CodeMonkey

I consider myself very competent in what I do for a living. But I strongly suspect as an owner of a NHL or NFL franchise I tried to be directly involved I would be incompetent. Because you are good at one thing does not mean you are good at something else completely unrelated. But like I said, far too early to make that judgement at this point one way or the other.

Raping the land for gas.

I do. That's why I said what I did about if the prospects develop along with the HC they could bounce back in 3-4 years. But it's not like the Sabres need 1 or 2 of their prospects to develop, they need a dozen or more. They also need some of the young players on the main team to continue develop as well such as Girgensons, Zadorov, and Ristolainen.

Pegula's reign as the owner of the Sabres has brought them to being bottom feeders. If enough of their developing talent proves NHL worthy, and if the HC does as well, then they could bounce back in 3 or 4 years. If not, the Sabres are starting their own epic playoff drought. The Sabres now have precious little NHL caliber players so there are a lot of positions to fill with developing talent. It is too early to grade him as a NFL owner. All of this current **** he inherited. He just wanted to keep the team in Buffalo. Pegula has a lot of money, and does not seem reluctant to spend it. So far that's about all the good that can be said. But incompetent, it's far too early to say. But it cannot be discounted at this point either.

I would call what he did the smart bet. No QB, no first rounder, lots of non-QB needs. Punt for a 3-4 year deal plus double dipping on Pegulas dime to the tune of $4 million, or gamble for maybe a contract extension with the Bills. Sometimes it is the smart move to punt.

Oh OK I gotcha.

I am of the exact opposite opinion. What you described is precisely what my thought process would have been. Do you think it was emotional for him regarding Whaley or something else?

That is more than likely going to prove difficult unfortunately.

That's what ESPN is scrolling on the bottom of their screen now.

Watching ESPN and they are scrolling that Polian declined the offer from the Bills.

Trade bait perhaps. It may not have worked out, but there is certainly no way not having a first round pick helps your situation.

Like every team who fires coaches/players before their contracts are up? I am certainly no GM or owner, but I am involved frequently in hire/fire decisions. And yes, seeing a job jumper in the real world does raise a red flag. But in the high stakes world of NFL head coaches I can't imagine looking poorly on Marrone for taking those opt-out conditions. I would look poorly on the Bills FO for agreeing to them however. It does only if you are thinking with your heart and not your head.

To me his credibility would take a bigger hit if he essentially coached next season for free by not opting out. Stupid move by the Bills agreeing to that clause in the first place.

A warning sign that a coach wants to do the best he can financially and for his career? People have to stop reacting emotionally like a girl stood up by her prom date and realize it is a business to them.

Character and trustworthiness? He didn't hold out. He simply exercised his contractual option, one that Whaley and Brandon gave him. If you want to be pissed at someone, be pissed at Brandon and Whaley for giving contractual terms that made it crazy for the coach to stay with the Bills to a mediocre HC.

Exactly. It was just a business decision. I had no idea about the 4 mil double-dip before yesterday. Given his current marketability, he would be crazy not to opt-out unless the Bills were willing to significantly sweeten the pot. The the Bills credit, they did not agree to what they thought would be overpaying for a mediocre HC.

bull ****. He made a sound business decision (see the other opt-out thread for that discussion). For the millionth time, the NFL is a business first to everyone but the fans.

Exactly.

My opinion is he opted out because: 1) No QB. I'm pretty sure we now know his opinion of EJ Manuel. Orton leaving only made things that much worse. 2) No first round pick to use to get a QB (trade or draft). 3) Need of a every down RB (Fred is just getting too old). 4) Need of multiple OL pieces. 5) Realized he was very lucky to get this team to 9-7 so he can leave now as the coach who got the Bills over .500 for the first time in 10 years. 6) Very favorable opt-out financial conditions. 7) Issues with Whaley were apparently real. He is at his most marketable now. The Bills have significant issues to overcome and are likely not to break .500 next season (in his opinion anyway). This coupled with the favorable opt-out conditions and possible interest expressed by other teams makes his decision logical in my opinion.

Oh great! Now Brandon sees this and visions of thousands more female and horny male season ticket holders get his heart pumping!

And there is nothing wrong with that. Some people are more results oriented and others try to put the results into a context. Neither is right or wrong really, just different.

And the dumb ass NFL execs bought that, hahahahahahahahaahahahaahaha The reality is, they wanted a good game between the Lions and Cowboys. Show me the money.

Well I wouldn't go THAT far

Ahhhh more of that huh. The Sabres seem to be pretty talented already regarding youth in the system, what they lack is current talent. One more year of stocking the pond with youth while suffering with the current team, then what 3 more years before the youth starts paying dividends? I'm not getting any younger

I guess maybe its just me, but I fail to see what impact the Bills staying and Toronto issues would have on signing players or coaches. What difference does it make really where they spend 6 months of their year. Plus is the city of Buffalo a big draw versus a larger market to 20-something millionaire players? Overpaying for players is a negative in these salary cap days. I would hope Mr. Pegula would have learned that from the Sabres with Vanek and others. Coaches and assistants are a different matter. Interesting theory about Chip Kelly. He could have molded the offense to his liking and inherit a good defense, that should have appealed to him under Mr. Wilson or Mr. Pegula. I suspect the tipping point was more based on the QB situation. Basically Philly having at least a decent one and the Bills not, that drove his decision more so than ownership, what either team was willing to pay (which almost had to have been comparable), what city the team was playing in or if that locale would change. As others have pointed out, if you are in desperate need of a starting QB now, you are in deep ****. But we will never know I suppose.