Levy's "State of the Bills" Press Conference

Yesterday, Bills General Manager Marv Levy (left) spoke to reporters for a half-hour about the 2006 season and how the team plans to better the Bills this off-season. Before I get into my opinions on the interview, here are some of the highlights of the press conference:

Cash to Cap Approach
Arguably the biggest news coming out of the press conference was Levy's admitting to a new philosophy in Buffalo: the Cash to Cap approach. Without getting into too much detail, this essentially means that Buffalo is not going to place huge investments in single players - they are going to spend money as if it was a number on this year's cap figure, rather than acting as if that money was spread out in the future. This will allow them to minimize the amount of money they spend, and maximize the value they can get out of free agency.

For a far more detailed analysis on Cash to Cap, see Chris Brown's synopsis here.

This Cash to Cap approach is by far the most economical decision the Bills could make. For a small market club trying to compete with the big boys, it will be difficult to sign players - but not so difficult that the team can't bring in top-flight talent through free agency. It is unlikely that the team will be able to throw around huge signing bonuses (which doesn't bode well for the likelihood of a Nate Clements return). Other than that, the team will still be free agent players - just careful ones.

Buffalo's Free Agents
Levy was quick to point out that he would love to retain Clements, London Fletcher-Baker and Chris Kelsay. He made the claim that the best free agents available are your own, citing the re-signings of Ryan Denney and Josh Reed last off-season as the biggest keys to the team's free agency success. He mentioned Robert Royal and Melvin Fowler as two names who were as important to the team last season (notice the absence of Larry Tripplett's name in there) as key free agent signings.

Clements, Fletcher-Baker, Kelsay, Mike Gandy, Kiwaukee Thomas, Anthony Thomas, Andre' Davis, and Daimon Shelton remain unsigned as Buffalo's unrestricted free agent class. If Levy's words hold true, all eight of these players will get serious consideration from the Bills to be part of their 2007 roster.

Losman's Supporting Cast
When discussing the offense, Levy was quick to state that a) he loves the progress made by quarterback J.P. Losman, and believes he will soon enter the upper tier of quarterbacks in the league, and b) he discussed the need to surround Losman with better offensive talent.

Surprisingly, Levy does not feel that a new wide receiver needs to be brought in. The GM had extremely high praise for Lee Evans and spoke highly of Reed, Roscoe Parrish and Peerless Price as well. Instead of wideout, Levy cited the need to involve the tight end and backs more in the receiving game. (Side note: see my post on this subject here.)

While the coaching staff believes that Robert Royal has a much bigger role to play in the passing game, Royal needs to have the opportunity. He must have fewer responsibilities when it comes to pass blocking. Which leads to...

O-Line the Biggest Need
Right out of the gate, Levy pointed out that improved play along the offensive line will be the biggest point of emphasis heading into the off-season. He was also quick to mention that in no way did that mean he would be courting several high-priced free agents at the position; Levy feels that much of the improvement can come internally.

A lot of speculation has risen lately about the viability of second-year man Brad Butler pushing for a starting role either at RT (replacing fellow second-year player Terrance Pennington) or inside at guard, where Gandy is a free agent and Duke Preston is anything but experienced. The Bills' coaching staff feels that Butler made big strides at the end of the '06 season after struggling through a shoulder injury much of the year. With a big frame and a nasty on-field demeanor, Butler could be the starting right tackle in 2007.

Levy will likely target offensive line first when free agency begins March 2.

Takeo Spikes' Future
Much to my dismay, Levy revealed that neither he nor the coaching staff had developed any contingency plans in which Takeo Spikes would move to middle linebacker should Fletcher-Baker leave via free agency. I recently wrote a post in which I made the claim that Spikes would thrive inside; you can read that here.

From what Levy said, the coaching staff is still trying to determine if Spikes fits into the defensive scheme in Buffalo. The GM did not sound convinced. With just two years remaining on his deal, Spikes is sure to have a high cap number. The team may keep him around for this year with more transition to come at linebacker, but by no means does Spikes' future in Buffalo sound secure. If he's not released this off-season, this will be his last year in Buffalo, mark my words.

What We've Learned
What we've learned is this: the Bills are going to be free agent players, but don't expect the signing of big names. The team will take a free agent approach much like the Patriots have in past years. The team is going to try to re-sign Clements and possibly Kelsay, but won't get into bidding wars for either of them. Levy wants attacking linebackers, which all but ensures the departure of Fletcher-Baker.

The offensive line will receive high priority, but the team may look to improve the starting lineup internally. Takeo Spikes may not be with the team much longer. Most importantly, the team has settled on J.P. Losman as its starting quarterback of the future and appears much closer to building a team around him than ever before.

The "State of the Bills" address has been made. Now we wait for the Scouting Combine (2/24) and free agency (3/2). Let the games begin!