BillsVet

The simplest way to make the playoffs is by winning the division now that there are 2 WC's instead of 3. And routinely the Bills have drafted skill positions as opposed to OL and DL. That is, until this year. And as Bill in NYC points out, their offense and defensive philosophies do not mesh with what a cold weather team should run. That was evident against CLE in 2007. Compare that with a guy like Mike Tomlin who was adept running the T2 in Tampa and Minnesota, yet deferred to Dick LeBeau in Pittsburgh. It also doesn't help that NE and MIA have invested heavily in finding talent evaluators and locating good coaches. I'm not sure about NYJ yet, but it's no coincidence that the team has had the same people in the front office since the early part of this decade.

America will never be the same. Freedom isn't free.

Even though RW has made some poor decisions, he's usually had one to make up for the previous bad one. This time around, I don't see one coming. Chuck Knox left, to be followed up about three seasons later with Polian as GM. But ever since Butler/Smith departed, RW hasn't followed it up with anything substantive in the front office. It's no coincidence the team is looking at 10 years running without a playoff appearance. RW is running the team, and he does not have the football savvy to find good people. Or he doesn't want to go outside the organization. JMO.

Brad Butler: 0 NFL starts at OT Jon Runyan: 192 starts at OT Granted, JR is older and coming off microfracutre surgery. But he's been cleared to play. This is precisely the sort of move the Bills make to avert all the negative discussion going on right now, so long as the guy will come cheap. He's a name player, but the Bills seem more interested in winning the PR battle than the one on the field.

If he's healthy, I'm all for him. They need some experience at RT, and certainly on the OL.

Ralph spends on players consistent with other teams in the league. Mark Gaughan had a story the other day that showed Buffalo's total contracts (which are not guaranteed) are near the bottom. I'm not going to skewer RW on that. However, he chooses to keep the same poor managers, and as a result the product on the field suffers. RW need not spend like Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder to win, he simply needs to find better executives versed in football personnel. But alas, he chooses not to. It is the 800 pound gorilla in the room that there is no succession plan. And if the Bills are making 40M per season with a team value of 900M plus, I don't see a motivator for this heirs to keep the team. Labor struggles have commenced, the owner is 90, and the WNY economy is not improving. I am not surprised the lease hasn't been extended, nor is there any talk of it. It seems hard to imagine the Bills remaining in Buffalo beyond Mr. Wilson's passing.

Tim Graham has a note about DJ admitting the Bills overvalued Walker twice this off-season. Graham: DJ admits Walker overvalued He must have regressed an awful lot from April to August to get cut, or they wanted more time for Bell. Either way, their solution to trading Peters was insufficient. One has to wonder who is making the decisions at OBD. I'm sure DJ wouldn't mind having Peters right now.

Schopp has admitted not being much of a Bills fan. He looks at the team from a strange angle, but nevertheless talked about DJ being fired after the Dallas MNF game. I think Brad Riter, especially when he's got Ruben Brown on, is a much better option.

Isn't is funny to see Brandon come out when they sign TO to a contract, yet when the team is imploding 5-10 days before the season begins he's nowhere to be found. The last time I recall RB being out there during tough times was during the Peters 2008 holdout. I can't wait to see which excuses they cook up for this season. They'll be one about the young OL, one about the inevitable injuries, or perhaps the new OC. They're never at fault for anything.

Marv talked about building consensus, because he knew that it would take others to assist him in re-building the team. There is no such thing as consensus at OBD. RW is the man making the big decisions, particularly financial. Who is making the decisions is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of the team. Unfortunately, the front office dynamic is shrouded in mystery, so no one takes the blame. There is no one with personnel experience in the front office charged with making decisions. And it shows in these rash moves just prior to opening Day 09.

TD's final season in Buffalo was his fifth and final non-playoff season. Marv decided to begin the rebuild process of a team that finished 5-11 and featured a lot of dead weight. Gone were Adams, Moulds, Milloy, and Teague among others. Four years later, the 2009 Bills are at least looking like 2005. There may not be as many over the hill veterans, but it sure appears to be another 5-11 6-10 type team. The operative question to ask is, how much has really been accomplished in four seasons if the 2009 Bills aren't a playoff team? And if the team isn't winning, aren't they simply perpetually rebuilding? And if they're perpetually rebuilding, isn't this a concrete indictment of the current management structure featuring GM Ralph Wilson, COO Brandon, along with Modrak and Guy? Nevermind DJ, we know he's bad. This season will expose RW, Littman, and Brandon as unqualified to lead the on-field product. Kinda like TD in 2005.

Walker was losing first team reps at GB earlier in the pre-season with Bell taking his spot. Some on this board wondered aloud if Walker, after learning he'd be the LT when Peters was dealt, would take off some weight. Apparently that wasn't important to him, although I don't think it would have mattered. He's not nimble or particularly strong.

At least the Marlins won those titles and had a relevant front office that could spot talent. Small market teams are at a disadvantage, but not anything insurmountable. You must have people in the front office who can recognize and develop talent, which the Bills do not and are unwilling to build. Buddy Nix is a nice story, but all NFL teams have an executive at GM or similar position to bring it all together. Buffalo's management structure consists of a 91 year old man, business guy with no power, and holdovers from the TD regime. I used to think only CIN and OAK had it worse with their owners running those teams. Now I'm not so sure.

How many teams rebuild or semi-rebuild twice within four seasons? The franchise needs to rebuild in one area before the actual players-the front office. Russ Brandon is a GM in name only, because RW is making all the moves aside from probably draft picks and some UFA's. A 91 year old man running the franchise is not encouraging. Only Oakland goes down as a team worse than Buffalo's front office. Furthermore, the Bills have taken saving money to a new height. With the release of Walker, they save 3M, but his contract counts 4.5M against the cap. This is how to hit the cap minimum without spending to it. Peters counts against the cap, but isn't on the team. This is a nasty trend. More Bills fans need to research the league and learn how other teams work. Management is horrible, and it is absolutely unequivocally not acceptable to rebuild or semi-rebuild again. This team is all about hype and getting fans to buy tickets. But they have not delivered a playoff team in many years.

Sullivan gets ripped for doing his job: commentary and opinion. He's right on one front: hope is not good enough entering a regular season. Substance is all that counts, and starting rookies on the OL, banking on a new OC, and thinking DJ will suddenly turn into a good coach and those are gigantic ifs.

Drinking lots of metamucil. They are gone: Tripplett, Royal, Fowler, P. Price, Bowen, K. Thomas, A. Thomas, Nall, Reyes, A. Davis (2006) and Dockery, Walker, Whittle, Webster. 14 for 14 in two years.

If RW is running the show a la C. Montgomery Burns, is Russ Brandon his Waylon Smithers?

The man has turned teams around before and after the salary cap was instituted. I can't think of one other GM in the NFL who was successful in both periods. BTW, Aundray Bruce, Jeff George, David Carr, Courtney Brown, Tim Couch, Kenneth Sims, and Tom Cousineau say hello.

For the record, the "addition by subtraction" mantra was preached quite heavily around these parts when Fairchild exited stage left of Colorado State and TS came on as OC. I think AVP will be different, and he'll not let his ego get in the way. I'm hopeful, but none of us know what to expect. It may be something that this offense doesn't start clicking until later in the season, especially considering the youth and lack of talent on the OL.

Talk about development. How many QB's in their first 3 NFL seasons can handle 3 OC's? I know they've all run similar offenses, but that's a bit much to ask. Edwards still has to show a lot this season with the weapons he's got. This franchise has made a habit out of setting people up to fail. RW set up Levy and Brandon to fail. DJ set up TE to fail when he hired an also-ran QB coach to be OC. And now AVP is being told to put together a game plan for the offense with 10 days against one of the best team this decade. Just once I'd like to see the team set people up to succeed.

Well, in thinking it over perhaps DJ could have been responsible, with a push from RW. I'm sure during the off-season, particularly after the TO signing, that it was made clear they needed to win. It's a classic case of being backed into a corner and fighting back with all you've got. Perhaps DJ saw the light. As for the team, there's so much uncertainty. I'm glad TS is gone, but I fear it's too little too late. We'll be able to tell a lot by about 10PM on 9/14.

KnightRider answered the question with one minor exception: Teams in which owners run the show do not win. Does anyone ever hear of the Rooney family talking to their coach? Or how about the Mara/Tisch families? Perhaps Bob Kraft, Jim Irsay, et al. The trend here is that owners with a hands-on approach rarely get results. Jones' Cowboys haven't won a playoff game in 13 years. Mike Brown has 1 playoff berth in 18 seasons. Al Davis is, well, Al Davis. And Ralph isn't much better than those three.

Just a thought, but why in the heck is RW meddling in meeting the new co-offensive coordinators? Did the Mara's/Tisch's meet Kevin Gilbride or Arthur Blank need to discuss X's and O's with Mike Mularkey? Bob Kraft isn't asking Bill Belichick who's calling the plays this year after McDaniels left. I cannot understand for the life of me what RW is going to add to hiring another coordinator. Is he simply saying get it done or else? Because that should have been made clear last October when he re-signed DJ to a contract extension. RW may have been an owner for 50 years, but it doesn't mean he know the intricacies of the game.

I can definitely agree that it was DJ's idea to fire Schonert. If of course you ignore DJ's entire tenure in Buffalo and RW's 50 year ownership of the Bills. DJ's loyalty and RW's meddling cannot be ignored here. Although I will say the guy had to go, he never should have been hired in the first place.

No wonder the salary cap went up this past year. 09 Cap Increase The owners have to be kicking themselves for signing Tagliabue's CBA back in early 07. The players have a sweetheart deal that DeMaurice Smith will not want to depart from. I can see labor strife very soon. This also reminds me of just prior to the NFL lockout when it was found players were getting the lion's share of revenue. And we know how that went, even though it's two vastly different leagues.