BillsVet

There remain a host of factors that go into why a player signs with a certain team. Chicago still plays the C2 defense, like Buffalo does. PT's options were few, given his size and what he brings to a team. Still, the Bills are becoming a team that is more like the bridesmaid and not the bride. They've invited a host of players this off-season and did not acquire anyone (outside of the released Owens) who can be considered a proven NFL player. I'm sure someone will say PT wasn't good and basically knock him down as a player in order to reduce the blame onto the front office. But the fact remains that another guy who was invited to Buffalo, and for whom the Bills had little competition, chose to sign elsewhere.

Kinda like the 2008 Baltimore Ravens who made the playoffs with a rookie QB and rookie HC? The facts remain the same: 8 NFL seasons as a HC. 1 playoff appearance. 1 playoff loss.

No matter what anyone says, I can't see DJ departing from his tried (but not true) style of keeping games close and hoping to win by a FG. It's how he got to be a NFL HC, and it won't change in 2009 regardless of what's at stake. Coaches like DJ don't last long in the NFL, given the penchant for not knowing when to take calculated risks. And when he does, it's usually a disaster of a call a la the away Jets game. He's not going to change his spots simply because he's unpopular with fans. It's upper management that votes whether he remains, and at this point they're more concerned with making a dollar than putting a winning team on the field. That and avoiding or disavowing any notion of the team moving. The Bills and DJ are a perfect fit for each other.

This is another example of "it's new, so it must be better." Not one guy on the OL is proven at the position they're going to start at in September. Hangartner is the closest, but even that's a push. But, it's new and the Bills have shown an affinity for replacing bad with new and unproven. Especially on the OL.

How many Pro Bowlers did Belichick have in 2001 when he won a SB with a 2nd year 6th round QB? Good coaching can make an average team good. In comparison, a bad HC will have a negative team-wide effect. DJ's lack of innovative and effective gameplans helped Buffalo lose 8 of their last 10. Not all of those losses were on the players. Also, FYI, Chuck Noll's record before the 74 season when PIT won the SB was 33-37. He had two 10 win seasons as well. Check your stats before posting false information. Noll Coaching record

Someone will inevitably say that DJ received the extension when Buffalo was 5-1. That's correct, but it wasn't announced officially and the team would not admit anything. Sean Payton inked an extension last year, and it was quickly noted by NO. Why the Bills try to remain so private is beyond me and indicative of some serious insecurity. But you're correct that he went 0-6 in the division (first winless division record since 1976) and managed to be so bad so often. It's all about money, as in the guarantee that RW would have to pay a guy he himself signed. No one can underestimate RW's ego either, as I find it hard that the owner who negotiated the contract would fire that same HC he re-signed two months later. IMO, there's something seriously wrong when the owner and not the quasi-GM is negotiating the coaches contract. Few teams have micromanaging owners like RW, namely Oakland and Cincinnati. Their track records speak for themselves.

If Jauron went 7-9 or less, I think he gets cut loose. Anything better and he could stay. After all, in a supposed make or break season, he went 2-8 in the final 10 against the second easiest schedule in the league and kept his job. Anything could happen at this point and it wouldn't surprise me.

On that we can agree. Florio's strength was gathering up information and posting it in one spot. The analysis is practically worthless. Go to your NE board and whine about something there.

The team is reportedly pursuing the lottery angle to raise some more revenue, but stadium naming is not approved? RWS, formerly known as Rich, was one of the first to having a corporate name on the stadium. If RW is so anti corporate naming, it means he's not truly dedicated to using all possible revenue streams. What changed between 73 when the place was built and 98 when RW got the ability to rename the place after Rich's deal ran out? The Bills are making no long term plans at all right now. The stadium lease ends after the 2012 season, there are no naming rights, and certainly no discussion of a new stadium. RWS is one of the older in the league and with the NFL becoming a stadium building league, falling further behind in developing a franchise. They were so desperate for funds (which RW said will not be used on players) that they outright sold games to Toronto, with more on the way. Nearly every other stadium in the NFL has sold naming rights. What difference does it make what the place is called?

This is the classic argument whenever anyone questions the direction of the team and retention of DJ. Merely insinuate that because a poster doesn't have confirmed insider information that their opinion is worthless. It's the easiest means of argument suppression, and utilized anytime a fan who demands more than mediocrity from a DJ team makes a post . The casual uniformed fans continue to ignore what winning teams are doing. Most franchises, if not successful, are trying to be so. Buffalo rides so close to the rail of mediocrity year after year without ever being horrible or good. No team in the NFL can state they're close to this but the Bills. In the SB era, no NFL HC has consistently been as mediocre, nor given as many chances to succeed than Dick Jauron. Check the winning percentage over his 8 year career and compare it to other coaches with 130+ games coached.

I read PFT, but Florio has tended to try to start controversy of late rather than report. I suppose it's the way he wants to go, and that's fine. He could report that a lot of rookies are looking brutal, not to mention Sanchez, Stafford, and about 200 other first year players. WRT to Brown and Orakpo, I'm sure a lot of fans thought those guys were indeed more NFL ready. But their long term ceiling seemed limited to me. I like the Maybin pick because it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to an obvious problem with the pass rush. They'll expect him to contribute on passing downs with an eye on probably starting in 2010. Maybin, IMHO, will be the best DE among the first day picks.

I've never seen more UFA's go to Buffalo and leave unsigned. Certainly, management doesn't want to overpay for a player, but if a released and undersized T2 OLB leaves town without a deal, where else is he going to sign? Perhaps it's PT's way of saying thanks but no thanks. We'll never know, but if a player receives an invite to OBD, it must mean they and the team are interested in each other. Already, Fred Taylor, Kevin Jones, Freddie Keiaho, Cato June, and now Tinoisamoa have left without signing and receiving offers. That's not comforting, in that all would have had defined roles, either as starters or primary backups at positions of weakness.

Right on. Love the team, been following them 20+ years. Tired of losing, and tired of mediocrity. Feel good moves make for articles in the off-season. But when play begins, the hype needs to start translating onto the field. Lately, it's been anything but. As in for eight of nine seasons with equal to or less than a .500 record.

You do realize that Turk Schonert has 12 years as a QB coach before being promoted to OC, right? He was on absolutely no one's list to be promoted to OC for any team until DJ came calling before the 08 season. Some guys are best served as position coaches. Maybe they don't want to be coordinators or HC's, who have much more responsibility. Howard Mudd was a position coach for more than 30 years in the NFL, late of the Colts. He's pretty darn good, but never aspired to be anything more than an OL coach.

I'm still not clear on how a former first rounder who is not going to start (unless Williams or Stroud is injured) in 2009 can be anything but a bust. The amazing thing is, people need to see a player completely bottom out before they'll throw in the towel. Losman is a fine example of a guy who people refused to admit was terrible. Unfortunately, it took the last few games of 08 for some fans to realize it. Now here's another first rounder in McCargo that hasn't performed in three seasons, and it's going to take the bitter end for some to see it.

Kollar to Houston "They had a squirt with the GM Russ Brandon and (Bills Owner) Ralph Wilson, and it went for quite a while. It wasn’t like it was a one day deal. The Texans had been working on it for over a week, and it finally came to be the other day.” Evidently, it was not something everyone was on-board with at OBD. This has been discussed previously on TSW that Buffalo simply didn't want to let him go. He has 20 years as a DL coach in the league, so obviously he's done something right. I would also point out that former Rams DT (and first rounder) Jimmy Kennedy had the same feelings toward Kollar that McCargo probably has. Kennedy was a complete bust, and is not a sure thing to make the Vikings roster this year. Perhaps it's not the coach but the player. Furthermore, why didn't Kollar get tough with Kyle Williams? Perhaps it's because Williams, while not as athletic, works hard in and out of the season. McCargo has never demonstrated a willingness to put in the time necessary to live up to first round pick status. He won't even start in his fourth season in the league, which pretty much clinches it, no matter how many puff pieces are written between now and opening day. But it makes fans feel good that an article comes out which agrees that a former first rounder might suddenly turn the corner after three forgettable seasons. Sure.

The Bills have been more hype and hope than reality for a long time. I don't think McCargo will develop with the introduction of a new DL coach. And before anyone goes off the deep end, the Bills initially did not want to let Kollar go to Houston. So evidently they liked Kollar's methods as opposed to being worried about McCargo's development with Kollar present.

I'll always maintain it was Polian who was a bigger reason the Bills were so darn good from 88-99. His talent as a talent evaluator is evident from his work in Carolina and Indianapolis. He consistently builds playoff caliber teams. Marv was voted into the HOF as a coach and for that he should be praised. He excelled at using big words and steadying the ship featuring all that talent. OTOH, his two seasons as GM left a lot to be desired. In his two years, Buffalo signed 14 UFA's. 13 are no longer with Buffalo. If those two years were a foundation for the future, Buffalo wouldn't be a 7-9 team in 2008.

It's worth saying: Ngata could've been a Buffalo Bill. But as we've been told ad nauseam, he didn't fit the Jauron system. Two years after wasting a pick on a DT and selecting a DB who is above average but not spectacular (because he doesn't have the players around him) Buffalo traded 2 picks for Stroud. Team Building 101 courtesy of the Buffalo Bills, Russ Brandon, Marv Levy, et al.

Millen was canned when Ford the son said if he were Ford the father he'd fire the guy. IIRC, this happened early in the season when Detroit got off to a typical bad start. I think in any other place, Millen would have been gone 2-3 years ago. Buffalo hasn't made any long term changes to the front office or in the coaching staff in more than 3 seasons. Fairchild left on his own, as did Kollar. By retaining DJ, the team is saying they're content with a mediocre HC. I still don't think fans realize how hard it is to go without a playoff appearance in nine straight seasons during the salary cap. Only the aforementioned Lions can match this record of futility.

Only if the team becomes less profitable and fans become restless a la 2005. I think Brandon is the man for the duration and no attempt will be made to hire someone who actually has a resume deeper than, "Bills COO/GM 2008-present."

He hasn't traded for John Henderson yet. Ergo, he's not good. Brandon has spent all of one year working the personnel end of the house. No one learns the intricacies of this highly complex subject in that amount of time. Every successful team in the league has a GM well-versed in the increasingly challenging aspect of evaluating talent. Buffalo does not have the guy to bring together the college scouting and pro personnel departments. He has no experience building a team, and for a franchise reeling, having a guy learn on the job is the absolute wrong answer. Buffalo does not want to make large changes to the front office and coaching staff because they simply don't know about the owner. It's the reason no one has been brought in from the outside at GM or HC in more than three years, despite consistently mediocre teams.

There are probably at least 30 other franchises where fans would applaud this article if their team went without a playoff appearance in 9 straight seasons. Nevermind the comment on people at the airport. Isolate on criticism of the franchise. Those 30 other teams' fans would not tolerate 9 seasons of inept play, poor personnel decisions, and terrible coaching like Buffalo fans do. But when anyone has the audacity to challenge a team which has spent more time designing marketing campaigns than actually winning games, it hurts their feelings. It's okay to like the team but disagree with the path they're taking. Just don't expect people to stop their criticism when the team goes 2-8 in their final 10 games and makes no significant moves in the off-season, save for picking up a big name WR who is still good, but not a long term answer.

I've never seen a team invite more players to town and not sign them. Two years ago Posluszny went down and the team had serious issues at LB with only Crowell being a proven vet. Last year, Crowell went down, and Ellison was forced to start. I suppose the more things change the more they remain the same. One injury to a starting LB and a guy like Pat Thomas, Alvin Bowen, or John DiGiorgio is a long term starter. Depth on a team that finds ways not to spend cap room will always be a challenge. The short term benefit of increasing the profit margin goes out the window when injuries and a lack of depth is revealed.

Let him have fun pretending the Bills are the standard for successful NFL franchises.