Free Agency Delayed: The league decided today to delay the start of free agency by 72 hours. It will now start at 12:10am on Monday morning. The delay is to give the owners and players more time to negotiate a new collective barganing agreement and stop what would be a purge of many high priced quality veteran players.
Bills Tender Offers: The Bills tenders offers to all three restricted free agents and to four of five exclusive rights free agents today. The Bills had five restricted free agents but locked up Terrence McGee and Angelo Crowell before the season ended. The other three that were tendered today are special teams standouts Josh Stamer, Mario Haggan, and Sam Aiken. The Bills will have the right to match any offer they receive or they will get draft pick compensation. No word on if any of the players received a low or high tender. A high tender would give them a first round pick as compensation if they would lose them, most likely they received a low tender which gives them a corresponding pick to where they were drafted. Stamer was an undrafted player, while Haggan and Aiken were both seventh round picks. The Bills essentially locked up four exclusive rights free agents, Jonathan Smith, Jason Peters, Jabari Greer, and Shaud Williams were tendered. They have no outside barganing power although the Bills may try to work out a long term deal with Peters. The lone player not tendered was the injured offensive lineman Lawrence Smith, essentially making him an unrestricted free agent.
Cap Figure Set: The league has set a salary cap figure at $94.5 Million for the coming season, of course that can still change if there is a last minute CBA between the union and the owners. It could then go up as much as $10 Million. Our best estimate puts the Bills approximately $11.5 million under the cap with the moves they made yesterday. Salary Cap Page.
Free Agency Set To Start: Now that the Bills have opened up some salary cap room, they can be players when free agency is set to begin at midnight tonight. There is still a chance that the date will change if there is a last minute agreement on a new CBA. The Bills have many holes to fill in what promises to be a very volatile market. They can use a tight end, defensive tackle, and offensive line help along with a new safety as they have three new holes to fill after yesterday's cut.
Wednesday March 1, 2006
Efforts Continue To Keep Moulds: Marv Levy officially announced the release of the three players at a late afternoon press conference today. Levy said the Eric Moulds situation as well as others is still to be determined. He said the cuts were not made to keep Eric but they are continuing to make efforts to do so and hope it can be worked out as they continue to talk. Levy said these moves would likely have been made regardless of the uncertainty with the labor situation. He does say the cuts on the defensive side of the ball have something to do with the change in defensive philosophy to a cover two defense from a zone blitz defense. Lawyer Milloy may be more suited for last year's defense. The GM feels a free agent may be more willing to come to Buffalo when they see a vacant spot on the depth chart. Many things were factored in when releasing the players including if they were about to hit the wall, if there were better possible options in free agency, and if they fit their needs as well as the cap. He said all three were good enough to continue playing for the team. Levy said he doesn't expect any other news specifically in the next day or so. The team has a plan A and a plan B for the salary cap depending on if there is a new CBA or not.
Campbell, Milloy Also Released: In what has become "Black Wednesday" the Bills released three veterans. Hours after it leaked that Sam Adams had been cut, the Bills announced his release along with Mark Campbell and Layer Milloy. Milloy's release saves $2.5 Million on the salary cap but costs them $1.25 Million in dead money. Campbell's release saved another $1 Million and cost them only a $237,500 cap hit. The money freed up allows the Bills to be a player in free agency that is still set to start on Friday. It is a surprise that Eric Moulds is still on the team at this point with his $10.85 Million cap figure. He appears headed for release after declining a pay cut. We will have reaction and more on this later this evening.
Adams Comments: Sam Adams told AP that he was told of his release by Dick Jauron earlier today. He said he feels the organization did what is best for them and that playing in Buffalo was one of the greatest experiences of his life. He hopes this move will work out for him and the team.
Adams Released: The Bills released a player today but it wasn't the one that everyone expected. Sam Adams was released in a salary cap move. His release saves $3.5 Million in cap space and puts the Bills about $5.5 Million under a cap estimated at $92 Million. The loss of Adams weakens an already weak middle of the defense and may lead to the release of Eric Moulds to free up more space.
Moulds Pay Cut Negotiations: The Rochester D&C is reporting that the Bills asked Eric Moulds to take a $1.83 Million pay cut this year and to eliminate some incentives from the three year deal he signed last offseason. That adds up to possibly more than a $2 Million cut from the approximate $6 Million base salary he was to receive this year. He balked at that size of a cut as his agent said he was shocked he was asked to take one that large. He would still make nearly $4 Million this year, something he may or may not get in the open market. What do you think? Take our poll on our homepage.
Tuesday February 28, 2006
Moulds Rejects Offer: Eric Moulds rejected the Bills offer to restructure his contract yesterday. His agent, Harry Henderon said he's not encouraged based on what they are offering. He told the Buffalo News on Sunday that his client would not take a pay cut. He said on Monday, that a small cut is possible but he will not take the significant pay cut that the Bills offered. Henderson said he was shocked at what the Bills had to say. No further talks are scheduled but Henderson said he's open to negotiations. If they do not talk more, Moulds will likely be cut to save $5.5 Million on the salary cap.
News Archives index
Latest News Section
Archives Library
Back to Bills Daily Homepage
Free Agency Set To Begin: After the clock strikes midnight free agency is set to begin with or without a CBA. Talks broke down yesterday but one report now says that they may have taken a dramatic turn and they look to get a deal done today. If that doesn't happen, and we've heard these reports before, then an unprecedent amount of veterans will get cut today so the team's can get under the $94.5 Million salary cap by 6pm today. The Bills are already under it and don't need to do anything but may be inclined to cut Eric Moulds for more cap room if a CBA doesn't get done.