Archives for May 2, 2017

'The 5-foot-11, 182-pound Wright, who is entering his seventh NFL season, spent the last two years with the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers.'

'Beane was named the Panthers' assistant GM in June 2015. Before that, he served as as the director of football operations and served as interim general manager in 2012 before the Panthers hired Dave Gettleman. Beane interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers in January before they ultimately hired John Lynch.'

'Clearly, much can change between now and April 2018, but for fun, here's a look at who some of the experts have the Bills selecting next year. If nothing else, it may provide you with an idea of who to keep an eye on during the 2017 college football season.'

'With the 2017 NFL Draft now in the books, several national analysts have broken out their red pens to grade the efforts of all 32 teams. Here is a look at how some of them scored the Bills' class of six players…'.

'“The Nate Peterman pick jumps out right away just because they got what I believe to be the most pro-ready quarterback in this year’s draft,” McShay said of the Bills’ fifth-round pick, a quarterback out of Pittsburgh. “Now, he doesn’t have the high upside. Trubisky’s a better player, Deshaun Watson had a better career and brings a different skill set. Pat Mahomes has a much better upside and a much better arm.'

'Jordan Mills: Last year's starter for all 16 games at right tackle re-signed this offseason, but it's a low-money deal that doesn't guarantee him a starting job (or even a roster spot). When the Bills traded up from the third round to the 63rd overall pick in the second round — giving up two fifth-round picks in the process — it was a sign they think Temple's Dion Dawkins can challenge for the starting job right away.'

'Pegula suggested that these would be his first GM hires. Forget the past. What droughts? Fans need to trust the "process" — which he and Sean McDermott have adopted as the operative buzz word for the Bills. Given a chance to pick their own GM, he and Kim will finally get it right.'

'Let the record show, however, that McDermott never would have taken the job if the previous structure of Whaley primarily having the biggest say on picking players while the coaches stuck almost exclusively to coaching them remained in place. Let the record also show that, as Pegula was careful to explain Sunday, Whaley "wasn’t the only person involved in hiring the new head coach. It was Kim and I and a lot of input from other places."'

'This is what rebuilding looks like. The Bills finally are doing it.'

'Wright never really panned out for the Ravens. He started 15 of the 22 games he played and did not make an interception. Interestingly, one of his best games came in the 2016 season opener against the Bills when Wright made a career-high 11 tackles in Baltimore’s 13-7 victory. That day, the Bills had only 95 net passing yards.'

'"No, you're not going to bring him back," Kornheiser said. "I have a serious question: Who is running the Buffalo Bills? Because it's very hard for me to believe that Terry Pegula, who just sort of walked in there a couple of years ago, knows enough to fire a coach in Rex Ryan, fire a GM in Doug Whaley so that means he's invested all of this power it seems to me in a guy named Sean McDermott who has never coached an NFL game as the head coach in his life. You look at this team and you say what exactly is going on here? Who is running this team?"'

'His 2016 season hit a rough patch after that game, though. In a three-game stretch early in the season, Wright allowed 16 catches for 205 yards. That was after giving up just 205 yards in the final 10 games of 2015 and earning a three-year, $16 million extension in the process.'

'Being the survivor he is, Whaley hung on. He then stumbled through a disastrous end-of-season press conference. He was woefully unprepared to face questions, which wasn't entirely his fault. He insisted he had no idea why Rex Ryan was fired and continually uttered the now infamous line, "I was not privy to the conversation."'

'"I thought the Bills had a great draft," McShay said. "Obviously, they were working through their front office situation, but just focusing on the football part of it and what they did, I thought it was one of the best drafts that they've had in years."'

'Beane has been in the league for 19 years, all with the Carolina Panthers. The 39-year old assistant general manager began in the team's media relations office after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 1998. He also worked as director of football operations and was named assistant general manager in June of 2015. He served as interim general manager in 2012 before the Panthers hired current general manager Dave Gettleman.'