GA BILLS FAN

If that's the case, I guess we'll see on Friday, since they'll have 8 days before game #3.

Fans ? I don't want him out there to satisfy me or other fans, I want him out there to learn, develop and hopefully get better. This has nothing to do with appeasing the fans, it has everything to do with development of a QB that needs it.

While I was disappointed in EJ, the sample size was too small to adequately judge. Marrone should have sent him out for at least another series to get him more reps. All of us are desperately trying to find hope that he's turned the corner and that game did nothing to make me feel better that he has. Hoping he gets 1+ quarters at minimum in game 2. Watching Tuel and Lewis doesn't give me a lot of hope that the backups are anything more than, backups. Makes me wonder, if Bills are in a win now, why didn't they go after Vick ?

I could forgive him for running over my dog, ruining the Bills on the other hand, not so much.

BTW, Peter King mentioned JBJ letter in this morning's MMQB, called him out in 10 things: "5. I think the one statement Jon Bon Jovi--one of three bidders to buy the Bills--didn't make in his painfully well-crafted letter to Bills fans that appeared in the Buffalo News was this: I will not move the Bills if and when I buy them.; Everything else is fluff."

I have good source that is connected with Sabres, as well as some conjecture on my part. At a minimum, France is key advisor on football side, the two have a ton of mutual respect for one another and Pegula has demonstrated tendency (to a fault) to want his own guys. I also think Pegs learned a lesson (or two) with Sabres that he'll implement with Bills. France is very well respected and extremely knowledgeable on other team's FO's. I do think Brandon will be involved in a transition, but I also heard from a different source, that Brandon has his eyes on an NFL post longer term, so, if I had to bet, I think he stays for a transition and then lands somewhere on Goodell's staff.

As Prez or GM, my #1 concern right now is QB. My roster, even without Kiko looks good. My QB doesn't. My #1 priority in the off-season was to surround my QB with better players, WR's and OL. As HC, my priority is to get my QB playing at a higher level. I know there is risk, but there is risk slipping on a wet mat or training in the off-season. This team's success this season will be determined by EJ's play, he needs more reps.

90% of my Brandon issues disappear if he is relegated to non-football activities. Right now, he isn't. With new owner, best case for him is in a Ted Black type role with little or no involvement with on-the-field product. I think Pegula hires Todd France to run Football operations and he'll be judge over GM/HC. Sorry, Kelso, when I said retreads, I thought it was self-explanatory, I meant largely unsuccessful or NFL coaches that haven't been HC's in a while (i.e. Jauron, Gailey) We can get back to new ownership talk, I think we all are firmly entrenched in our positions on Mr. Brandon.

I'd agree if EJ was playing well, but, he wasn't and a few more plays, even one more series is what he needs at this time in his development.

Bandit / Kirby (and Promo); since you all are tag teaming me on this one, I'll try and respond in one post, rather than multiple. I think you guys are making arguments that Brandon is a competent executive that can run an organization profitably. That's all well and good and might have had tremendous value to Ralph and Littman, but I don't see it as a priority for Pegula as an owner and not one that tilts his interest in buying the team one way or another. So, from that perspective, he's had no influence on new ownership. You keep bringing up how well respected Brandon is to the other owners, again, all well and good, but how does that help Pegula get a yes vote as a new owner ? Pegula will be judged on his own merits and what he plans to do with the team going forward, not what the previous regime did or did not do or how well liked they were or were not. On some other points: I acknowledge that the Bills have started to invest in facilities, but, I've been to over a dozen NFL stadiums and visited their facilities over the past 3 years and their facilities put what the Bills had (before this upgrade) to shame. The Bills have hired NFL retreads or first time coaches the past 15 years, so they've under paid the league averages. I understand they went after Shanahan and others who didn't want to come here. Instead of bringing that up in defense of Brandon and the Bills FO, why not ask yourselves why those guys DIDN'T want to come here ? I look at the NFL landscape with my friends, who are fans of a dozen other teams, not named Buffalo and they say what every other NFL fan says about the Bills (including the media and other executives), the Bills are irrelevant in today's NFL. What a shame. Yet, as a fan base (at least most on this board), ya'll will fight to your death to defend this FO and the man that leads it. You would think I created heresy by suggesting that maybe Brandon needs to go. I bring that up and all I get is how he wasn't responsible for anything that went wrong for 15 years. How everyone in the NFL loves him. How he's only really been in charge for 18 months. How his hands are tied. I know from your perspectives, I'm not being objective and you think I hate the man. I hate the results that have taken place over the last 15 years and I have no confidence with him in charge that it will be fixed. From my perspective, when you all are defending him, I see and hear a lot of excuse making and false hope and a failure to face reality and I quite honestly can't understand it.

His health won't matter if he isn't ready to play. He played only 10 snaps and looked bad, I'd kept him in there for another series or two. It's worth the risk.

We had this debate on the boards before, on spending v. winning, but again, you are now making a different argument. So, first on the original point on whether Brandon helped keep team in Buffalo. I would accept your premise that profits matter if the likely new owner were viewing the franchise as an investment, like a regular business. Pegula is not, so, while nice to be profitable, it's largely irrelevant to his interest in owning the team. That was my point. I suspect, like the Sabres, Pegula will spend more on facilities, scouting, coaches at the expense of the bottom line to provide team with the resources it needs to be a winner. I don't think that's what is happening currently at OBD. In fact, I'd love to see the average spending on those areas over the past decade for the Bills vs. other NFL teams to see how we compare. If profits are achieved because we spend less on coaches/scouts/facilities etc. and we sell a game to Toronto to help revenue at the expense of ability to win that game and we under spend the cap more than 75% of the other teams and we have no debt because we play in an old stadium etc. etc --- to me, that isn't some "miracle worker" as Sal Pal was quoted as saying. To me, that's an organization running a team on the cheap to stay in business. I want more than that. I want the Bills to be willing to spend to get the best coaches/facilities/trainers/scouts/players etc. etc. I don't want them to sell a game to Toronto. I think ya'll are giving too much credit to Brandon.

My biggest issues with EJ are instincts and accuracy. He hasn't displayed either consistently and I'm concerned they are not coachable qualities in a QB. I do like the idea of getting him involved in the game earlier to get his juices flowing. I did not like him only playing two series, I think that was a bad coaching decision given his performance to that point in the game. He needs more (not less) game action.

I think you keep missing my point. My post on Brandon/Buffalo was in response to Kirby saying that Brandon was responsible for keeping the team in Buffalo. I don't think he is. I'll accept the fact that he's been able to keep team profitable, albeit by means I do not agree with (i.e. under-spending the cap, the Toronto series), but he has. My point has nothing to do with the team being profitable, it has to do with them staying in Buffalo. They will stay in Buffalo because we have a Buffalo friendly billionaire (or two or three) that wants to own THIS team and keep it in THIS city. Pegula is not concerned about owning a team to turn a profit, that I can guarantee you. So, my point is, while Brandon has kept team profitable, he is NOT responsible for keeping team in Buffalo. I heard your answer, it doesn't make sense against the question that was raised.

Promo: Calling me clueless as to what Brandon does is yet another mis-direction on your part away from the original question, "what specifically has Brandon done to keep the Bills in Buffalo". I'm sorry my "tongue in cheek" response to that absolutely ridiculous quote that some how Brandon is a miracle worker to get the Bills profitable in a league with $6B in revenues while operating a team with no debt and $15M+ under-spending the salary cap offended your sensitive side when it comes to your hero, Russ Brandon. Again, I ask, what has Brandon done to keep the Bills in Buffalo, that's the question. From my vantage point, he didn't have the power to move the team over the past 15 years, he isn't on the 4-member voting trust that will decide the next owner, he didn't create the language in the lease that keeps team in Buffalo for next 7+ years and he sure as hell didn't get Terry Pegula interested in buying the team, so, if you would go back to the original question and answer that, maybe we can have a productive exchange.

stadium

Equally puzzled about the trusts' actions; if Pegula's bid is indeed that much higher, they should accept his bid and take the money and run -- he would be terrific choice and as Kirby points out, "checks all the boxes". I can't imagine the trust would prefer Trump, and I don't get the interest in Golisano, since he's stated since day one that he is a safety net for BUFFALO and not overly interested. Lastly, we all know the issues with JBJ. Let's just get this thing done, so we can move on already.

fair enough, I was reacting to the term "miracle worker" which, I guess is the next step up from marketing genius, I guess next post will be for pope Francis to canonize the man -- As for the answer, I think the question was HOW has Brandon kept team in buffalo? I don't think PTR answered that, since it's clear to me that none of bidders are bidding because Brandon improved (inflated) profits because team has no debt on their books (which isn't a long term sustainable situation) and they have under spent the cap. Certainly Pegula is bidding and is more interested in the team, the city of buffalo and winning than he is at making a profit, so again, I don't see what Brandon himself has done specifically to keep the team in Buffalo ?

you'd think a "miracle worker" would at least make the playoffs once every 15 years

Since you brought up what you liked, I'll add my thoughts . . . . first, Gailey was fired in December before Brandon "took over". If Brandon accelerated the transition from Nix to Whaley, great, I like that move. I think Whaley is a good judge of talent and has had 2 good drafts. What I don't like are two things: 1- The Watkins trade. Love the player, hate the trade. I would rather the team sit at 9 and take BPA (Ebron, Barr, Beckham to name a few). Giving up that 1st rounder in 2015 was too costly for a WR. 2- Cap management. Bills under spent in 2013 and are under spending again in 2014. I don't understand it. Not to mention the amount of dead money (over $20M!) which is ridiculous. Jury is out on a few other moves. Whaley was quoted in post-draft interview that Brandon was on the phones with other teams trying to help complete trade.

I didn't mention any negatives, I was just trying to establish the fact that he is indeed responsible as of January 2013 for the football team's performance since another poster made it sound like he wasn't. So, do you think if Brandon wasn't there, Pegula wouldn't be interested in buying team ?

Can you be specific ? From what I see, he has no decision rights with respect to the sale and had no decision rights with respect to movement prior to Wilson's death. Most reports attribute the strict lease requirements to Erie Co/NY State. Again, what role has he played ?

We and several other posters debated Brandon in another thread -- my position was and is, that he bears responsibility for the failings of this football team over the past decade+ -- it seems most posters disagreed, however almost ALL posters will at least agree that he is totally responsible as of January 2013 -- if posters are now taking him off the hook on that date with comments that he is responsible, but not really, I think I'll puke !

If he manages Whaley and Whaley is GM, doesn't that mean Brandon is in charge of football operations ? at least it does in 99% of the organization structures I've seen.

How has he kept team here ? As far as I see, he wasn't in position to move it and plays no role in regards to sale process ? I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I don't see that he's played a role in keeping team in WNY. Sure seemed like he played a significant role in the draft day trade for Watkins. All the images and comments suggested the same.