BillsVet

Don't forget Oakland. RW, Bud Adams, Al Davis, and Mike Brown all should back away from the wheel and begin delegating more. You could make the case RW has already to a certain degree, but the other 3 micromanage their organizations like there's no tomorrow. Yeah, blast the guy because his owner demanded Vince "headcase" Young be the franchise QB from 2006-10. Sure, Tennessee wasn't SB caliber every year, but picking Young really worked out well for the Titans. Another reason for why owners should keep their nose out of draft day. They may be great businessman, but player personnel is not business. EDIT: For comparison's sake Fisher has averaged just under 9 wins per for 16 complete seasons. Buffalo has an average of about 6 for the past 11 seasons. I would take him in a heartbeat.

I would like to see them take an OT in the first 3 rounds, but doubt that'll happen. Nix loves to point out what happened in SD while he was there and as an example, from 2001-07, the Chargers selected 4 OT's, 3 of whom were 5th round and later. Their lone top 3 round pick was of course Marcus McNeill in 2006. I really don't think he places a high priority there, and figures with enough dumpster diving of other teams practice squads, UDFA's and looking for street free agents that he'll find someone eventually. For the record, I can't find one decent UFA OT SD signed from 01-07 while Buddy was there either. The best thing that happened to the OL this season was Fitzpatrick taking over. He was obviously way more decisive than Trent, and covered up for bad to mediocre pass protection. Someone will point out the sacks allowed was lower in 2010 than 2009, but a QB can make the OL better than it really is which is what Fitzgibbons did. Run blocking continues to be an issue, although Buddy and Chan said Spiller would make the OL better. I guess we all missed that, because neither back he nor FJ had much to work with. This, along with being down early forced Gailey to call more than 56% passing plays (519 pass 401 rush) this season.

Any link for this? Not to speak ill of the passed, but Linda admitted she had her job because her dad owned the team. And Howard Ballard was an 11th round pick in 1987, not a UDFA. A lot of people look good when Bill Polian is picking the players for you. I suspect there's a lot of that here.

An excuse is when you almost or can't get something done. This wouldn't be such a sore subject if the franchise managed to get into the post-season once a decade. Problem is, the supposed foundation built this season looks like something the Big Bad Wolf could blow down with a sore throat. The OL isn't better, the defense could be worse in 2010, the secondary isn't as stellar as some thought, the running game never got going, and the QB is a journeyman somewhere in the middle of the NFL at his position. Sure there are some bright spots in KW and Steve Johnson, but beyond that and Fred Jack, what jumps out as quality talent anywhere? The truth is the jury is still out on Nix and Gailey. Year 1 did not go very well.

Another factor here is that Buffalo has jettisoned quite a few higher paid players. It's not a comment on their play, but re-signing Clements, Fletcher, Peters, and Greer would raise that figure considerably. Lynch probably factors in there as well. The fact is, Buffalo hasn't had many to re-sign because their draft picks and free agents have been so horrendous. The only guys they've extended to long term contracts in the past few years who commanded a decent salary have been Evans, Stroud, McGee, Schobel and Kelsay. Stroud will be cut and Schobel's retired, so they'll be at most 3 players on the roster next season. It's been repeated ad nauseam, but if RW committed to and could attract the better football minds, he'd get a lot more value out of his cash outlay for players. He eschews that simple concept and keep bottom feeders while hiring people who should be retired.

Not to mention leading the league in hits delivered after TD receptions, INT's dropped, and most post-season anti-fan tweets.

Anyone who believes anything that organization says should check their sanity. This is the same team that has a GM who claims they got 35 calls a day for their HC position and argued that they didn't try to interview people who turned them down. Their credibility is not the highest right now. Heck, they lied about when RW was having his ring ceremony, to the point of not telling their HOF RB. It's all hype to build hope. Symbolism over substance.

11 safeties chosen? Is that a typo or did someone mistakenly leave 'lil Donte out?

Definitely. But the owner has selected all of those GM's with the main criteria being that he knew them after the Donahoe years. Ironically, TD's teams combined to go 31-49 from 01-05. RW's picks at GM combined to go...31-49 in 5 seasons. This time around, Buffalo's already made their changes at the top, so I guess no one gets the ax now. Perpetual rebuilding to follow.

That former 7th round pick Matt Flynn easily held off Brian Brohm for the backup job and wasn't awful when called upon this season. Then again, what team can lose their starting franchise QB and perform as well? Tom Brady had Brian Hoyer for a backup, Peyton Manning has whom? Say this, when they got rid of a Bob Sanders as their DC, they hired a real 34 DC in Dom Capers who knows his thing defensively despite a poor HC record. The Packers embody how to be run in a small market. Buffalo remains stuck in a downward spiral I'm not sure if they're close to pulling out of.

Re their executives: CEO Mark Murphy (a former NFL DB from Williamsville) and GM Ted Thompson are some of the best in the NFL. Thompson isn't perfect, but he's assembled a team that's lost 14 guys to IR, including several starters, and still performs well. They've been to the playoffs now 3 out of 4 years. Management is the deciding factor in who goes to the playoffs and who doesn't. A good owner, while having a say, allows his GM to do their job. And likewise, the GM lets the HC do theirs. It's why GB and PIT are regularly in the post-season and why Buffalo's meddling ownership with his inner circle never get anywhere.

There was a lot of talk on TBD that Gailey and Nix didn't care about draft status and wouldn't hesitate to get rid of high pick. I think the staff saw after the Baltimore game that Evans was almost completely absent before his injury. Even though publicly he says the right things, he's played 7 seasons for a dead-end team. It would not surprise me if he's trying to play his way off the team. Now that Johnson's had a good season, it wouldn't surprise me to see them deal Evans for a low pick and hype up Johnson as their top target. They could then play another low cost player in David Nelson and call it a move for the future. This is how this team operates.

Wouldn't surprise me for Evans dealt for a 5th rounder if a CBA ever gets done. His contract isn't that bad for most teams. But to say Easley is on the comeback is absurd. He hasn't played a down and was a one year wonder in college.

Let's not forget the Chargers used free agency to acquire some big names (at the time) and didn't just sleep through it as Buddy talks. They signed Marcellus Wiley in 2001, and David Boston to a huge deal a few years later. Not to mention they found an All-Pro TE and Pro Bowl caliber G among the undrafted ranks. And they scored in the later rounds with guys like Michael Turner, Shaun Phillips, Darren Sproles, and a few others. RW still talks about luck being a big factor in the success of a NFL franchise. In order to follow SD's model, they need a lot of luck, because the talent people aren't on the same level and the money isn't going to be flowing for UFA's. Besides the fact they're playing against 3 other teams with significantly more financial resources.

It's not the hiring and firing that's wrong but the individuals they choose for their most important roles. This franchise's track record filling their GM and HC positions remain among the worst in the NFL, thus necessitating the next GM and/or HC hire. At this point, only the Raiders and their senile owner make more moves and get less from them. Buffalo is averaging a little over 6 wins per campaign for a decade, which indicates they repeatedly hire individuals who cannot develop a cogent plan. And organizationally, it seems the executives in Buffalo are frequently overruled by those in Grosse Point Shores, MI. Continuity is a nice buzz word, but there is a bad and good kind, espeically their front office types like Overdorf and Modrak who cannot be fired no matter what.

Fairley is a 43 DT probably in the mold of Kevin Williams. I'm still not sure he's a 34 5 tech type. Dareus seems to be a better fit, but still the Bills invested a decent contract into Dwan Edwards and a 3rd rounder on Carrington just a year ago. They're not set at DE, but this defense can't play the 43 or the 34 right now. Vince Young says hello. Bud Adams couldn't wait to take him, and 5 years later that experiment is over. College production means almost nothing, but apparently it still gets some excited. Buffalo needs a guy who can step in and play now, because there's no QB worth taking at 3. As for Michael Vick, yes he put up good numbers and went to the playoffs. Problem is, his HC called him out for not being able to read the blitz in his 7th season as a starting NFL QB.

Which defense do they run again? It's not a 43 and not a 34 with layers who are not scheme diverse (Kelsay, Merriman, even K. Williams) and a guy who's now Asst HC with LB duties? Sure, he's a name guy, but it's evident they don't know what they are anymore. Best part of it is Wannstedt's a 43 guy, and they've already spent considerable resources (D. Edwards, Troup, Carrington) who were taken with the idea of being in a base 34. The new civility on display here. When's the last time that front office had either one? And we're hoping for both to happen in the same off-season, with the latter only happening when a CBA is reached.

Why it takes OTA's, Training Camp, 4 pre-season, and 16 regular season games for coaches to know what you've got is beyond me. I chalk it up to the arrogance of the coaching staff in thinking they can make certain players better merely because of scheme or their coaching. It also could be that they had no other options and weren't going to get any in free agency. So they went with what they have, e.g. Trent Edwards and hyped them up. Atlanta has gone from mediocre/average in 2001 (7-9) to bad in 2003 (5-11) to good in 2004 (11-5) to mediocre/average (7-9, 8-8) in 2005-06 to bad in 2007 (4-12) to average/very good in 2008-10 (11-5, 7-9, 13-3). For Buffalo to be mediocre/bad for 11 seasons running is a complete joke.

Free Agency will be a killer to fans because, after a new CBA, Buffalo will skip the top available players and goes after low to mid tier types. This after a 4-12 season in which they were horrid on defense and mediocre offensively. Building exclusively through the draft with several low and 1-2 mid tier UFA's is not what fans want to hear right now. It's absurd to even think they'll sign 2-3 solid UFA's who'll start and play at a high level. The draft is a great event, but rookies typically take 2-3 years before they're ready whereas UFA's are recognizable commodities who fill holes that allow the team to go elsewhere in the draft. What will be very interesting to see is when free agency begins. Normally being before the draft, it could make things interesting if it's held after late April.

To quote Abe Vigoda... "Whitner's a schmuck."

Where is the evidence Buffalo will spend in ufa, provided there's a new cba? They haven't signed a free agent to big money in four years and the GM made it known that they'll build almost exclusively through the draft. Furthermore, the three guys signed last year were to either transition to the 34 or a reach to fill a position where someone unexpectedly retired. I just don't see them spending because they have positions of need. It goes against a couple of years of history.

Something is wrong whenever top coordinators refuse to interview for a HC position. I think the issue in Denver is Pat Bowlen is now far less of a presence than he used to be. Two years later, he realized this was a mistake and re-ordered the situation by hiring the most famous Bronco of them all in Elway. Aside from the age difference, this decision is similar to RW hiring Marv. Both men were respected in their most famous roles, but neither were trained to handle personnel. I think this is one of the reasons people are refusing to interview because a HC needs someone above them who is experienced in personnel.

Or perhaps you can't build a team without busting a few first and second rounders, right? If I was George Edwards and heard the team wanted to talk to Wannstedt about a coaching job, even if it wasn't DC, I'd grow eyes in the back of my head. The fact Buffalo might only be interested in him as an ILB/AHC tells me they're not enthused with the way he coached. And you can be darn sure Edwards knows this, because this interest clarifies that. And for the record, at the NFL level when you make mistakes, the results transfer onto the field real fast. No one executive or team is perfect, but the good ones don't make a lot of bad decisions. Buffalo has for many years now and the result is obvious whereas teams like NE, BAL, ATL, IND, GB, et al aren't known for huge mistakes in personnel or schematically.

Wanny may not end up in Buffalo, but if Edwards is replaced after 1 season, that's an indication Gailey got another big decision wrong. First it was moving to the 34, naming Trent as the starting QB, then Spiller and Lynch at RB, and maybe the DC. That's a lot of bad decisions in one year, even though he's much better on offense than DJ or his underlings ever could dream to have been.

Yep. On that we can agree. Sends the wrong message that despite months of scouting and meetings, the owner can get his way. Modrak is to blame for some things, but I'm sure people knew upstairs that Lynch had some character issues. Every owner will have a say, but the degree to which they do is what's being debated. What's funny is how millionaire or billionaire NFL owners, while successful, generally screw up a franchise by trying to closely oversee the operation. Bob Kraft, Arthur Blank, the Mara's have done much better this decade than RW, Jerrah Jones, Al Davis, and Mike Brown.