Wilson complains about being in a small market. But now he’s playing ball with the big boys in Toronto.
Toronto windfall could go to a good cause — Evans
Jerry Sullivan
Updated: 05/04/08 6:46 AM
Ralph Wilson knows what you’re thinking: Last week, financial statements revealed that Rogers Communications will pay the Bills $78 million for the right to host eight games in Canada over the next five years. That averages out to a tidy $9.75 million a game, or roughly twice what the Bills collect in gross revenues for a typical home game at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Naturally, this means the Bills will have more money to invest in players, right?
“Uh, no it won’t,’ ” Wilson said Friday afternoon from his home in Detroit. “That $78 million doesn’t go into our pocket. You’ve got to pay the players out of that. We’ve got the cap. We always spend up to the cap. So I don’t know where people get the idea we have more money to spend. Listen, the public really doesn’t understand how complicated this whole CBA (the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement) really is.”
You don’t have to be treasury secretary to see that Wilson had a pile of money fall into his lap. The Rogers group will pay an average of $15.6 million a year over the five years. At double the usual revenue, that means the Bills will have $7.8 million more per season from the Toronto deal.
That’s a gross figure; they have to share the gate with their opponent. But by conservative estimates, the Bills will have at least $4 million more a year to play with. By NFL standards, where the salary cap is up to $116 million, that’s not a huge amount. But $4 million a year isn’t exactly peanuts, either.
Wilson is excited about his team. For the first two years post- Donahoe, he told fans to be patient. The team was rebuilding. They needed more players to become truly competitive. Now, after a third promising draft, the owner feels his team is on track.
“I think we’ve got enough good players to make a real good run for the playoffs,” Wilson said. “Yeah, right now.”
They’ve got a good core group of players. Now they have to make sure to keep them here. the Bills have a lot of room under the salary cap. They’re currently about $30 million below the maximum under their “cash to the cap” system — in which all bonus money is counted against the cap in the year in which it’s paid, rather than spread over the life of the deal.
So if they plan to reach the cap, as Wilson
promises, they have a lot of work to do. For starters, they need to sign receiver Lee Evans to an extension. Evans can be a free agent after this season. Linebacker Angelo Crowell, too. Jason Peters signed a five-year extension last year, but his value soared when he made the Pro Bowl. He won’t be content to be the third-highest paid member of the offensive line for long.
The Bills have plenty to spend, but the cap gets eaten up fast when you’re counting all the bonus money. Evans might account for more than half the $30 million. The market for top wideouts is going through the roof. Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald signed a four-year, $40 million extension with $30 million in guarantees. The Vikings signed Bernard Berrian to a six-year, $42 million deal with $16 million guaranteed.
Evans came out in the same year as Berrian (2004) and his four-year stats are far superior.
The Bills say they’ve been trying to sign Evans. But you can bet his agent is asking for the moon. It wouldn’t surprise me if Evans was looking for a deal that averages $8 million a year with at least $16 million in guaranteed money.
So how about using that Toronto money to make Evans an offer he can’t refuse?
Wilson complains about being in a small market. But now he’s playing ball with the big boys in Toronto. They’re putting more money into his team. He should smile and spend it.
Sometimes I wonder if Wilson realizes how badly his comments play in this town. The fiasco in Toronto was a good example. Wilson was at it again Friday, talking about the problems at American Axle and the weak economy and saying he needs improvements at the stadium.
People in Buffalo don’t want to hear it. All they know is the rich just got richer. Don’t tell the guy on the picket line that $78 million is a drop in the bucket. Make a gesture that tells the fans you get it. Pay Evans or some other young player and tell people the new Toronto money helped make it happen.
The owner needs to show his faithful fans that he means business — or should I say, that it isn’t always just about business.
