by Mario Granata
Call me optimistic. Call me delusional. Call me a Bills fan. This is how I see the Buffalo Bills schedule playing out. What do you have as the Bills record in 2015?
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by Mario Granata
After examining the skill players that the Bills have to face on the offensive side of the ball in Bills Opponents: Offense Edition, obviously there was going to be a follow up for the defensive side, but with a little bit of a twist. While you will see the key additions and notables that will be in front of Greg Roman this season, also listed will be the defensive coordinators and their primary defensive alignment. This is key, because in trying to understand how to attack any defense, you have to go on tendencies. Check out the playmakers and shotcallers that the Bills will have to face in 2015 (as of right now). by Mario Granata
With the rosters at 90, there are going to be some changes that occur before the official season kicks off for the Buffalo Bills. As it currently stands, the Bills defense will be facing their toughest test in recent years. While Buffalo has been successful the past couple of seasons, they will surely be tested in 2015. Just focusing on the skill positions, there are some big names that they will have to stop as they make a run at the playoffs. 8 of the 16 weeks they will be facing quarterbacks that have made a total of 24 Pro Bowls. Check out whom the Bills will have to stop in 2015. By: Paul Wanecski
With all this recent talk of the Buffalo Bills attempting to sign guard Evan Mathis – and the inherent risks of resigning other pending free agents if the Bills were to sign Mathis – we thought it would be best to look at the Bills current roster with a fresh perspective. We are going to throw away the concept of who we need to resign, instead reviewing the roster as if we had to start players who were signed for the 2016 year and beyond. The idea is that this will show us what our options are at each position for next year and beyond to highlight what players would be important to resign or look to sign in free agency. In this first installment of a two-part article, we will review the offense. By Paul Wanecski
As far as articles go, this one will be quick. Looking at the 2015 Bills, the need for a dependable Guard is without a doubt debatable. The writing has been on the wall in regards to Evan Mathis with the Eagles for some time now. He enter the free agent market as hands down the best player available. So the question of how valuable he is versus how much you are willing to pay him immediately comes to light. The Bills are currently shaving the cap with only $7.3 million in space remaining. Let's make some room because Mathis instantly upgrades your team, even at his age. The easiest way to manufacture cap space would be to cut: Chris Williams- could save $2.475 this season but pushes some dead money into next year. If not a post-June 1st release, the team saves $725k Matt Cassel- if he isn't the clear number one at this point, will he ever be? You could basically swap Cassel for Mathis in contract dollar. His release saves $4.75 million Leodis McKelvin- this saves about $2 million. The team is starting to load up on defensive backs but having him on your roster only helps your defense. None of those moves are really even needed. At age 33, Mathis was in search of a better situation. He was saying he was unhappy with his contract, but let's be real, he was seeking sanctuary from Chip Kelly. Expect him to sign a 3 year deal at best. Honestly, teams may go nuts over him showering 1 year offers. Mathis doesn't seem like the type who is ready to prove he can still play. So what would t take? The Bills would be top of the market to offer a 3 year, $19 million dollar deal. It would anticipated that a reasonable signing bonus would e most attractive to Mathis and really in the Bills best interest as well. $7 million would do the trick with another $4 million guaranteed. That would bring 2015 $4 million in base salary and $2.3 in prorated signing bonus cash per year. All in all, it is probably as close as he would get to the contract that he had in Philadelphia. His annual cap figure considering each season of equal value to $6.3 million against the cap. The Bills have that room. by Paul Wanecski
For 2016, the Bills have committed $59,260,801 according to OvertheCap.com towards only players on the offense. Now some of that is movable cap. Salary cap space could be freed up rather easily by addressing contracts that are holding up reasonable cap space. Creating space for 2016’s draft class, free agency period, and having money to resign players like Nigel Bradham, Marcell Dareus and Cordy Glenn will be a priority in the upcoming offseason. While contracts like Mario Williams will draw the biggest attention due to his $19 million cap hit for 2016 as a source to free up some salary cap space, watch for the Bills to complete these transactions: by Mario Granata
Well, this is the part of the NFL season, where things tend to get a little weird. Just after the draft concludes and official off-season practices have started, fans lose their minds. People have these wild expectations about their team (because all 32 of them are going to the Super Bowl in 2015) and every team is exploring a trade for one of the most elite players in the league, to fill a gap that still resides on their team. What we would like to do here, at Hashtag Sports, is to poll the fans, and get your feedback. What is the most insane thing that you have heard a fan suggest for their team to get better? Was there an article out there that you just started to shake your head before you even read it? Did your team suggest that they were going to trade their kicker and a first round pick in the 2016 Draft for Peyton Manning? AND GO!!! |