BillsVet

Buddy Nix is GM (of Football I might add) and Brandon is Chief Executive Officer, reporting directly to Ralph. Nix and Gailey may do their thing in the 1st, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them use a pick on a guy they can hype in the second. Either way, Mr. Smithers runs the entire football team. The figures don't come out for awhile, but it's not crazy to think ticket sales will suffer after what's transpired this off-season combined with bad to mediocre seasons for 10 years running. I don't think RW wants to hear season tickets sales are at 40k after being at 55k+ the past 2 seasons, even though there's a good reason fans aren't buying as many tickets.

The best part of this post is that you didn't resort to personal insults to make your point.

Like your thinking here H2o. There will be trades, and HOU needs to find a back, while PHI is short in the secondary (though they have the world's foremost DB expert). Buffalo hasn't traded down since 2001 when they dropped and picked up an extra 2nd, using their first on Nate Clements. If there's no clear man at 9, one would think PHI would be a natural partner provided Berry is available.

For me, it's hard to be a fan when the team you've supported for years can't tell you if they're is sticking around or not. We're all entitled to our opinions, but I can't get past the point that their future is cloudy at best. Discussing who the Bills may draft, current players, etcetera is nice, but the bigger picture is more prevalent than people care to admit. If they had good news, it would have been shared with their fan base who supports them beyond what most teams would receive. This is a tough division with teams who unquestionably devote more resources and have better reputations than Buffalo does. For this reason, the Bills must climb Mount Everest and not a lesser mountain to get out of the basement in the AFCE. Aside from Oakland, no team in the NFL has a more challenging road to respectability.

Marv Levy, Dick Jauron, and Mr. Smithers left this team in a tremendous hole. None of them were qualified to be in their former positions, and this roster demonstrates that. In talking about the on-field product, every Bills fans should recall what's happening off the field. When people talk about rebuilding, one might assume there will be enough time to do it. Not so with the Bills, who will need 3 full seasons for a complete rebuild, assuming they have the HC and they find the players. That's where my demand for success now comes from. No one can say what's going to happen after 2012, whereas there are probably 29 teams (excluding JAC and MIN) that are certain to be in their current market in 3 seasons. Rebuilding would be somewhat acceptable if it weren't for this situation Buffalo finds itself in.

Reading this thread, some fans gave the Bills another 3 years merely because they hired a new GM and HC. It wasn't who they hired, but simply that they hired someone different than DJ and replaced Mr. Smithers with a guy who had actually worked around NFL personnel departments. Perish the thought. The standard in Buffalo is low, and the front office keys on this. I mean, in most markets people would demand a winner and not a rebuilding after 10 years. The Bills know they don't need to win much next year, because some fans accept mere change as sufficient. The front office isn't that much different either. Sure, Guy is gone, but Modrak is still the principal draft guy, along with VP of Football Jim Overdorf who most don't realize makes more decisions than he gets credit (blame) for. The point is, just making changes isn't enough. They must be the right changes, and history shows there aren't many coaches who are out of the HC job for a decade and succeed. Neither are there many 70 year old first time GM's. This wasn't a house-cleaning like many of us wanted, but a matter of rearranging some chairs. And then there is the roster, which lacks an quality QB, is woefully thin at OT, lacks a true NT, has no proven pass rushing OLB's, and a #2 WR. That, and their backup RB will most likely be dealt for a late round pick. The coaching staff is extremely inexperienced, and the HC (despite having a heart attack a few years ago) believes he can handle the play-calling duties. I differ with many here when I say this is not an optimal situation.

Donahoe drafted busts, and Mike Williams was about as big as they come. But his track record in his first four years was better than Dick Levy Smithers who whiffed more often than not as well. TD 01-04: Clements, Schobel, McGahee, Kelsay, Crowell, McGee, Evans DLS 06-09: Whitner, McCargo, K. Williams, Lynch, Posluszny, Edwards, McKelvin, Hardy, Ellis, Maybin, Wood, Byrd, Levitre The 09 class needs time, but drafting good guards and safeties isn't hard. TD found a couple of decent starters at hard to find positions like DE, CB, and WR.

Tennessee has used some resources on OL -Michael Roos (2nd) was drafted and re-signed, Eugene Amano was re-signed, Mawae has been more than serviceable, David Stewart was 2nd team all-pro in 08, and Jake Scott is a decent guard. Buffalo has next to nothing at OT (Tennesee's strength) and their interior line has issues with Hangartner being subpar. No way Spiller comes on board and becomes a Johnson like player for Buffalo.

When previous GM's like Levy and Smithers took skill players, they were heralded for such wise picks. Now we see after a few years how much the lines were neglected. But I know there will be plenty here who will approve of another skill player from the Buddy Gailey regime if it in fact happens. I wouldn't rule out Dez Bryant either. Right now, all skill positions are a luxury, OL and DL are a necessity.

Playoff potential? What the h is that? Remember one inconvenient fact: that every GM (who selects a HC) has been picked by the owner. His track records stink frankly, but now we're told the new GM and HC are worlds better than their predecessors? Ralph makes bad football decisions. And now it's gotten so bad that most competent people who've been a GM or HC in the last 5 years won't even interview for their jobs. There's doom and gloom for you.

Nix has a way with words, as evidenced by his comments at the Gailey hiring PC. He talked about how even the Raiders get calls about their HC jobs. He seems more the blunt than the savvy type front office executive. They can't deny there are serious issues at OT and NT. And as much as they may not want to admit it, they'll probably take their 4th rated OT or be faced with a NT. Going with Spiller, or an OLB would be nice, but ignores their biggest roster issues.

I'm fine with subterfuge, but don't insult my intelligence by saying the job was wildly in demand. We all know it wasn't, and neither was the GM job for that matter. This time of year no one should be trusted as the league heads toward draft day. I get that, but Nix has laid out some whoppers.

Why stop now? It's worked out so well for him of late: 13 playoff appearances in 40 NFL seasons, and none in the past 10 years. The owner will have a say, I'm not making the point that he shouldn't. It's merely that RW stinks when he's involved in football personnel and management decisions since about 2000.

"We had 35 guys a day calling about this job. And some of the names would shock you." Right Buddy. Subterfuge is a 24/7/365 thing in the NFL.

This will happen when you have Kyle "no more than 10 yard pass" Orton at the helm. Check those stats when Cutler was throwing. Research is an endangered species on TBD. And it's getting worse.

It's funny people think Gailey and Nix are making the "big" football decisions. RW himself has hired Levy, promoted Guy and Modrak to VP, promoted Smithers to COO/GM, re-signed DJ, then fired him a year later, didn't know GM candidates from outside, promoted Mr. Smithers to CEO, and finally hired Nix. He also reportedly wanted Lynch 3 years ago. When upper management screws up repeatedly, you get what's transpired since 2006: an elderly man calling the major shots and a bad to mediocre football team.

Homer goober fans won't admit it, but when it comes to proven personnel guys, I'll side with Bill Parcells on his moves. He's earned the benefit of the doubt, but isn't one to like diva WR's (see Terrell Owens circa 2006). No doubt he understands that Henne needs someone besides Davone Bess, Greg Camarillo, and Ted "Bust" Ginn. In the NFL there are talented front office executives, and pretenders. MIA has bolstered two areas they were weak in: WR and LB with Marshall and Dansby. Ordinarily, I wouldn't put much into being good on paper, but Miami has a solid HC picked by none other than Parcells.

Are you kidding? As if Miami's offense was stopped cold by the Bills secondary last year? Did you watch the first game where Miami ran the ball down Buffalo's throat? And now Buffalo doesn't have a NT nor proven OLB's for a pass rush. I think Miami's move here is to get a proven pass catching threat. And I've got news for you: team's aren't scared of secondaries unless you've got a pass rush. And right now Buffalo doesn't have that. Good front offices seize opportunities. Buffalo's can't because everything is tied to a 90 something year old owner.

Buffalo needs to find 2 or more instant starters in every draft. I'd argue they've been looking for instant 2 or more starters in every draft since 2006. And it's not just at the east to fill positions like RB, LB, G, and S. It's LOT's, OLB's, NT's, and QB they need.

This is great value: Use a first round pick in 2007 on the easiest position to find a starter and transform it into a 2nd rounder in 2010. It's bad decisions which domino like this that prevent a team from ever becoming a playoff team. Sure, getting a late 2nd would be great, but it's no consolation and forces the team to find non-scrub UDFA RB's for September.

I see the results optional crowd is back in full force now that the off-season is upon us and last season is merely a distant memory. It's obvious rebuilding is the name of the game in 2010. What few people can rationalize is how long it takes a team to rebuild. If you're the Falcons or Dolfelons, it's about 1 year. For a team like Buffalo that is constantly losing talent and replacing it with draft picks, indefinitely. No one expected the Jets to reach the AFC Title game in 2009, but there they were. So they conducted a partial rebuild in one season, obtained their supposed QB for the future, have a real NT, top CB's, acquired 2 top WR's, and an outstanding pair of ILB's in less than two seasons. If the Bills have half that by mid season 2013 (assuming they've extended the stadium lease and remain in Buffalo) we'll all do cartwheels.

Last November, Schobel questioned the path Buffalo was taking. A short time later, DJ was canned by RW (not GM Smithers) and proceeded to get rejected by every name HC and hot OC available. I think AS' impact on the team is more significant than most realize. He's the longest tenured Bill, their best defender, and rarely speaks. If he is moved on draft day (which is complicated by his large contract) it should tell even the homer schlub goober fans this team is rebuilding. Besides, moving 43 DE's to 34 OLB's isn't something that typically works. Ask Aaron Kampman.

This talk of skill players in anything before round 3 I think is grounded in the fantasy football movement. I don't think one RB, WR, CB, S, or ILB should be taken until they've stocked up on OL, NT, and OLB. Besides, you don't take a safety 5th. You take the overhyped guy at 8 with limited ball skills who no one had going before the 15th pick.

Cornwell looked to become Exec. Director of the NFLPA last summer and had some support from a few player reps. It was a surprise when DeMaurice Smith won the job. As much as the article provides some information, Cornwell is NOT a neutral observer to all of this.

Holmes has issues, but he's another way to help Sanchez improve faster. Having said that, there's no doubt that NE, NYJ, and MIA are all much stronger than Buffalo. NYJ looks like they're going for broke, which is a far cry from the Bills. Buffalo is commited to not commiting to much more than the minimum.