Sisyphean Bills

You want sources with inside information that are completely neutral and independent? Are these people from the Kremlin?

And Rex's agent as well. Interesting, no?

It could be his agent was leaking these rumors to get the Bills to pull the trigger quickly. When the Bills hired Marrone there were similar leaks about how Marrone was being pursued by everyone as well.

Have to disagree with that. "What is your job?" wasn't asked because Whaley's responsibility is crystal clear. Whaley will be "overseeing" the hiring of the next head coach. But then even that was qualified. The interview will have the Pegulas and Monos sitting right there as well. And nobody knows what the reporting structure may look like. And Schefter reports the new HC will have even more power than Rex did. Clarity is a stretch.

We do have Cardale on the roster, and he was taken just after Dak Prescott in the draft. So the narrative coming from the football department could be that he's just as good and the ticket to punch moving forward. I seem to recall Donahoe's gang feeling the pressure in a similar situation, and the reaction then was to dump Bledsoe, trot JP Losman out as the uncontested savior, and declare victory.

A penny saved is a penny earned? Seriously though, isn't this supposed to be the worst draft for QBs since ... well, we took EJM?

Little known fact: the scheme required the players to stand and watch.

Head-scratcher. Has EJM's agent been working on a low basis deal?

How many head coaches in the NFL spend their time developing QBs?

The 2014 draft was crazy thin at WR, wasn't it?

Just glad it wasn't the players.

Agreed. Additionally, it's a relationship. That is, it is two-way. There has been criticism that the press is at fault for not developing better sources within the Bills organization. While that criticism may be fair or not, it is also true that the Bills organization would be better served to reach out and develop a better working relationship with its press corps. And to redirect a question from that PC to Berchtold this time: what is your job? This Whaley PC, for example, has more consequences than just ducking blame to the yokels. It's bigger. It's self-defeating. Other people in the NFL see that mess and it makes the Bills a very unattractive situation.

Just saw a fearmonger foaming at the mouth over a city welfare program for the homeless. Apparently helping a homeless person increases crime and violence.

Oh, they definitely cared. Pegula reacted immediately and had the interview with the AP.

All of these reporters have been critical of the organization. They also do not write the same types of articles. Sullivan's job is to take the evidence as he sees it and write his take on them. In the absence of input, his job is going to require filling in more and longer blanks. Some of JW's articles follow a one-on-one interview format. (I also very much appreciate his access to ownership.) That's a completely different article. It may be the style we prefer, but calling one right/good/professional and the other wrong/horrible/unprofessional is as insipid as saying chocolate is good and vanilla is horrible.

You realize that even if a reporter's article is nothing but a transcript of what Suzy Sunshine employed by the team said that the report is both factual (she said it) and the personal opinion (she said it) of the situation as she's filtered it, right?

DW was covering his own ass. And, yes, he botched it, making the entire org look like morons. He botched it so badly that the owner stepped forward and through his actions denied DW's opening statement of "speaking for ownership". Dead man walking.

Squaring images of the war room on draft day, involvement in player contracts, continued corporate ascent, overlapping and ambiguous areas of responsibility, etc. with the "he's dropped the reigns" remarks is great yoga logic exercise.

There is still a chance that it will happen. If the coaching search turns into a giant steaming pile (which isn't impossible), Pegullible may have to get rid of Whaley and hose and lather the whole place.

He does a great job setting up the card table, Bills table cloth, and folding chair though.

Yep. It should be obvious, but it is possible and actually highly beneficial for people in the entertainment industry to pursue coverage and interactions with media and getting their message and brand out there. Feeding news for free publicity. We see this all the time with actors doing the "morning show circuit" to promote a movie, etc. Whaley failed spectacularly in this regard, unless his message was "The Bills are a dysfunctional clown show!" One can always blame the media, but an interview is a two-way exchange. Whaley's side of it was shockingly atrocious.

So Rex bluffed the owner into "firing" him, is what you are saying. Maybe Rex isn't as stupid as some people think?

What does that even mean? Push for a firing? It is possible to quit a job, right? Happens all the time, in fact. And it's not like the Buffalo Bills have never had a head coach quit before. And might that be a tad, ah, embarrassing?

It wasn't all questions about Rex. There was one beach ball tossed to Whaley there at the end by the media along the lines of what is the plan moving forward? (It was a completely appropriate question given Whaley had just said he was focusing on moving forward.) Whaley just ripped off a quick answer to this open-ended question. "Find the right coach and continue to bring in talent" and thus he missed his exit. He could've used this as an opportunity to discuss pros and cons of potential coaching candidates, what sort of systems he thought he had built the roster for, how the well-oiled decision making process of the front-office works and what role the HC would fill there, the fate of the assistant coaches or a timeline thereof, strengths and weaknesses of the roster, what the team accomplished on the field this year, how he planned to build on that, how he planned to strengthen weaknesses, tell some funny stories about his days in scouting, etc. Instead it was terse, defensive, and almost like he couldn't wait to field another incredulous rephrasing of "Seriously? You have no idea and never discussed it?"

Good question. My 100% guess is that Whaley left blood in the shark infested water. I don't have much sympathy, frankly. He's had almost a week to get his story prepared. He had to know they were going to ask about Rex. Being or feigning cluelessness was IMHO the wrong approach.