BillsVet

APUS is another resident poster who knows better than to question the future and stability of the franchise. Don't take it personally, there are several of them around here that question the fact that we wonder if this team will ever return to being a top NFL team. Mostly, these posters show up during the offseason to talk up how next season will be better. And without variation, they're wrong. I've seen it happen for three going on four offseasons now.

No one is realistically saying the owner is a bystander in a coach or GM search. The degree of involvement is what remains troubling for me. Ralph Wilson is an owner, not a GM and as such doesn't know the finer points of what a GM or HC does. I expect him to have say but not make the choice. And if you believe that Nix isn't getting "input" from RW, Mr. Smithers, and Littman, you're living in a cave. Nix is a football guy, but the authority he has will be seriously in doubt until he can make changes to the front office. And that's probably not happening, given that John Guy and Tom Modrak are still in their positions. Make no mistakes APUS, RW is making the decision.

I think the OP is making a point deeper than that. The Bills entered the off-season needing to find a GM to fill a vacant position (Levy and Brandon don't count) and a new HC. They never interviewed one person outside the organization for GM, and have interviewed only one individual in 10 days from other teams (Frazier) that they have a reasonable chance at hiring for HC. They've been rejected by name and no-name coaches, and have an owner who meddles more than just about anyone in the NFL not named Snyder or Jerry Jones. Has it occurred to some fans that few people are willing to work here? And that's why we have to evaluate where we are as fans of this franchise. We can say we're "die-hard" fans, but there are two major issues taking place here: 1. The team has been bad for a long time. Perhaps not Raiders or Lions bad, but consistently mediocre. That record of futility is a lot to stomach, especially when the promised evaluation and supposed house-cleaning hasn't/isn't happening. 2. The ownership situation is seriously in doubt, and has been for a long time. When fans ignore that, they're ignoring reality. We don't know where this team goes when the owner passes and that uncertainty adds to an already bad situation.

I want to say this thing went down, but who knows. The way Marv drafted was supposedly based on "football" character, not "character" character as explained to me on this board. Football character has nothing to do with actual character, and essentially means that the person is committed to being an excellent football players. The football character argument is pure BS by the Marv apologists to squirm out of the fact that Levy's two years set the franchise back. Marv got 1 starting player out of 6 picks in the first three rounds of the 06 and 07 drafts: Posluszny.

What if that asset showed a loss ten years running? Would it be okay for the owner to keep calling the shots? The man is 91 years old and he's in charge of a company which is valued at more than 900M? How many fortune 500 CEO's are in their tenth decade of life AND making good decisions? The bottom line is, football people are not allowed to make football decisions in Buffalo. At least not since Polian. For the most part, all of the teams which are run by their owners are colossal flops: Dallas, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Oakland, and Washington. Dallas hasn't won a playoff game since 96, Cinci is in the playoffs for the second time in nearly 20 seasons, and the other have little to show for this decade. RW is holding this team back with his penchant for making bad decisions. He cannot trust anyone and it's killing the franchise.

Every team that fires the HC takes the rest of the coaching staff out at the same time. Occasionally, the incoming HC takes someone from the old staff, but it's not usually an OC or DC. If they're cleaning house, they've left quite a few rooms untouched. In order to properly set a new course, it's time to remove Guy, Modrak, and Overdorf among others. If not, there hasn't been a house-cleaning, but a sweeping of these problems under a big rug.

They say the most dangerous place to be in DC is between Chuck Schumer and a camera. Not my words, but a big thanks to old Chuck for telling us what we already know.

Brandon is the Waylon Smithers of OBD. As long as Ralph (C. Montgomery Burns) is still around, he's going to need a yes-man to carry out his demands. And his chief demand is to be profitable, which is where Underdorf helps. The coach search will have more impact on the future of this team than any other. A GM isn't especially visible during the off-season, at least when compared to the HC. Buffalo fans have seen almost every type of coach since 2001, so if the Bills try to sell a "hot" assistant as their next guy, the exodus will begin.

I see teams league-wide watching each other to see what's going to happen in 2010. There's a wait and see approach, and I can't see them spending big on a HC, despite reports to the contrary. I don't see there being a lot of activity this offseason. Everything is about 2011 and the potential lockout. There won't be huge contracts going out this year, especially since many potential UFA's will be RFA's and require compensation.

Mankins is a G and not an OT. And I don't see a 4-3 team taking a guy like Cody, he's a 3-4 NT two down type of player. As much as sideline to sideline LBs are necessary, unless the Bills shore up their DL, it doesn't matter. Too often the DL aren't freeing up the backers to make plays and while fans love names like Stroud, he is not occupying two blockers like he used to.

I like Bulaga in the run game as well. It's one game, but they've run behind him and at Morgan consistently. Buffalo may need to find their LT with that 9th pick whether they like or not and Okung should be gone by then.

Bulaga getting the better of Morgan earlier IMO.

There are three positions not often found via UFA: QB, LT, and DE. At this early juncture, if Okung and no QB's are there, I'd go DE with Derrick Morgan. Buffalo's pass rush isn't especially strong, especially if Schobel retires. There's a lot that needs to happen, but it seems the drop off from Okung at LT to Bulaga or Trent Williams is steep.

Or perhaps wait another quarter century and interview for vacant GM spots.

Tim's comment about April being very upset in not getting the interim HC job was noteworthy. Granted, this is a ST coach, but he carried the Assistant HC tag as well. Either way, it's hard for a ST coach to become a HC. The guy is 56 and probably knows he doesn't have another 15 years in the league. As much as many like April, the franchise needs to turn the page on the DJ era and allow the next HC to build their own staff.

McNeill, Ryans, Evans, and Ruud at a minimum are restricted free agents and would not come without surrendering draft picks. Vick, Vanden Bosch, Kampman, and Merriman are older or have injury concerns and it's not time to be taking chances. And based on Bills recent history combined with no cap floor or ceiling, I don't see them breaking the bank in UFA. Get more picks and begin the rebuilding the right way.

No one can declare an end to the Levy era, just like no one can erase the utter draft futility of 04-05 (save for Evans). The mark both TD (to a lesser degree) and Levy in 06-07 (EDIT: left) isn't going away that quickly. Not getting top starters in 06-07 will continue hurting the team for the next few years, particularly the first rounders. As for going in the right direction, I suppose improving from 5-11 in 05 under Donahoe to 6-10 in 09 with the Levy/Brandon built team is progress. Of course, that's a one win departure from 06-08 when darling Dick led the Bills to 7-9 records.

Buffalo has depth at S, and RB depth isn't hard to acquire, now that they have a feature back. Why would Wilson/Brandon/Littman want to pay big dollars to backups? They certainly haven't demonstrated a track record of it, why would they begin now? Especially considering there is no cap, which doesn't require them to spend above the floor. Walker and Dockery were slugs collecting a paycheck. What particularly stings is the DW and ML were 2 of Marv's 3 first rounders. Even debating their departure means something went very wrong in their careers.

The NFLPA got a sweetheart deal when Gene Upshaw basically told Tagliabue take it or leave it back in 2006. And now the owners are saying that deal hurts their ability to make money. Go figure. The owners may not want to, but they may need to reveal how much they're making. It's leaked out GB and some small markets aren't even making 5% of their team's total value. De Smith can't back down from that awesome deal, because doing so would irrevocably hurt his repuation.

You think a guy with more than 4 years of NFL service runs as fast as he did four years ago? Donte may have straight-line speed, but he takes bad angles, is washed out in the box, and is nicked up more frequently than he was in 06-07. I didn't see a whole lot of DW today, and he's behind Byrd, Scott, and Wilson in the depth chart if he survives next season.

Then why do the Bills insist on starting Fred Jackson and giving him 33 carries in the season finale? Lynch apparently bulked up, and his quickness isn't what it used to be. Additionally, he hesitates behind the LOS and isn't decisive as opposed to FJ and doesn't catch the ball as well. Lynch's run-in's with the law don't help his case, nor does his salary.

Sullivan probably talks to Wilson more than most media personalities do. RW's is not ultra-accessible regardless. And for the record, does anyone think Brandon is accessible? I for one do not, as it seems no local or national media type has had a soundbyte from Mr. Smithers. The last we heard him was after the Cleveland debacle. The man didn't even speak at his promotion/Nix' elevation to GM PC.

So, we don't like that Sullivan complains about the team? All of his pieces aren't hatchet jobs, but pardon the man for seeing that the team is in poor shape. It's ironic how fans are shouted down when they begin to "hate" on a player for various reasons. I've read it as "running" a player out of town. Now, posters are complaining about a newspaper columnist who isn't infatuated with the current state of the Bills? This is surreal...a stinking newspaper columnist.

Congratulations.

I think Whitner is released this offseason, given his contract and few contributions. We're in a different era with there being no cap in 2010 w/o a new CBA, and players like DW will suffer because of it. But, with Lynch not being the starter anymore, what's that say about Levy's draft? They get worse with every game played. With four first day picks, he's come away with one starter: Posluszny. That's not good enough in a small market, which must get no fewer than 2-3 long term (4 or more years) starters. Buffalo blew 3 1sts in two years. Ouch.