuries, but I think this turns out to be somewhere between a wash and pretty bad for the Bills.
 

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PaulinMyrBch said:
With Orten retiring, you need a body to fill the jersey. Getting Cassell for essentially nothing plus the salary cap hit (~4.75m) is as good as you'll get to fill the 2A or 2B QB role (projecting Manuel is the other 2). While they search for ways to get a real #1 QB in there, they could have done much worse finding a placeholder.
And Rex now has someone to be a co-captain in the first Bills-Patriots game.
 

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DJnVa

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Cassel hasn't played more than 9 games since 2010. I'm guessing he's the starter and they will see if he can do any mentoring of Manuel.
 
There was a lot of talk that they were going to get Hoyer.
 

dcmissle

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Rex is interesting. On balance, glad he stayed in the division. He may be building a playoff team. Not a SB team, but you have to start somewhere.
 

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The Bills don't have too much more to spend at this point, unless they make some substantial roster moves. While the potential may be there for the future, I'm not overly concerned about the Bills as things stand heading into 2015.
 

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Rudy Pemberton said:
Is Cassel and McCoy even an upgrade over Orton and Spiller?
 
Orton wasn't even an option though, so even treading water from the 2014 season is better than sinking with Manuel.
 

Was (Not Wasdin)

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I don't think that Cassel has made $70MM in his career. His first4 years with the Pats were on his rookie deal, so he probably made about $2MM with them. His Chiefs deal was 6 years $63MM, which would have taken him through the end of the 2014 season, so even if he played that full deal out he would still be a bit under. But he didn't play the last two years under that deal, and made less money with the Vikings. The general point still stands though-he has made a mind-boggling amount of money in his career despite never being a top-tier guy.

With his new deal with the Bills I do think that he has signed contracts well in excess of $70MM in the aggregate, which may be what Rovell was trying to say.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I don't think that Cassel has made $70MM in his career. His first4 years with the Pats were on his rookie deal, so he probably made about $2MM with them. His Chiefs deal was 6 years $63MM, which would have taken him through the end of the 2014 season, so even if he played that full deal out he would still be a bit under. But he didn't play the last two years under that deal, and made less money with the Vikings. The general point still stands though-he has made a mind-boggling amount of money in his career despite never being a top-tier guy.

With his new deal with the Bills I do think that he has signed contracts well in excess of $70MM in the aggregate, which may be what Rovell was trying to say.
It's hard to believe there's not a website that tracks lifetime contracts in football but I couldn't find one. At any rate, it's been Darren Rovell tweeting this (he started in 2012 by tweeting that Cassel had made $60m) but I agree with you that he's wrong.

Near as I can figure, Cassel made $1.5M with the Pats; $40.8M in his first 3 years with the Chiefs (remember he was franchised); in 2012, he had a base salary of $5.25M with workout bonus of $0.25M; then he made $3.7M in 2013; $5.75M in 2014; and will make $4.75M this year.

So at the end of his year, he will have made (if my math is correct, which it often isn't), approximately $62M.

I hope he has Bernard Pollard on his annual Christmas gift list.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I like the trade for both teams, particularly since McCoy's contract becomes reasonable the next two seasons. I think Buffalo is going to have serious issues on offense this season with a number of holes and cap issues, but they set up pretty well for next season.
BTW, can you flesh this out for me? Seriously can't see the logic of this at all from the Bill's POV - why would you trade one of the best coverage LB in the league when you have to face Brady and Gronk twice a year - particularly for a RB, where there's going to be a lot of cap casualties and even more particularly when that LB is on his rookie deal (which gets extended for one year because of the injury)?

I wish one of the AFC East teams would get some decent management in (other than you-know-who).
 
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