Archives for May 4, 2017

'McCoy is very familiar with Veach from his time with the Philadelphia Eagles. Veach started his career as Andy Reid's assistant (2007-2009) and moved on to be one of the Eagles' top scouts. Veach played a large role in Philadelphia drafting the running back, as well as DeSean Jackson.'

'Gaine has spent 18 seasons in the NFL, including the last two as the Texans' director of player personnel. In that role, he provides a supervisory and leadership role to both the pro and college scouting departments and the Texans player evaluation process. He previously spent 2008 to 2013 with the Miami Dolphins in various leadership roles in their personnel department. Prior to that, he spent time under Bill Parcells with the Dallas Cowboys' front office.'

'Barnidge, 31, has a connection with Bills coach Sean McDermott. The tight end was with the Carolina Panthers (who made him a fifth-round draft pick from Louisville in 2008) in 2011 and 2012, McDermott's first two seasons as their defensive coordinator.'

'The Texans hired Gaine in 2014 to be director of college scouting. In 2015, they promoted him to director of player personnel, and he has established himself as a rising talent in the scouting ranks.'

'Of particular interest for Bills fans should be what happened to the 27 players who had their options declined from 2011-13. Only four of them re-signed with the teams that drafted them after their rookie contracts expired. They were…'.

'The former Buffalo Bills' safety, who was released in April, has seen both of his last two seasons end early because of neck injuries, but is evidently not ready to hang up his cleats — despite pleading from his family and friends to do just that.'

'The Bills' running back threw his support behind Veach on Wednesday, doing so in a series of tweets.'

'But Orchard Park Town Board members on Wednesday night will consider placing a moratorium on the expansion of parking facilities within a mile of New Era Field. Those "satellite parking lots" that already exist would not be affected. But homeowners and owners of other private parking lots would not be allowed to increase their footprint or the number of cars they park, or create parking lots at sites where they have not existed before.'

'The Pegulas still have final say, but they're impressed with McDermott's long-term vision and will stay out of his way if he doesn't take too long to validate their complete trust.'

'Barnidge, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound tight end, has 134 catches in the last two seasons after catching just 44 passes in his first seven seasons. His breakout year came in 2015 when he had 79 catches for 1,049 yards and nine touchdowns, but he had a sports hernia procedure following that season and his production fell off a bit in 2016.'

'Beane may feel comfortable interviewing for the Bills' general manager vacancy due to his familiarity with head coach Sean McDermott. The Bills head coach served as Carolina's defensive coordinator from 2011-2016. Beane had previously interviewed for the San Francisco 49ers' general manager job this offseason.'

'It's unknown if this is Williams' first free agent visit, but there hasn't been much public interest in the former Bills safety. Williams battled neck injuries in the last two seasons. He missed a total of 22 games between 2015 and 2016 and finished each season on the injured reserve.'

'Gaine’s front office tenure also includes stops in Miami, New York Jets, and Dallas Cowboys when Bills Parcells worked in the Dallas front office.'

'The biggest obstacle facing the Chiefs is a brutal front loaded schedule. The team has eight games against playoff teams from last year, including five on the road.'

'If Whaley was that bad a GM, why would the Pegulas let him run their draft? A new GM hired in January would have had plenty of time to use the info from the Bills' scouts to make picks.'