It's the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. trash talk chat. You also get an ad-free version of your favorite locked on show and a whole lot more. You can check it out by tapping the everyday or club link in the show notes. The cap clearing moves for the bills have begun. I'll tell you what they did and what else they can do right now on locked on bills. You are locked on bills, your daily Buffalo bills podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. to our everydayers. You know who you are. Those of you who never miss a single episode, I appreciate y'all being here very, very much. Well, folks, welcome in the NFL scouting combine is underway. Joe Brady, Brandon Bean both met with the media on Tuesday afternoon and we learned some stuff. And that's what I want to cover on this episode. But the biggest piece of information that we learned is that the team restructured the contract of Spencer Brown. And so this frees up about 10 and a half million dollars in cap space for the bills, which should make them cap compliant. Now, we don't know exactly how much cap space the bills have or exactly where they're at because the NFL has only given a range of possibilities in terms of where the cap for 2026 will fall, But I can tell you that this $10 million will get the bills compliant with the cap. And then from here, it's about continuing to add cap space so you can add some new talent to the mix. And so that's great news, but they have a lot more to do. We've had conversations already about how the bills can free up $40, $50 million in cap space to acquire talent. And so with this being step one, the restructure of Spencer Brown, which was always an expected move, I want to remind you of the other opportunities and Brandon Bean in his commentary with One Bills Live actually referred to extensions as a means of creating cap space, which is something they've done in the past. And it's not something I've considered much of this offseason, but with him kind of emphasizing that, I want to explore some of those opportunities as well. But Spencer Brown, the restructure, like I said, gets him a little over $10.5 million in cap space, cleared with that move. Other restructure possibilities, and one that I think everyone expects is Josh Allen. The Bills can restructure that deal, free up about $12.5 million. Deion Dawkins, the Bills can restructure Deion Dawkins and free up about $11.5 million. Ed Oliver is the other big candidate. The Bills can free up right at about $9 million in cap space by restructuring that deal. And so maybe you're listening to me talk and you're like, Joe, what is a restructure? A restructure is very simple. You take the salary, you convert it to a bonus, and you spread that throughout the remainder of the deal. So you're kicking the can on money, right? And as the cap continues to go up, well, it becomes pretty smart to maximize your opportunity in the year that you're in with an understanding that the cap's going to continue to go up because it always goes up. So those are your main restructure opportunities. These other possibilities include Greg Rousseau for a little over $3 million, Taron Johnson for $5.6 million, Michael Hoyt for $3.7 million, Josh Palmer for $6.5 million. I don't think you're going to do any of those. So your most logical ones, Josh Allen, Deion Dawkins, Ed Oliver, and they've already done Spencer Brown. There's a few players they could release that seem very obvious to me that create cap space. Curtis Samuel, very obvious. You can release him and free up $6.1 million. dollars Taylor Rapp you can release him and free up a tick over three million dollars so very obvious right there you can get 9.2 million dollars in cap space by releasing Curtis Samuel and Taylor Rapp and honestly do you even remember they're on the team like last year neither one was really a factor other than Taylor Rapp was horrible to start the year so those are obvious decisions and then A more complicated decision is Dawson Knox, where the Bills can release him and free up $9.6 million in cap space, also accumulating $7.4 million in dead cap. But this is where I become curious about what Brandon Bean was hinting at when he kept on talking about extensions as a means for cap space. and Dawson Knox, the bills can extend him. And regardless of the parameters of the deal, they could free up $8.2 million in cap space this year. And so I just feel like that's what's going to happen. Could I be wrong? Of course. But my read on Dawson Knox has always been that he screams lifer to me. And with Rob Boris staying, I think that's really meaningful. As the tight ends coach, in fact, when he was on Eric Wood's podcast talking about his future. Actually, I think it was the Mitch Morse podcast when he was on Mitch Morse's podcast, Crossing Up My Bill's Centers, you know what I mean? Both good podcasts. But on Mitch Morse's podcast, Dawson Knox talked about, you know, Rob Boris. And it felt like that was a very meaningful relationship, not to mention that Dawson has started a family. His wife is from Western New York. And on that same podcast, he talked about all of the support that's in place in Buffalo. And look, I mean, Dawson Knox was drafted by the Bills. He's the longest tenured weapon that Josh Allen has. I have a good feeling that they're going to figure out a way to keep him. And one way to do that is through an extension that not only do you get more Dawson Knox in the future, but you get $8.2 million in cap space. That seems pretty attractive to me. Other players that they could extend. Now, this is where I wasn't exactly convinced going into the offseason that the Bills would use extensions as a means for cap space other than Dawson Knox, but they could do it with Michael Hoyt. They can extend Michael Hoyt for million which feels a little crazy since he played seven quarters for you I loved what I saw I excited about him You know I think he going to fit great into Jim Leonard defense but are you going to extend him coming off of an Achilles after playing seven quarters in 2025? It seems a little risky. The other one is Osiris Torrance. The Bills can extend him and free up $2.2 million. And I do wonder, as the Bills are staring at big decisions with David Edwards and Conor McGovern, if the silver lining to it all is that, hey, yeah, we couldn't bring back McGovern or Edwards, but here's an extension for Osiris Torrance to kind of give a bone to the offensive line and feel like you have secured a pillar as opposed to just seeing players leave. Now, Osiris Torrance is under contract for 2026. It's the last year of his rookie deal. So it's not like you have to do it, but if you're going to stay committed to Osiris Torrance, and you believe he's going to take a step this year, it's wise to do the deal now. And Bean has done this in the past, and he's been rewarded with it. Players that they got ahead of, like Christian Benford, Josh Allen, Khalil Shakira last year, James Cook. You've seen him do this with a number of players. Spencer Brown, that was a big one, where maybe you did want to see a little bit more from him, but go ahead and do the deal. and the Bills got a great value on the Spencer Brown deal where, I mean, if the Bills let him play out his rookie deal and sign him after the year, I think he could have got another $5 million to $8 million a season more. So maybe you do that with Torrance. You secure at least something for your offensive line long-term, and you free up a little over $2 million now. I'll also give you a couple other players that I don't expect them to extend, but if they did, you would get some big cap savings. One of them is Josh Palmer. You can extend him for $7 million in savings. Curtis Samuel for $5 million. Don't expect that. Tyler Bass for a little over $2 million. And Dorian Williams is another one that's interesting for $2 million. Like maybe you are projecting a bigger role for Dorian Williams and you go ahead and lock him in for 2027 with a modest extension that also gives you $2 million now. I'm just throwing a lot of stuff out there because I think that's necessary, right? We want to consider the possibilities and what's on the menu for Brandon Bean. Well, this is the stuff. This is the stuff. And so as you can see through discussing all those different avenues, there's a lot of pathways to create cap space. It's just a matter of which ones you really want to do. And the other thing that I'll say is don't get antsy about the sequencing here because you don't need to go out and create $40 million in cap space right now. Do it as you go. As opportunities present themselves, create the cap that's necessary. Right? That's just going to be the smart way to attack it. So don't find yourself all antsy because there's not been more that's been done. It's going to come. It doesn't make any sense to do it all at once. Do it as you need it. That way you don't do more than you need. so it's underway but there's a whole lot more to do when it comes to creating cap space speaking of a whole lot more to do there's a lot more to do on this podcast including the next segment i want to talk about some of the highlights of brandon bean's press availability and uh discuss five mathis who the bills re-signed to a one-year deal we'll do that next folks be sure to stick with me Welcome to the five hour energy flavor draft with 18 different flavors to choose from, including new options like confetti craze, fruity rainbow, or cotton candy. There is something for everyone. And in fact, we're going to have a draft right now. The board is set. The flavors are ready. And I've got my number one pick for the five hour energy flavor draft. And my choice is Barry. You get that big, bold berry flavor, slightly sweet and very fruity. It's that classic mixed berry combination with notes of raspberry and blackberry, which I love. It's got that smooth sweetness without being overly sugary. And that's my top pick. That's my favorite. But don't sleep on strawberry banana. That's a classic combination that consistently delights. And it does so in the form of five-hour energy. Five-hour energy shots give you a boost with zero sugar. How about that? You got to love that. So find your new favorite flavor of five-hour energy shots available at fivehourenergy.com or Amazon. Welcome back, folks. The Bills re-signed defensive tackle Fadarian Mathis. Let's talk about him for just a moment here. He turns 28 in April. Was a 2022 second-round pick of the Commanders. Number 47 all. So, excuse me, number 47 overall, pretty high pick. And he only lasted three seasons in Washington, and it was very much injury. Injuries were a problem for him in Washington. His first season, in his first game, he has a torn meniscus in his knee. Then in 2023, he goes on IR until November with a calf injury. And then in 2024, it's a new regime in place, right? You get the Dan Quinn takes over. And how many times have I said in the last couple weeks, when a new GM takes over, new head coach, players get lost in the sauce. And so Phi Mathis was not a player that had proven anything and wasn't brought in by the people in place. And so he lasted a little bit in 2024, played in 12 games, but didn't have a major role. And then he was ultimately released. The Jets pick him up in 2025. And then he doesn't make the Jets team. The Jets release him during their cuts. A few weeks later, the Bills sign him. And he starts off on the Bills practice squad, eventually gets elevated a few times, and then eventually get signed to the active roster. So one thing that I'll say about Fedarian Mathis is that the defense that the Bills are going towards under Jim Leonard is a lot more like what he played in in Alabama, you know, what made him a top 50 pick. So there's a level of optimism about him kind of getting back to a style of defense that has been better for him. but I will say he's not a player that was very impressive to me last year. The thing I liked most about him was his effort. This guy has a big time motor. He gets after it. He chases, he competes. I didn't see a very stout player against the run and I didn't see much juice as a pass rusher. So I'm not going to try to sell you on this being a high impact player that the bills brought back, but maybe there is some upside. you get him in this defense that is more tailored for what he does and see what happens so we don't know the terms of the deal we just know it was a one-year contract that i would expect it to be for about a league minimum type deal i mean this guy was on didn make the jets on the bills practice squad last year I don think that the league is lining up to sign for Darian Mathis So it good for him to be back. There's some ceiling here, but, um, he needs to do more than he's done to this point in the NFL. And I don't think he's a lock to make this roster. So Brandon Bean, he shared that Spencer Brown's contract was restructured. And, uh, three other things that I've, I found to be interesting about what he said is first of all he's at the combine and most gms and head coaches still attend the combine but there are a few that don't and they want to make sure you know that they don't they feel like they've done something revolutionary here the guys in jacksonville james glanstone and liam cohen and then of course with the rams less need and sean mcbay they think it's very important that you know that they didn't attend the combine and there's a lot of different thoughts on this. And we talked about it a little bit on Bill's squad on Monday, but being was asked about why he goes. And he says, I want every opportunity to be in front of prospects and gain exposures, which to me feels very obvious. I don't really understand why you wouldn't want to be there. People talk about how, well, it can cloud your judgment. You know, they're trained for these events. So they're going to come in and give you a cookie cutter answers and You don't want it to overly influence the evaluation. Well, that feels like a you problem. Like if you don't know how to apply the information, that's on you. It's not like it's not a useful opportunity to be in front of players that you're potentially going to invest a lot into. Why wouldn't you take an opportunity to bring a guy into a room with all of your people and ask them questions and go through film? What? Why wouldn't you be there? I simply don't understand it. So I know that the people that don't go feel very prideful about not going, but I'm glad the bills still do. And I couldn't imagine thinking less information is better, especially firsthand information. What are we talking about? Of course, he was asked about Keon Coleman because that's just going to be a thing. And what he said about Keon Coleman in terms of what he needs to do this year, he first of all started by saying, have the off season that he had last year. I think everyone's been very complimentary of Keon Coleman's off season and the work that he put in and he had a good training camp. There's no question. I saw a good part of it. I thought he was really good. And then obviously he played well against the Ravens. And then from there, it was kind of dicey. And Brandon Bean said it's about maturity and off the field and not letting that impact his on-field performance. And so I don't know what the future holds for Keon. I know that Joe Brady has come out and said the best thing that's happened for Keon was him becoming the head coach. And I think there's a level of belief that he'll have the opportunity to be part of the mix this coming season. But the question that I have is how much can you actually count on here? How much can you count on from Keon Coleman as you're building this football team and you're going to figure out who's going to be our most important pass catchers? How can you possibly put Keon Coleman on that list? That's the challenge here. So you're trying to build a football team. And last year's offseason told you that Keon's going to be an answer for you. You felt good about it. And then very quickly, that wasn't true. So even if Keon goes out and aces the offseason, how do you know? How do you know when it's okay to be like, yeah, he's who we need him to be? Because he did. He had a great offseason that you celebrated. And then the season happened and frustrations came. So I think the challenge in moving forward with Keon is giving him an opportunity, but at the same time, realizing that you really can't count on him. And so I'm very curious to see how this plays out in the offseason and then ultimately, of course, during the season. Last thing I'll mention on Brandon Bean is that he affirmed that they will pick up Dalton Kincaid's fifth-year option. And to just give you a quick kind of update on what that means is that in 2027, which every first round pick gets a fifth year option that the team has a choice to exercise and it pays you an amount of money that's contingent on playing time, pro bowls, different things like that. So for Dalton Kincaid, the fifth-year option in 2027 means he will count $8.9 million. He will get an $8.9 million salary in 2027, which makes him the 19th highest-paid tight end in the NFL based on this year's numbers. So just below Hunter Henry, just above Mike Gusecki. It's a perfectly reasonable amount of money for Dalton Kincaid, who I think has all of the ability to be a superstar. It's just about being on the field, right? And not only being on the field, but being on the field to the full capacity, not having restrictions, right? So he only missed five games last year, but how many times did he play in a game where he only played 15, 20, 25 snaps? Because they're trying to manage him and get him to the postseason, and obviously he was really good in the postseason. but you just want Dalton Kincaid to go out there and be everything you wanted to be so whatever that looks like this offseason to strengthen the knee and get him healthy that's got to be important because this team this team can be really good with Dalton Kincaid I think the world of him as a player and I'm excited to see that kind of continue for a couple more years but ultimately I'd love to see this get to the point where giving him a huge contract is just an absolute no-brainer and we're going to need to see a couple of healthy seasons for that to happen. And so that's what's ahead for Dolan Kincaid this year and next. All right, coming up next, we'll talk a little bit about what Joe Brady said, including some interesting remarks on Alec Anderson and Kalosha Keir. We'll do that here in just a moment. So folks, be sure to stick with me. As the new year gets going, a lot of people are trying to simplify their routines and dinner is a big one. Between busy workdays, cold winter nights, and packed schedules, having an easy, reliable dinner plan makes a huge difference. And that's where Home Chef comes in. Home Chef takes the stress out of cooking by delivering fresh pre-portioned ingredients right to your door. With easy to follow recipes that actually taste great, they're rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste, and recipe ease. And it's easy to see why. Meals come ready to fit into your schedule. 30-minute recipes, oven-ready trays, or even quick lunches. 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All right, folks, welcome back. I want to touch on what we learned from Joe Brady. And one thing I'll say about the NFL scouting combine interviews is that you just kind of get a lot of fluff questions that don't give you anything insightful. You have reporters from across the entire NFL. So, for example, you had people that cover the Tennessee Titans asking Joe Brady or asking Brandon Bean questions about Brian Dable and how he's going to influence Cam Ward. That is of zero value to me. You hear Joe Brady being asked about questions from Broncos people about Davis Webb. You know, it's just you get a lot of that. So, you know, it's not always the most productive sessions, but I certainly listened and tried to pull away everything I could. One thing that Joe Brady was asked about was the staff that he assembled. And I thought it was interesting that whoever asked the question highlighted that only two coaches, defensive coaches, were retained. Joe Dana and Jason Reprovich. So Joe Dana was the safeties coach under McDermott. He's now the secondary coach under Brady. And then Jason Reprovich, who was the assistant defensive line coach, is now a senior defensive assistant for the Bills. And Joe Brady actually mentioned that Ruprovich had some opportunities for a bigger job elsewhere, but he wanted to stay in Buffalo. He's a native of Western New York, so I'm sure that had something to do with it. But those are the only two that stick around. And so the way that Joe Brady answered that was he said, look, if I ever became a head coach, I always told myself that I didn't want to tell a coordinator, this is your staff. and one thing that Jim Leonard said about his reason for coming to Buffalo is that he would have the opportunity to assemble that staff and it sounds like that's exactly what happened where Jim Joe Brady gave Jim Leonard room to decide on the staff that's going to work on work underneath him and through that Joe Dana Jason Ruprovich stays and then all the other coaches defensively stick around of course Joe Brady was asked about John Fox who is a senior coach for the Bills. And we've learned that a condition of the hiring of Joe Brady was that the team asked him to hire a veteran coach. And I thought it was interesting how Joe Brady answered this question. He said what he really likes about John Fox is that he's a guy that still wants to coach. He's not just, hey, I'm going to be in my office. If you've got any questions, come ask me. Let me know if you need me. This guy wants to be involved in what's going on. you know, 70, was he 71 years old? Um, so that's pretty cool to see him, you know, want to have that hands-on role as opposed to, yeah, cut me a check. I'll be in my office. You know, let me know if you have any questions. So I think that will truly be the benefit to Joe Brady that it was intended to be. Of course, Alec Anderson was re-signed as well. And, um, on a one-year deal, 3 million, 1.8 million, uh, guaranteed. We've, we've discussed that, but we haven't heard Brady speak about it. And he said, one of his favorite things about Alec Anderson is how he's embraced roles. You know, go back a few years ago, he was a jumbo tight end and played a lot. And this past year they had Jackson Hawes. So that wasn't as much of a thing. And so he was really just truly a reserve offensive lineman. He embraced his role and obviously he's coming back and I don't think anyone's assuming he's going to start, but he's going to have that opportunity, right? And regardless of what happens, he's a guy that's proven able to embrace the role. And I think that's really important. Like with the football team, everyone's got a job to do. And Alec Anderson, whatever strengths or weaknesses he has, he embraces what he's asked to do, which I think is a good sign. He also complimented his edge, his personality and says, said, sometimes I need him to not talk, but ultimately excited to have him back. Last thing I'll get to is this little Khalil Shakir blurb. Joe Brady was asked about him and talked about Khalil Shakir and said he could play inside and outside. He's one of their best players. He said every year should not look exactly the same. They don't feel like there's anything he can't do. And there's ways to get the ball in his hands. And it doesn't necessarily have to be in short range. And that's appealing to me. I feel like I've been saying for a while on this podcast. I think there's more that Kelo Secure can do, particularly down the field. And he started off his first year or so when he was acclimating right to Josh Allen. He was very much a player that Josh was willing to throw the ball intermediate down the field, those slot fades. And really, that's not been the case. It's been a lot of screens and short passes. And I felt like when Brady answered that question, there was like some self-awareness to we think he can do more, right? Like he's not just a slot that you dump the ball to. He can play inside and outside. There's different ways to get the ball in his hands, and it shouldn't look the same every year. And he mentioned looking at cut-ups and kind of building more of an awareness to more ways that they can deploy Kaloshakir, which I think they should. He's a good football player, good football player that can do a whole lot more than catch a screen. And that's disingenuous. He certainly does more than that, but I think you can do more and more often. And it was appealing to me to hear Joe Brady acknowledge that as well. And now we'll see where it goes. All right, folks, there you have it. Some thoughts on the press availability of Joe Brady and Brandon Bean from the combine. Of course, the big news, the restructure for Spencer Brown, meaning that the cap clearing moves have begun for Darian Mathis is back. We covered it all here today on this episode. I hope you enjoyed. I hope you'll come back. As always, I kindly ask that you share, subscribe, rate, and review. Have a great rest of your day. Go Bills! And I look forward to catching up with you again real soon. Meet the energy shot that tastes just like birthday cake. Confetti Craze Extra Strength 5-Hour Energy tastes like a rich, buttery, vanilla birthday cake. Frosting and all. Light the candles, make a wish, and get ready to celebrate with every sip. 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