mjt328

I worked as a newspaper reporter many years ago. The only way Doug Whaley could win a lawsuit is by proving libel... Meaning that he would need to show that the false report caused damage to his reputation. As a public figure, this is extremely hard to do. And in this particular story (which only alleges that the Bills are considering replacing him), it doesn't really apply. Not to mention that LaCanfora can just cling to his "anonymous source" and claim he was simply given bad information. It's unfortunate, but the media in this country can virtually make up any story they want... and 99.99% of the time they will get away with it.

Certain reporters always cling to "anonymous" sources. Certain reporters have a long track record of always being wrong. This story comes from one of those reporters, and hasn't been mentioned by anyone credible. Until it has been backed by a legitimate media person or source, I wouldn't believe a word of that article.

Sounds to me like Zach Brown really overestimated his value on the open market. Look at this sequence of events: 1. Reports say the Bills made Brown an offer to stay. But it wasn't enough money, so he's been talking the last 3-4 months like a guy who was done in Buffalo. 2. We heard nothing about visits/interest in Brown for the first 7 days of Free Agency. His first visit was reportedly the Raiders. Word soon circulates that Oakland's offer was "insulting." The Raiders then sign Jelani Jenkins instead. 3. Brown hires a new agent, then sets up a visit with the Dolphins and follow-up with the Bills. 4. Reports say the Dolphins are "not close" in talks with Brown. Later in the day, they give Kiko Alonso a massive extension.

Yes. We know that Whaley was very involved in scouting EJ Manuel and putting him a top the board for the 2013 QB prospects. That doesn't mean that Whaley would have picked Manuel at #16 if he was the GM. Maybe he would have targeted him in the 4th Round like Cardale Jones. Maybe he would have taken him at #8 and never traded down. We don't know. You also have to consider that Buddy Nix drafted ZERO quarterbacks in his first 3 years as Bills GM, then started the 2013 offseason by cutting Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Bills went into the draft with injury-prone Kevin Kolb and nothing else. If the Bills were not aggressive in drafting a QB that year and they missed out on a guy they liked, there are NO DOUBTS that Ralph Wilson would have totally cleaned house after the season was over. Like what has been said earlier in this thread, Whaley has had a very unusual tenure as GM of the Bills. Most guys in his position enter the job with a totally clean slate. Whaley was handed the reigns after Free Agency and the Draft had concluded, with a new coaching staff already in place. Then the owner died. Then his coach quit. Then the new owners hired the replacement for him. Then the owners fired that coach. It's really hard to judge a GM without stability around him.

Based on their record during Doug Whaley's time as GM, the Bills are an average team. 24 wins. 24 losses. Zero playoff performances. They aren't bad. They aren't terrible. They aren't a train wreck. They are mediocre. But that is also far from a "heck of a job" and insulting to even compare to the teams of the 90s, which has already put 7 guys in the Hall of Fame (5 players, 1 coach, 1 GM). I try to look at things fair and balanced, and it's hard to blame Whaley for everything. In my opinion, Nix had too much control in 2013 to put the weight of EJ Manuel on his successor. I also think that Whaley gets some slack because of the constant changes in coaching staff and system, which he had little to no control over (Pettine, Marrone, Ryan). But at the same time, it's about time that Whaley steps up his game in the draft room. We aren't getting enough production out of his picks. Period. Look back at his last 3 drafts. You can blame injury. You can blame scheme change. You can say its too early to judge some of those players. But besides Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby, none of his 20 draft picks are making any kind of significant impact and helping us win. If you aren't killing it in the draft, your team is going nowhere. Signing one free agent veteran means letting another free agent veteran walk. It's a vicious cycle.

The Pats are making a final push, hoping to snatch as many Super Bowl victories as possible before Tom Brady retires. This offseason they have been making moves that are very uncharacteristic of their franchise. Trading away a 1st Round Pick for a guy with 2 years left on his rookie contract (Brandon Cooks). Trading away another 2nd Round Pick for guy who has 1 year left on his rookie contract (Kony Ealy). Making a big splash free agent signing (Stephon Gilmore). Their reluctance to part with their backup QB. They know the window is closing. They are not looking to the future. They are trying to win NOW. The Bills did not have the luxury to keep Gilmore. Yes, they are trying to win now. But their ceiling is probably 10-11 wins. Not the Super Bowl. They are also looking towards the future. And giving Gilmore a big contract would weigh this franchise down in 1-2 years.

Every single team loses players in Free Agency. It is impossible to retain everyone. The difference between good GMs and bad GMs is the ability to: 1. Know which guys to keep and which guys to let go 2. Replace the guys who walk with cheaper draft selections and bargain veterans In my opinion, Doug Whaley has done a good job at knowing which players to let walk (Jairus Byrd, Nigel Bradham) and which ones to bring back (Cordy Glenn, Ritchie Incognito, Jerry Hughes, Marcel Dareus). He has also done a good job at finding good veteran bargains in Free Agency (Tyrod Taylor, Lorenzo Alexander, Zach Brown). Whaley's biggest problem has been re-filling the pipeline with draft selections. He's not getting enough production out of important picks like Cyrus Kouandijo, Preston Brown or anyone from the 2016 class. If this team starts drafting better, this team will turn around. That is the key.

In my opinion, it's better to have a solid roster from top to bottom than to have a few Pro Bowlers and weak spots everywhere else. Don't get me wrong. It's OK to overspend in Free Agency sometimes. But teams can only afford to give big salaries to a handful of guys. Then they are looking at salary cap troubles. If a GM is going to hand out a huge contract, they have to be picky about which guys are really worth it. In this case, I think Doug Whaley made the right choice. Stephon Gilmore was a good (but often inconsistent) player who wanted to get paid like the best corner in football. Robert Woods was a decent #2 on a run-first and run-second football team, who ended up getting paid like a lower-end #1 guy. Neither guy was worth that kind of investment. Gilmore will be the tougher of those to replace. But this is a deep draft class at Defensive Back, and there are several guys who could end up being just as good as Gilmore (hopefully the Bills pick the right one...) In this offense, I think Andre Holmes can easily match the production we got from Woods as the fourth option in the passing game.

Uh, no. Obviously I don't mean death threats. I'm referring to the celebrities (such as Spike Lee), who imply that racism is behind Kaepernick not getting signed. And anyone who disagrees with that point of view is a hateful bigot. Like I said in an earlier post. Kaepernick has the right to say and do what he wants. But now he has to face the repercussions of his actions. Many fans, coaches, owners and players consider what he did to be disrespectful to the country. It's not surprising that nobody wants to hire him.

Why is it OK for Kaepernick to speak out for what he believes in... ... but then it is racist/hateful for anyone who disagrees to speak out in return?

Kaepernick has the right to protest, speak out and kneel during the anthem if he wants. That freedom is one of the things that makes America great. But it is a two-way street. And NFL owners/general managers also have a freedom to run their business as they see fit. Many people view Kaepernick's actions as disrespectful, and want no part of it. There are some people that have completely stopped watching the NFL, simply because of Kaepernick's actions and the other players who decided to follow him. Every time a discussion comes up about the NFL's ratings drop last year, the conversation inevitably comes back to this issue. So I can guarantee that whatever team signs Kaepernick will lose some fans and ticket sales because of it. It's a public relations nightmare for a QB that isn't going to make the on-field product much better.

I don't understand your logic. If the Bills can't go from 7-9 to Super Bowl contenders in one offseason, they should blow the entire team up and start over?

If anyone besides the Patriots gave Stephon Gilmore $14 million per year, the critics would be talking about how that team vastly overpaid. Obtaining Brandon Cooks is nice. But don't forget they won't have that 1st Round Pick in the draft, and Cooks is scheduled to hit Free Agency in only two years. Listen. There was no way the Bills (or any other AFC East team) was going to close the gap with the Patriots this offseason. Especially when you consider that Tom Brady takes a massive pay cut to give his team extra cap space. (His $14 million cap hit is roughly the same as Tyrod Taylor). The Patriots are annual Super Bowl contenders. Our current goal is 10 wins and a Wild Card birth. The Bills need to just make smart decisions in the Draft and Free Agency. Get a little bit better every season. Doug Whaley has a proven track record for letting players walk (Jairus Byrd, Mario Williams) and finding Pro Bowl bargains in Free Agency (Ritchie Incognito, Tyrod Taylor, Lorenzo Alexander, Zach Brown). Obviously the drafting has not been good enough. But hopefully with a stable coaching staff, Whaley can get us back on track on Draft Day too.

The concern about Wide Receiver is way overblown. 1. It's clear this team is still primarily a Ground & Pound/Run-First offense 2. Tyrod seems to have trouble going through multiple reads on a single play 3. We already struggle to get Sammy Watkins and Charles Clay involved with enough targets 4. The free agent crop of WRs was not strong this year 5. We still have the NFL draft coming up In the era of free agency, it is very difficult for an NFL team to be strong at every position. So it is important to prioritize, based on your key players and coaching staff. To invest lots of resources at WR would be stupid and wasteful. Were the Bills supposed to break the bank for Alshon Jeffery or Desean Jackson, just so they can get 2-3 targets a game? The people complaining about Doug Whaley not flushing money away on big names - are the exact same people that would crucify him for getting us into salary cap trouble on guys that aren't producing enough. (For example... Charles Clay).

It's always a mistake to judge Free Agency by splash signings. There are still lots of good players on the market that can make a difference. Even if you believe Doug Whaley is terrible at drafting and totally clueless at building a winning roster, nobody can argue that he is good at finding value in the free agent market. The last two years, the Bills have nabbed the following Pro Bowlers while dumpster diving in free agency: Ritchie Incognito, Tyrod Taylor, Lorenzo Alexander and Zach Brown. Some of our better depth players like Mike Gillislee and Ryan Groy were also bargain bin guys off the street. Meanwhile, the big name signings like Charles Clay and Percy Harvin have made much less impact.

Unfortunately, there is not a single reason. There isn't a "single thing" we can fix to get ourselves pointed in the right direction. >> Most of our 50+ year history, we had ownership that set us behind the rest of the NFL. Ralph Wilson considered it a success to simply own an NFL team and keep it playing in the City of Buffalo. Winning was second to profit, and surrounding himself with people he personally trusted. He fired Bill Polian in the middle of our Super Bowl run. And despite our pathetic results, guys inside the organization have constantly found themselves getting promotions (see Russ Brandon). >> The lack of leadership in this organization has trickled down, causing poor selections for General Manager (Levy, Brandon), terrible coaching hires (everyone), a lack of unity within One Bills Drive, a lack of accountability - and most of all - no clear direction for where this team is headed. Our only two winning seasons over the last 15 years was followed both times by the head coach quitting. Every time we start making some progress, a decision is made that forces us to start over. >> Thanks to everything above, the Bills have been unable to land themselves a "franchise level" quarterback. This can be attributed to a number of factors. They haven't taken enough chances in the draft, passing up guys like Andy Dalton, Russell Wilson, Derek Carr, etc. When they have gone after someone, it's been a horrible choice (Manuel, Losman). The decent veteran QBs they have had were all pushed out the door too early (Flutie, Bledsoe, Fitz), in favor of completely undeveloped youngsters. >> Drafting overall has been dreadful. Levy was pathetic. Donahoe was terrible, and regularly wasted high picks. Even though things have improved with Nix/Whaley, there are still a lot of mistakes happening that keep us from getting those true game changers.

I'm a little late to the party. But I really had to respond to this one. First of all, it's one game. And it happens to be a game that we won big. So complaining on a player's usage is absolutely pointless - unless the argument is about fantasy instead of real life. This team is built to win. Not put up gaudy numbers. Fans need to realize a few things: 1) It's not all about statistics. Being able to draw double-coverage is significantly contributing to the team. Several All-22 reviews showed that Watkins drawing extra coverage contributed directly to Percy Harvin's touchdown catch - as well as Robert Wood's 3rd down catch directly before it. 2) Our team is loaded. There is NO WAY that every single offensive player is going to contribute heavily each week. You will probably see 2-3 guys put up numbers each week, and the rest will not. Especially for receivers on a run-heavy team. Teams are going to have FITS trying to handle all of our weapons every week. 3) Quarterback play does matter. How many top WRs in the league have a below average QB. That's what Sammy dealt with ALL of his rookie season. He still almost broke 1,000 yards. 4) Taylor threw a total of 5 incomplete passes the entire game. Sammy was targeted on 3 of those, and none of them were remotely catchable.

Cheating is never OK. I don't care how "small" the infraction is. What is the point of watching professional sports if the teams aren't on the same playing field? I would be sick to my stomach if the Bills won the Super Bowl, then found out they broke the rules to do it. I would never watch the NFL again. I've heard some people DEFEND Brady by saying that Aaron Rodgers is doctoring the ball too, or that Jerry Rice used stickum years ago. If that's the case, they should suspend Rodgers too. And it should seriously raise questions about the legitimacy of Rice's receiving records.

Nix's first year (2010) was a complete disaster. But everything after that was pretty good. This team's turnaround started in 2011 with the selection of Marcel Dareus. There has been a steady flow of incoming talent ever since.

I think the Bills had a solid gameplan for Free Agency. But things haven't quite worked out the way they wanted (Bulaga resigning, Miami making room for Clay). And now they aren't sure how to make the "halftime adjustments." Anyone that knows anything about Greg Roman's offense knows this... You need a very strong offensive line. You need some very good tight ends. We have neither. And as the days pass, people are going to start realizing how bad we screwed this up. Doug Whaley apparently made efforts to address both spots. But his initial targets failed to pan out. Our Free Agent options are now dwindling into nothingness, along with our cap space. And anyone that thinks we can just "fill these holes" with the draft obviously isn't paying attention. This draft is extremely weak on both Tight Ends and Offensive Line. As our former coach used to say... "Don't confuse effort with results." Even if Whaley made a huge effort to address these spots -- it's appearing like he failed miserably. We aren't going to catch New England (and we may have been passed up by Miami and New York), without strong blocking. We've spent $25 million in Free Agency and our O-Line is still a mess.

By far, the best way to construct a winning franchise is to build around a Top 10 quarterback. There is absolutely no doubt. Unfortunately... When you look at things realistically - that just isn't going to happen any time soon for the Bills. Good QBs don't hit free agency. They aren't available for trade. You generally need a Top 3 pick to get a top prospect. So what is the next best option? Build the best defense in the NFL, then support it with a great running game, strong O-Line and smart game-managing QB. It's definitely not the most common way to win a Super Bowl. But it has happened a few times, most recently with the Seattle Seahawks.

Julio Jones was hurt almost the entire season. The list is based on 2014 performances, so no way he's on it. Matt Ryan and RGIII didn't play well. Byrd and Foster were hampered by injuries. None of them will be on the list either. Josh Gordon will definitely be in the Top 20.

I agree that it's completely "possible" that Jeff Tuel becomes a good NFL backup eventually. There is a small chance that he becomes an NFL starter. He's young and has plenty of room to develop/improve. The problem is... The same people who are big Tuel supporters, are often the same people who are ready to throw in the towel on EJ Manuel. Now if you can wait for a raw UDFA talent with average measurables to develop -- WHY IN THE WORLD can we not be patient with a physical talent like Manuel? It makes absolutely zero sense.

It's hard to predict what age it will come apart. But it always does. Usually without warning. Brett Favre played at an MVP level at age 40, with his team on the verge of a Super Bowl. At 41, he was completely shot. It would be silly to discount Brady, just because he's 37. It's possible he could go another few years before his play drops. It would be equally silly to assume he can play at a high level forever, just because he feels good or because several other players were successful past 37.

This is ridiculous thinking. Last year, four tackles went in the Top 15. Eric Fisher, Luke Joekel, Lane Johnson and DJ Fluker. All played on the right side as rookies. Johnson and Fluker are expected to stay there long term. Three of those four teams made the playoffs. And one of the best teams in football - San Francisco - has a stud right tackle they drafted Top 10. Left side is marginally more important, but not as much as some make it out to be.