BillsVet

And with the 7th least amount of cap space before any cuts and several expiring contracts.

He's impressed ownership though and that's all that matters. They will have to learn the hard way that their GM is all hat and no cattle. And if it's the GM who wants to start Cardale, then perhaps he thinks his leash on life is a lot longer than many would like it to be. I have a feeling McDermott is going to fight the same battles his two predecessors did with Whaley on the roster. A good GM is focused on winning down the road without taking his eye off the present day. A HC is more concerned with the now. The roles in Buffalo place the incumbent GM in more of a win-now mode to save his job, while the HC enjoys what I would think is greater latitude to begin changing the team. I'm very interested to see how that relationship plays out.

The GM has been with the team for this now his 5th off-season in that role. The HC is entering his first. The coaching staff is set and the personnel group hasn't changed. I could see the front office trying to win-now and the HC saying rebuild now that the later has completed player evaluations. McDermott has no allegiance to the people Whaley has acquired and proven incapable of winning with. Blame that on the previous HC, but the roster is thin at multiple positions due to bad drafts picks, trading of picks, and bad contracts. It will be interesting to see how Whaley gets along with his 3rd HC and if he can suddenly work well with one.

That's a lot of holes for a GM to address in one off-season. Probably time to start rebuilding, accumulating draft picks, and developing younger players. Then again, it's Doug Whaley, and trusting him to get most if not all the key decisions correct is folly. This is where the Bills find themselves after 4 off-seasons of his stewardship.

He worked wonders with EJM.

This is where the apologists step in and proclaim that Whaley could never have known that Prescott would be selected where he was and therefore the GM is absolved. And furthermore, no one in the NFL knew Prescott would play as well as he did. The trade for Ragland is a microcosm of what's wrong with the franchise. Moving up for ILB's when your QB situation is not good and then taking a huge project QB so as not to disturb EJ's roster spot. Not taking QB's in the draft almost ensures you don't ever find a worthwhile QB. If there's one common denominator to the Nix/Whaley years it's an under-investment in the QB position and over investment at positions like LB and WR.

Who are "the Bills" that are happy? The only holdovers are the front office types who picked him last year and of course they're "happy" as they were with EJ at the end of 2013. If they weren't "happy" it'd be quite an admission their decision wasn't right. Saying something enough doesn't make it true. Point is, he's not close to starting in his second season and doesn't make them better at the position in 2017.

1. Whaley acknowledged Manuel had issues by trading up for Watkins. No GM (and let's not even say Dimitroff in 2011) trades up for a WR after a 6-10 season. 2. Drafting a player with an injury history that actually revealed itself is not the best thing to do. Doubling down and saying the shoulder was fine days before the injury really made him look clueless. 3. The contract was ill-advised because they needed to sit the guy for the regular season finale. They didn't want him getting hurt and refused to dress him. It was an awkward place to be in benching the starting QB to ostensibly see what they had in the other two options, neither of whom showed anything. 4. Semantics. The statement at the season ending autopsy and weeks later show he's changed his tune.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/01/26/whaleys-biggest-lesson-bills-gm-light-feet/ Like: 1. Not admitting quickly enough Manuel couldn't play after 2013 and subsequently doubling down on that pick by trading for Watkins the following season. And not subsequently drafting a QB until 2016. 2. Drafting an injured player in the 2016 first round, saying he'd be good for the coming season, then reversing course when that player was injured in non-contact drills. 3. Signing Tyrod to a show me contract in August 2016, which now is an albatross around the team's collective neck going into the 2017 off-season. 4. Stating the team was "close" at the 2016 season ending press conference. Now stating "We want to build a foundation (so) that we consistently compete" I'm sure the usual suspects will parse these points to death, but it stands to reason he's consistently backed himself into corners. It's how you go .500 (24-24) over the past 3 seasons.

Quarterback purgatory.

It's how you remain in "quarterback purgatory" which the GM described during 2015 training camp.

And the current GM 3 years ago traded up to draft a WR in hopes his first round QB pick from the previous year would improve.

Been here 10 years. I'm very well aware.

There is a real inferiority complex going on here if we derive relevancy from our coordinator hires.

What better way to start a rebuild than by having someone in the thick of the last one "leading" the way? The GM has his finger up in the air to gauge the wind and it's blowing toward rebuild. Not surprisingly he's modified his message. Whaley's learned so much from Brandon over the years.

What is Jeff George doing these days?

Do you honestly expect the current GM to find a "QB prospect" after how he's approached the position since 2013? Yeah, anyone can say get the QB and things fall into place because it's the easiest argument to make. Yet, is Olsen the guy you want developing a young QB? To me he seems to wear out his welcome relatively quick. Buffalo is his 6th team (counting JAC twice for both stops) in 10 years. That the guy McDermott thinks is somehow suitable?

That defense of Dick Jauron back in the day was classic TBC. Then the inevitable pivot occurred and it was on to defending Gailey and crew.

At this point I wonder if Steve Fairchild or Turk Schonert could be lured back to Buffalo. They do have experience working here already, which is a big plus. Greg Olson isn't the only retread out there looking for a NFL job.

They've retained Whaley, so this makes sense.

Threads like this make me better understand why people need "safe spaces" free of criticism/dissenting opinions and basically anything that could hurt a non-objective fan's feelings.

Some "fans" have an awful lot of time to post articles, interview links, etc. Really amazing these "fans."

The dead money on Dareus' contract means in theory their highest paid player ain't going anywhere. I suspect McDermott and Frazier will try to get him to buy into their scheme. Still would have been nice if Whaley and Overdorf had put a clause in their about the guaranteed money, but this is Whaley we're talking about.

T Pegs talks about what's in the past is in the past. And yet, during their brief ownership they've retained the same individuals in the front office responsible for that past, the team keeps losing and no one's supposed to question the franchise's direction.

As has been repeated ad nauseam on TBD...win and this stuff goes away. McDermott may well be a solid HC, but the fact Whaley is still there leading personnel remains a major problem. Lil' Doug (thanks Rico) won the battle over Rex. But it would be hilarious if, perhaps as a condition for working in Buffalo, McDermott demanded more control over personnel and got it from the Pegullibles. That makes sense considering the GM hasn't exactly built a tremendous roster (and that includes failing to find a QB). Hopefully Whaley's lost power in this hire and the Bills can begin building a roster better than Lil' Doug's glorified fantasy football team roster: lot of names and salaries, not much results.