New general manager Marv Levy and coach **** Jauron have a long ways to go before they get a firm handle on the roster they inherited from Tom Donahoe and Mike Mularkey. Unfortunately for the Bills' new brain trust, time isn't on their side in all instances.
With free agency opening on March 3, Buffalo has a decision to make very soon on young starting cornerback Nate Clements, the team's top unrestricted free agent who is on record as saying he wants to be the highest-paid player at his position.
The Bills have determined they want Clements back. But how do they do it?
"We will make every effort to retain him, every effort," Levy said. "**** has expressed the same and other coaches (here have). He's a talented player who can get better."
Clements, just 26, was Buffalo's first-round pick in 2001. He has 20 career interceptions, 49 pass breakups, 444 tackles and has been durable, appearing in 80 games with 75 starts. He's a playmaker with four career touchdowns.
He struggled at times in single coverage last season and had just two interceptions. But Clements also added a career-best 127 tackles in support of a weakened defensive line and linebacker corps.
The Bills have been negotiating with agent Todd France, but working out a deal for the numbers that have been thrown out by March 3 doesn't appear likely. What does appear likely is Levy and Jauron buying more time by slapping the franchise tag on Clements. That deadline is Feb. 23.
"It's an option and if we use it, that's the likely person we use it on," Levy said. "We hope we can do a contract that goes beyond that. Sometimes you have to put the franchise tag on and work on the contract part of it."
Putting the franchise tag on Clements would essentially take him off the market and guarantee he earn the average of the top five corners in 2006. That figure is $5.89 million, said the NFL Players Association, and a bargain compared to 2005 when Champ Bailey's record deal with Denver inflated the franchise tag figure to $8.8 million.
Bailey's deal with the Broncos is seven years, $63 million with an $18 million signing bonus.
Jauron plans to put in place the defense used by Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin in Tampa Bay. Even though that defense uses a lot of two-deep zone, Jauron said it still requires a lot of top-shelf coverage men and at least one elite corner who can take away the opponent's best receiver.
That would justify an eight-figure bonus for Clements.
"Absolutely," Jauron said. "In our league, when you go to a game, you see five receivers on the field, a lot of four, three receivers. You see empty (backfield) in every situation. So if you don't have at least three really good (corners), it'll be long Sundays."
Meanwhile, Jauron said he does see a place for 32-year-old wide receiver Eric Moulds on his team. Moulds is Buffalo's second all-time receiver and despite a series of run-ins with the previous coaching staff, he still finished as the club's most dependable threat with 81 catches for 816 yards and four touchdowns.
"He's a high-quality player," Jauron said. "As of right now, I certainly do (see a place for him). He's been an integral part of it here for a long time."
Bringing him back for an 11th season, however, is complicated by his $10.8 million salary cap figure. He's under contract two more years so there is room to bring that figure down. But how long the Bills want to push money into the future is an important decision, since it could impact their cap long after Moulds has finished playing.
"I know Eric had an unsettling season, but he finished strong," said Levy, who drafted Moulds in 1996 when he was still Buffalo's coach. "Last season is behind him and we hope we can work something out so that he can be here."
—After just missing the playoffs in 2004 with a 9-7 record, the Bills crashed to 5-11 last season. They finished ranked 28th in offense and 29th in defense. They showed statistical drops in 22 categories overall.
So, were the Bills really that bad or did they underachieve?
Was their talent better than it showed, something the previous regime of GM Tom Donahoe and coach Mike Mularkey always insisted?
According to new coach **** Jauron, the Bills were a five-win team and extenuating circumstances such as injuries or bad bounces don't really matter.
"I've had a saying I've used with other teams, 'What should've happened on Sunday did happen,'" said the former Chicago Bears boss. "Talk all you want about, 'If this happened or that happened.' This is what we were and that's what we are. It's the year we wrote. Nothing we can do can change that year, so let's go on. Hopefully we'll learn from it and leave the stuff we can't control behind. But there's no other way to say it."
General manager Marv Levy had gotten through analyzing about 65 percent of the roster through his first six weeks on the job, breaking down tape and talking with staff that was around.
His early conclusion why the Bills regressed after making progress the previous season is that the offensive line wasn't good enough, nor was the defense, to hand the reigns over to an untested quarterback in J.P. Losman.
Losman was benched after four games but by then Buffalo was 1-3.
"The defense went to pot and everything went down hill from there, in my opinion," Levy said.
Levy said a lot of roster changes are on the horizon, but there would've been a lot had Donahoe and Mularkey remained in charge. Levy said the Bills, about $10 million under the cap, will be very active in free agency which opens March 3 but that he won't be throwing money around indiscriminately.
"It's our intention to make the playoffs and darn right, there's no waiting time," he said. "The good news is that you can get better faster in the NFL today than you used to because of free agency and as far as the salary cap, this club is in is pretty good shape and that's good news."
Jauron said that all current players under contract can rest assured they have clean slates with him, to a point.
"I'm not overly interested in other people's opinions, I'd like us to form our own opinions as we move forward," he said. "I'd like the players to know that, to some degree, they won't be judged on what they did (last year). To some point they will be. But we know there are circumstances about last year, and I wasn't a part of that. I want them to know they're going to have a shot to show us they deserve to be on the field."
NOTES, QUOTES
—Coach **** Jauron said he hoped to have a starting quarterback picked between veteran Kelly Holcomb and third-year pro J.P. Losman before training camp opens in July. "I will say on the first day of camp, there's a first team penciled in there but if somebody beats you out, they're going to get the job," Jauron said.
—DeMontie Cross, outside linebackers coach at Iowa State, will join the Bills as a defensive and special teams assistant, the college's website reported. Cross is likely to concentrate on linebackers with the Bills, who lost Johnny Holland to the Houston Texans.
—Longtime Bills backup QB Alex Van Pelt has been hired as the team's offensive quality control coach. Van Pelt, who played for the Bills from 1995-2003, appearing in 31 games, has been knocking on a lot of doors, trying to coach in the NFL. While working as a radio analyst on Bills' broadcasts last season, he broke down game tape for former coach Mike Mularkey. Last spring and summer, he was QB coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe and called plays. Van Pelt was a hit on the radio, reading defenses for fans before each snap, and his insights will be missed. But folks in the Bills front office are very high on his coaching potential.
—Charlie Coiner, who worked as the Chicago Bears offensive quality control coach under **** Jauron in Chicago from 2001-03, is Buffalo's new tight ends coach. Coiner was the Bears' assistant special teams coach the past two seasons. He has 18 years of college coaching experience.
—New quarterbacks coach Turk Schonert is giving the Bills a second go-around and he can only hope it's as eventful as the first one. Schonert was Buffalo's QB coach under Wade Phillips from 1998-2000, coaching Doug Flutie's rise to NFL stardom after years in Canada. The Bills made the playoffs in two of Flutie's three seasons that were also marked by an ongoing feud with Rob Johnson. Schonert walks into a similar situation this time, with the Bills trying to chose between a veteran (Kelly Holcomb) and a young prospect that cost a first-round pick (J.P. Losman). After leaving Buffalo, Schonert coached QBs for the Giants and Saints. Jauron and Schonert were briefly teammates in Cincinnati.
—GM Marv Levy said that John Guy would remain in his role as director of pro personnel. Guy joined the Bills five years ago under Tom Donahoe. Guy's knowledge of the free agent market is invaluable for Levy as this juncture, given the fact Levy has been out of the NFL for eight years. "I've been very favorably impressed with the work John's done in studying and categorizing," Levy said. "His input will be listened to and absorbed by the coaches and me. Nobody has better knowledge of pro personnel in our organization right now than John Guy."
—Jauron has a lot to fix on offense and defense but the special teams he inherited in Buffalo remain the best in the NFL. For the first time since the Dallas Morning News began compiling comprehensive special teams rankings 16 years ago, the Bills are the first repeat winner of the top spot. Teams are ranked in 22 categories and assigned points. Buffalo finished first with 217 points, 44 1/2 better than the runner-up New York Giants. Buffalo was the only club to rank in the top 10 in the four major return categories: kickoff (first) and punt (fifth) return and kickoff (fourth) and punt (seventh) coverage. It's little wonder why Jauron wisely kept on special teams coach Bobby April and promoted him to assistant head coach.
—Jauron's offseason workout program will start March 20. As a new coach, he's allowed three minicamps. One will take place before the NFL draft April 29-30, he said.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "When I left, free agency was just kicking in and the salary cap. It's changed the game. The good part is that you can get better quicker in today's game, maybe than you cold back in that time, unless you walked into a room where there's a young Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith and Andre Reed. I was fortunate to do that once." - Bills GM Marv Levy, who retired as coach after the 1997 season.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
GM Marv Levy said fixing Buffalo's offensive line is a top priority. "The offensive line needs improving, it's obvious," Levy said.
How does tackle/guard Mike Williams figure into the picture? That's up to him, Levy indicated.
"Is he intrinsically motivated? That's what we have to find out," Levy said. "It's not, 'Can we get him motivated?' I'm reflecting something (felt) by the whole coaching staff, too."
Williams, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2002 draft, struggled with injuries last season and eventually lost his starting RT job to former college street free agent Jason Peters, a converted tight end. While the Bills hate to give up on a still-young player, Williams' $10.8 million salary cap figure complicates matters. Williams said he's willing to re-do his deal but has not mentioned taking a pay reduction.
TEAM NEEDS/OFFSEASON STRATEGY
Addressing the offensive and defensive lines will consume the Bills' attention this off-season but it will be time well spent. Buffalo was 28th in total offense and 29th in total defense last season.
Their most urgent need, however, is retaining young star CB Nate Clements, their top unrestricted free agent, who is expected to get the franchise tag by the Feb. 23 deadline.
There is only one other UFA that is a starter, center Trey Teague. The Bills are likely to let the veteran go and hand the job to Duke Preston, one of their top rookies from a year ago.
The team's leading salary cap issues relate to veteran WR Eric Moulds and fifth-year offensive lineman Mike Williams, who each carry a $10.8 million cap number. Buffalo is $7 million to $10 million under the cap and can do business in free agency without worrying immediately about Moulds and Williams, at least until June.
1. Offensive line: The Bills set a record for fewest yards gained in a 16-game, non-strike season with 4,122, setting the stage for a major overhaul of their front wall.
2. Defensive line: Buffalo fell from seventh to 31st in the rankings last season in stopping the run. DT Sam Adams needs help.
3. Safety: Be it strong or free, the Bills need to groom the replacement for Lawyer Milloy, 33, and Troy Vincent, 35, and get stronger up the middle.
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