BillsVet

It's amazing how, year after year, the Bills have so many needs. It's almost as if they're building a team whack-a-mole style. Keeping Byrd will be the sign they're committed to winning and If not, it'll be hard to convince fans that self-created holes won't continue to be opened. Because the Bills have mastered the ability to win 4-7 games. Taking a step to the playoffs means filling these holes long term and not using the draft to replace departed free agents.

No I don't. I think his instincts are poor on the football field, hence the propensity for throws to stationary targets and check-downs. When a receiver isn't open, he's not making the throw. That'll work in the college game, but it's not in the NFL. And while I don't expect him to be elite right now, he doesn't make the throws a NFL QB should make nor does he seem inclined to throw receivers open. And then there's the mechanics and touch on throws which need a lot of work. I'm not sure the team has the time to wait for him to improve from raw young QB to being consistent to make this team a 10 win plus club.

Manuel made a habit of throwing primarily to open receivers and stationary targets. He's not throwing receivers open the way you see the top QB's do. It's part of the reason why he maintains a low yards per attempt with a low completion percentage. I can't think of a worse pair of bad metrics to demonstrate future ability. One other thing was he lacked touch on throws. I saw short throws that he rifled to the receiver and then medium throws without enough behind them.

Which begs the question: When was the last time the Bills found an excellent, i.e. Pro Bowl caliber player after round 2? It's probably Kyle Williams all the way back in 2006. Or perhaps Stevie Johnson in 2008. No wonder the team can't build a deeper team. Drafting well in rounds 1 and 2 are what any team should be able to do. Finding talent after that point is what outstanding personnel departments are doing.

I doubt external interviews will be held. They'll look for someone from within and given the paucity of options, it probably won't be ideal. I'm not thinking the Bills are breaking the bank for a DC. I realize they got Pettine, but Buffalo isn't exactly big spenders on coaches.

A team searching for a HC or GM opens itself up to the public given the reporting of everything NFL these days. These searches are not quiet and the quantity and caliber of candidates illustrates how much of a reputation a franchise is operating with. When Gailey was hired, we knew he was the emergency guy seeing as how Buffalo was outright turned down so many times.

The new president was the previous CEO and has been around for years in senior management positions. The new GM was the previous assistant GM and with the team since 2010. New personnel people came in after the draft, including Monos. New Coach. Yes, Chan needed to go and thus we needed another one. The previous hire, as with DJ, necessitated the following one. New coaching staff. It's already getting changed around and could be more before the season if Pettine leaves. New quarterback. Yep. But yes, I'd agree that 2014 needs to be playoffs or bust. Nothing less is acceptable, though I'm not sure the Bills are in it to win it as much as most of the NFL.

Wannstedt and Crossman can do it.

Comparing apples to oranges. Bennett in 1987 has nothing to do with the NFL landscape of 2010. Besides, a former 1st for a 4th and 5th is far less significant that trading the recent 2nd overall pick in a three team swap featuring other 1s. I've always loved to see the debating style of bringing down someone else to make the Bills look better. Getting harder to do, especially when lamenting the #1 seed in the NFC for making a mistake along the way is cited. Carroll has a great GM who has the financial backing of the wealthiest owner in the NFL. It's little wonder they've succeeded. Dick Jauron was fired from his first NFL gig. You remember, the guy who was as good as Belichick save for the latter's time with Tom Brady QB'ing the Patsies? You did make that point once before, no?

I would argue the Bills are not keen on outsiders coming into the organization, thus the hiring of Nix (when John Guy was the only other considered) and now with Whaley. Most people realized he was the heir apparent to Buddy, but he was also part of the regime that Nix started and that failed miserably. Whaley's got to wash that smell off. But it should be noted the Bills do not like finding GM's from outside the organization, having done so once in the past 30+ years. That wreaks of people trying to hide something. TD may have failed, but failing to consider outside people as most NFL teams do is a sign something's off about their way of doing business.

I was merely asking. He's not a model citizen, that's for sure. At the same time we evaluate decisions over the long-haul, not for half a season from 3 years ago. And using your desire to prove everything definitively on statistics alone, he's rushed for 4k yards and 35 TD's from 2011-13. Not to mention being a 3 time Pro-Bowler and 2 time All-Pro. Pretty good deal if you're John Schneider. Not a good deal for Buddy Nix. There's a reason why Seattle is a contender every year and Buffalo remains mired in mediocrity. You can't give talent away and expect o be competitive.

Has Lynch had any run-ins with the law since his trade to Seattle? I repeatedly see fans excuse Buffalo's trade of ML, yet they had no plans to do so until deep into the 2010 season. By that point, they should have known what Jackson offered and clearly they liked Spiller. So it begs the question, if it was the off-field stuff that threatened them, why did they wait so long to deal him for a song?

Highly doubt that Seattle will not be able to re-sign Earl Thomas when his contract comes due. And that's a team with talent all over the field who'll find the cash to keep their top players under contract. Agree with GG. Who else are the Bills going to re-sign in 2014?

Decisions have to be analyzed in the long term and the 2010-12 Bills will go down as a lesson in how not to build a football team.

Unless of course your name is Brandon or Wilson. Everyone else can be sent packing.

I didn't say the Bills are cheap, but the 2009 draft yielded 3 above average starters, the one in question being a 3 time Pro Bowler. Thus far, the team has signed one of them beyond their initial contract which wasn't a franchise tender. The Bills have a tendency to cut off their nose to spite their face, as evidenced by the use of the draft to replace departed veterans. It's been discussed ad nauseam, but you cannot deny that if Byrd leaves whatever cap savings are far outweighed by the loss in on-field talent. It's been Buffalo's MO, particularly with their own players, since 2006. Furthermore, it sends quite a message when the team elects to spend big dollars in UFA on a guy like Mario (who played exceptionally well this season) and then follow it up by not re-signing their own pending UFA's. You can't build a winning team by not keeping your own elite talent and signing one elite guy every few years in UFA. The 2006-present Bills are a prime example.

Offense is the name of the game in today's NFL and defense isn't winning games like it did years ago. That said, the best way to stopping some of these high powered offenses is by forcing turnovers, something Byrd and the Bills did quite well this season. Buffalo actually tied for 3rd in the NFL in takeaways. Losing Byrd might save the team money, but his production won't be replaced by the likes of Aaron Williams, Duke Williams, or Jonathan Meeks. It's just be another move by a team looking to save money above being competitive before a 2014 season they must make the post-season.

The 2012 Chiefs had several pro bowlers and managed to go 2-14. Certainly a big part of that was QB, but individual talent isn't getting teams over the top unless it includes the QB position, which happens to be the greatest force multiplier on a football field. Having individual talent at G, C, S, RB, LB is nice, but it's not typically winning games. I don't think the game has changed from being able to throw the ball, protect the guy throwing it, and get after your opponents guy throwing it. This makes two separate NFL coaching staffs that have "misused" Spiller. And if you count how Clemson used him, it could be argued 3 staffs. He's frequently nicked up and while he does gut these injuries out, it's always going to prevent him from getting more touches. And yet, Hackett isn't a fan of using Spiller in the passing game, as evidenced by his 33 catches in 15 games.

Urbik was abused by the more nimble Gerald McCoy, who was named first team All-Pro this year. Urbik's strong suit is winning in the phone-booth, and he's playing RG because that position doesn't demand the mobility in most offenses. And for the sake of discussion, many are discussing the concept of drafting tackles and making them guards when all else fails. That's a last resort for a tackle and not the ideal scenario. At the same time, some college tackles aren't going to transition to being NFL tackles and are more suitable to guard. It depends on the individual The Bills seem willing to be a power blocking scheme, but they need more talent to do what they'd like offensively.

Wait, who votes for these awards? What are their qualifications? After all, voters for the All-Pro team put Jason Peters in. I'm being sarcastic, but PFF pales in comparison as far as credibility to the All-Pro or even Pro Bowl voting. I still suspect Marrone will advise Whaley that Dareus does not fit into their plans and try to move him for a mid round pick.

Brandon is linked directly with the Marrone hire and was actively involved in the interviewing process. And if Russ is involved, it's his reputation on the line as well, so they'll wait until the bitter end if Marrone doesn't succeed. I recall a few years ago Brandon, Overdorf, Littman, and RW meeting in Detroit to determine if DJ's fate. Rumor was Brandon voted against, but ultimately they retained a guy who'd be fired in less than a year. With this in mind, I seriously wonder if going 8-8 or 7-9 in year 2 of Marrone would result in the HC being fired. After all, every HC search opens the team up to attention from the outside which is something Buffalo despises.

No, they're not. But neither franchise are willing to sit on their hands. As much as I think Cleveland looks really bad here (Banner hired Chudzinski) they decided to make the change now rather than wait another season. Call that knee-jerk, but the league is rapidly changing and most fans aren't willing to accept losing very long. Buffalo is 28-52 since 2009, or good for winning 35% of their games. They've gone through 2 HC's and are on #3 since that time. And for the record, the last time the term "continuity" was discussed on this board was late December 2008 when RW decided to retain the recently re-signed Dick Jauron. He of the 2-8 finish to that season. That didn't end up working. Continuity is garbage.

Tell that to Chudzinski and Schiano. Teams trying to win AND willing to do the previously unthinkable aren't waiting 3 years for the HC and QB to perform. I believe Buffalo is trying to win, but insist on their terms which aren't in-line with what successful teams across the NFL are doing. STC's might not be like an OC or DC, but I'm starting to think Marrone is almost a Schiano clone. Improved a moribund college team but isn't ready to handle pro players and win in the most competitive league in North America.

Absolutely. And I would add that we have to ask, based on the playoff games, how does a team get good as quickly as possible? It's by having the QB in place and building around that guy, not drafting defensive and offensive pieces. Not to rag on Nix again, but his strategy was to build the entire team and then get the QB. That's just not going to work in the current NFL. Each team has their flaws, but the common denominator is that QB who makes average players better and good players excellent. Who is Andrew Luck throwing to anyway? I fear OBD will not take a QB for the same reason it seemed like Nix wouldn't. They were so proud of their hand-picked guy and wouldn't do a thing to make it seem they questioned him. Tell that to Seattle who, in that frame of mind, embarrassed themselves repeatedly before they drafted Russell Wilson.

Numerous examples exist of the Bills allowing solid pros to depart and drafting their replacements high. Heck, at MLB/ILB in the past 8 seasons, they allowed Fletcher to leave as a free agent and replaced him with 2nd round pick Posluszny, who left in free agency. They then take Sheppard in the third round in 2011, trade him when he wasn't good, and then drafted Alonso in the 2nd last year. It's a revolving door, and we haven't even discussed the RB and DB positions yet. If the Bills can't come to terms with Byrd, and they may well have poisoned that well, then what does that say about the Bills commitment to winning?