BillsVet

I feel the same way, because while tailgating before the game is fun, I go to watch football first. And if they can't make a commitment toward winning, I can't make a reciprocal move toward the team. I'd prefer to watch at home and not spend an entire day anticipating, watching, and then complaining about the team. Carucci pointed out something noteworthy in that they've been going with the entry level approach for too long. Either put our chips in or step away from the table. Being in the game without a real shot is no longer an option.

I think RW has less control than we think, with people like Littman and to a lesser extent Berchtold guarding him from the media. But I agree Littman is controlling the direction of the team in order to maximize revenue and keep debt to value low for prospective buyers. This off-season will give us a window into where this team is headed. If they fail to re-structure the front office with real football people, it's an indication their objective remains to ride it out and let the chips fall where they may when the owner passes.

I don't see RW giving up the title of president. If he trusted RB as much as you think he is, it probably would make sense, but I think RW has gone into a shell as he's aged.

Fixed that for you. Or we could leave it the same for those fans who ignore rather than remember how going a decade without the playoffs is reality in Billsland. The roster is not better, perhaps worse, than the one Levy/Jauron inherited in early 2006. This one might be younger, but it's not going to the playoffs either.

Scott at LB is a microcosm of what's wrong with this team. Desperate moves like changing a SS into a LB and back show this team hasn't rebuilt sh!* since Levy/Jauron came in almost four years ago. The roster is made up of so many NFL journeymen who wouldn't suit up for playoff teams. The Leon Joe's of 07 have been replaced with the Marcus Buggs' of 09. I have no doubt most injuries occur because smaller (and supposedly faster) players are being beat up at or near the LOS. Scott, Whitner, Ellison, Buggs, Palmer, et al are sub 225 pound guys get ripped up trying to get their noses in with the bigger OL and TE's.

When you look at the Steelers, Patriots, and Colts high round picks this decade it's far and away better than the bottom feeders. The reason is indeed management, most notably a personnel structure led by someone who knows what they're doing. Whether it's director of football ops Kevin Colbert in PIT, Bill Polian with Indy, or a Belichick paired with a Pioli or Reese in NE, they have their people in place. Meanwhile, the Bills don't even know what to do offensively or defensively. How can a dysfunctional management structure find players for a coaching staff which can't figure out what to do? This team is further away in 09 than they were in 05 from making the playoffs.

Name the last second round QB this decade who's become an outstanding signal caller? The only one I can find is Drew Brees, and he was the first pick in the second of 2001. The best QB's (cue the Brady exception poster) are found in Round 1. It's downright horrifying to think the current front office may have the chance to pick a QB. That's even worse than having to see Edwards back in 2010 starting.

LT fits the Bills template for using their top pick to replace a departed veteran. Personally, it's early, but I like Bryan Bulaga from Iowa. Still, drafting for need every year is an indication the team is not building but simply maintaining mediocrity.

Promising hope and delivering nothing. Yep, that's their strategy and when it comes to doing something substantial, they'll find a reason to avoid it.

Guessing what the PR folks will cook up after this season is better than waiting for gameday. We know they'll have some excuses ready for why they've missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season since TD was fired. A new HC is merely fixing a symptom of the team illness. Building a team, after the owner, begins with the GM who manages football ops. The HC should be an extension of the GM, with the latter having a vision for how and what he wants the team to be. A new HC will not cure the ills, especially because Modrak and Guy would probably remain without a new GM.

Sure. We once tried to have a football man run the show. And because that didn't work, let's go the route of having amateurs and failures handle it from now on. /sarcasm off

Do you need any links to understanding the Holy Trinity? I can't see anyone entering OBD to work for RW with Littman strictly controlling expenditures. Most likely a football ops guy wants Guy, Modrak, and DJ fired which will cost some decent money for this franchise.

No, TE cast his lot with DJ after last season and by playing DJ's style offense, it may end his chance to ever start after this season. Trent's a nice guy and not one to throw anyone under the bus, but it's time for him to man up and take some chances. Best case for him is he plays 2010 without a new deal and he fades into NFL oblivion. If TE continues playing QB scared, he'll go down with a guy who has had 5 OC's in 9 NFL seasons as a HC. Like most Bills fans, I wanted TE to succeed and take this team to the playoffs. TE should have known better than to trust the offensively inept DJ as much as he did.

I'd be for moving Butler back to G, but he's been injured each season as a starter. His durability to stand up for an entire season is in doubt at this point. Hangartner has proven he's just a different type of Fowler: someone who is low cost and low reward. Jamon Meredith, like Bell, is a project player. Neither OT is near good enough to be playing, let alone starting on a NFL team. Both players need another year to develop and then we'll talk. It's why both were late round picks, with Meredith unable to crack the roster of OT starved GB. But he's good enough in Buffalo. I think it's ironic the Bills OL has worsened each year since 2007 when the big dollar FA's came in. More sacks allowed and less ability to run the ball. DJ and the front office plan is a catastrophic disaster.

Aside from hiring Buddy Nix as a national scout, there haven't been any new faces or opinions in this organization in quite some time. IMO, that's how they want it to be, though their hand may be forced this off-season. One wonders why the team is rooted in preventing outside and qualified individuals from entering the scene. Should the Bills finish 7-9 or worse, management has a serious problem: Do they stick with the cheaper and tired strategy of remaining the same, or introduce someone from the outside to a flawed management structure? Or, do they simply replace the lame HC who has proven he cannot win when it counts? I can see them keeping the same front office (and not hiring a GM) while placing the blame squarely onto DJ. Either way, fans are in the same position as they were last year: waiting for the off-season.

Week 10 of the NFL season and we're already talking off-season. Kinda reminds me of 2006, 2007, 2008, and the 2009 NFL off-seasons. Selling hope will be much different this time around.

It defies logic for a team to remain mediocre for three going on four seasons. One could argue the 06 season was overachievement, but since then it's been all downhill. If this team doesn't go 10-6 (meaning a 7-1 to close) they probably will pick from 8th-12th. And that's right there were they've been from 06-09 on draft day. Truly groundhog day for Bills fans.

If last season is any indication, the Bills will be on the sidelines of FA, making more low budget signings which ultimately won't make much difference. Hangartner, Fitzpatrick, and McKinney are like 2006 FA all over again: low cost low reward types. Their best signing was Drayon Florence, who's acquitted himself quite well in starting for McKelvin. Least surprising is that DJ can't figure out how to use TO. I'm really interested to see how the small teams address free agency 2010 if there is not labor agreement in place, which I don't think there will be. Because I can see the Bills crying small market as RW collects his millions from 2009.

Troy Polamalu is playing tonight the way Dick Levy envisioned he would when they spent a top 10 pick on him. Whitner will not be re-signed when his contract comes due after 2010 and this use of picks on small players (who are hurt more often than not) is what has dragged this franchise down. And when you don't have clear hits with top ten picks, you'll be right back drafting in the top 10-15 all over again. But I forgot, he's not being used correctly and Buffalo's front 7 isn't good enough. How about not drafting a safety when you've made a total rebuild for your franchise. Keep yappin lil Donte.

Tom, there have been numerous posters who talked incessantly about building from the lines out, hence criticism of the 06 draft. Unfortunately, it took the Bills 4 drafts to figure out you can't buy an OL nor have inferior pass rushers besides Schobel. When I look at the rounds 1 and 2 picks from 04-08, I see a lot of skill players and only 1 lineman selected: McCargo who is a bust. It's little wonder the DL and OL have suffered mightily for so many years. And the golden nugget they lucked into was traded for rookies in 2009. I'm hopeful Levitre and Wood will improve, but their tackles are absolutely dreadful.

You're correct that RW is that common denominator to all of this decade of disappointment and even a casual observer should know this. Beginning with Phillips firing, Butler/Smith leaving, Donahoe, and through to Levy/Brandon, RW's decision making has become even more suspect as he's aged. To think he thought TO would erase DJ's faulty game planning is sheer lunacy. Still, when he had a chance to start over, he chose to elevate Brandon, re-sign DJ, and then keep the HC when he finished 2-8. I won't believe this team is in it to win it until they find football people to make football decisions. If Dungy is right and the Bills are looking at Vick, they're not trying to win anymore but find gimmicks to sell tickets.

Is this team concerned with being good as much as they are with selling tickets? MV is under contract for another season, but Philly could dump him and wouldn't take a huge cap hit. I doubt many teams would want him given his track record.

After four seasons and two OL overhauls, DJ does not have a cogent plan to build an offense. It's no coincidence he didn't have a plan in Chicago where he used two extremely different OC's in Gary Crowton and John Shoop.

Obviously we like the guys we've got, and the guys before that we liked as well. I thought about making changes to the OL earlier in the off-season, and when you think about it, you have to do it. We have a lot to work to do protecting our QB.

Cowher will demand absolute personnel control if hired, in addition to a contract in excess of 6M per season. I don't see the Bills giving control to one man, nor paying that sort of salary. Cowher was backed up by some fine personnel executives in Pittsburgh, namely Kevin Colbert. At this point, it's not even a guarantee the team hires a legitimate personnel man for GM, let alone a HC. The owner's advanced age means he probably isn't going to spend big and hand out a long term contract. Still, Cowher would be an immense improvement. I'm just not sure he's the personnel guy people make him out to be.