BillsVet

Bill- Regarding Dockery, when he runs on the field he is extremely slow. I realize being able to move on the OL isn't about running the 40 fast, but he is slow. Walker runs faster. Dockery and Walker are both slow because they are indeed overweight. Dockery is listed at 330, and probably could stand to lose 15 pounds. Walker is about 30 pounds over where he should be. Not surprisingly, their agility is terrible. A longtime Raiders fan I know said Oakland let Walker go because his lateral movement was poor. Well, his run blocking isn't stellar either.

You cannot be serious. Are you?

SD-It's time to take Dan's line down from your posts. It's relevancy ended about three games ago. I'm glad to see you've come around. Many of those items in your original post are subjects everyone debated ad nauseam during the offseason. For the record, it's people like BADOL who pointed out the indecisiveness which you're now seeing. It's always been there. DJ's time in Chicago demonstrated that he wasn't a HC who could make good decisions quickly. That is his greatest shortcoming, and will never get better. Behind that is a reliance on drafting DB's and forgetting the OL and DL. There was a rumor after the Cleveland game that Ralph was extremely upset losing again like that on MNF. I don't think that went away at all after today, and the silver lining to this game is that now DJ's firing is more realistic. RW cannot ignore the way this team loses, especially in must-win games.

Never will I call Marv a bad person because he is an example of what the NFL should be. I'll always be disappointed he couldn't get that collection of talent a SB win, but that's ancient history. Polian is the best GM in modern NFL history. He knew talent far more often than not, and I don't think Levy ever thought he could be a GM like BP. I truly believe Levy reluctantly accepted Wilson's plea to become GM and knew he would need assistance. They operated in a team fashion, although without the elements present during the Bills glory days.

Nearly three years have passed since Levy replaced the fired Tom Donahoe as GM. Ultimately, I believe Levy's legacy as GM depends on the first three picks of the 2007 draft: Lynch, Posluszny, and Edwards. These decisions have all contributed to why the Bills are where they are: 1. Hiring Dick Jauron as HC, who in turn brought Fairchild, Schonert, and Fewell with him. None of the coordinators can be considered imaginative or successful. All are or were part of a problem. 2. The 2006 FA class, consisting of Tripplett, Royal, P. Price, Fowler, Reyes, Nall, A. Thomas, K. Thomas, Bowen, and Andre Davis, is nearly completely gone. Five are out of the NFL less than 3 seasons later. 3. Allowing Nate Clements to leave without any compensation. As GB did with Corey Williams last year, NC should have been franchised with the intent of having more time to sign or deal him. Getting nothing in return is inexcusable. 4. The 2006 draft has proven to be rather pedestrian. Whitner is not a playmaker, and McCargo is finished. Youboty is oft-injured, Simpson, Butler, and Williams are not great starters and should be replaced. Ellison is backup material. Trading a 2nd and 3rd for McCargo especially hurts. 5. The 07 FA class is overpaid and continues to be underachieving. Dockery and Walker were an example of throwing money at a lingering OL problem. Here, the difference between ML and TD was the amount was spent on lineman. Hiring Marv was lampooned in NFL circles, and while I think Levy took one for Ralph's team, he probably should not have. It was a public relations move designed to attract fans back to the team after five bad years of Donahoe. Ralph bought three seasons with it, but the gig is up. Levy's tenure as a HC was the high point of nearly 50 years of Bills football. His GM legacy was not, even if brief.

Buffalo is a laughingstock and will remain so until Ralph Wilson is no longer the owner. I do not wish anything bad happen to him, but only the Ford and Brown families in Detroit and Cincinnati respectively are worse owners. Since the firing of Polian in favor of Chief Financial Officer Jeff Littman in 1993, Ralph's legacy has slipped considerably. Nine seasons and counting without the playoffs should be enough for him to do something. It won't save his legacy, which in my mind is meddling in football operations and letting talented executives leave over petty differences, but I don't think fans will stand idly by and keep watching this franchise further devolve. Today's loss on their home field, coupled with MNF losses to Cleveland and Dallas these past two seasons should open Ralph's eyes and either make an investment into the team or exit stage left. There is no middle ground, and hanging onto the team without a plan for 2009 and beyond is negligent. It is time for yet another coach, and this time a proven NFL personnel man should hire that next coach. When those hirings are made, Ralph needs to leave football operations to football people. If he cannot do this, eventually attendance will slip to a level which cannot maintain the team. Maybe that's the plan to begin with.

Great post above Cynical. The delusional fans who do not demand accountability still amaze me. I guess you have to believe in everything the front office does or you're not a true fan. Buffalo has no GM, no legitimate NFL HC anyone wanted, over-spent on below average to average FA's, and last but not least, looking at missing the playoffs potentially 9 seasons in a row. I guess I'm not a true fan because I choose to be critical. Go figure.

I can't help but remember before the 07 season when according to Peter King, Ralph asked Dick and Marv if they could stop the run. Even RW knew how important it was. We all know they couldn't do it in 06, then followed it up in 07 with another dreadful performance. Buffalo is 20th against the run, and having played SEA, JAC, OAK, STL, ARI (who doesn't have a good ground game) SD, MIA, NE (with a 3rd stringer) that looks even worse.

Try telling that to Mr. Fancy Pants. He believes Guy and Guy alone talks to, and ultimately signs a free agent, regardless of what DJ thinks. Evidently no one else has responsibility when a UFA doesn't work out.

Do you believe then that John Guy has absolute player control in deciding to bring in a UFA or not? I think it's safe to assume that Guy, Brandon, and Jauron talk about whom to pursue and who not to.

The Bills will have to choose between Greer and McGee. With McKelvin getting mid first round money, it's not an option to keep three guys at high money. It's a guess, but Greer will probably get 5+ years and 30M total. That's something Buffalo can't afford. I think Buffalo lets Greer leave in FA after the season and eventually McKelvin will become the starter. Youboty and Corner will fight for the nickel slot.

On draft day and in free agency, I've never felt the Bills front office was ahead of the curve or savvy enough to make the right moves. Moving up in the draft, as many have pointed out, should only be done when a team needs another player and is already a good team. If the Bills were interested in trading up to get Hardy, it demonstrates once again that they lock on to one guy and will pay any price to get him. Drafting Whitner in 06 was the first example for this front office. Nevermind Whitner wasn't the player they needed, but they didn't even consider trading down. Even though it would have resulted in more picks. Parcells makes a point of stockpiling picks, and he's had good success because more options with a good GM result in a better chance of success. We talk frequently about DJ's poor gameday decisions. If DJ truly guided Marv on draft day 06, it makes perfect sense that Buffalo sat tight, took their guy, and made the conservative decision. IMO, if the front office doesn't add a proven NFL type, this team will remain stuck in mediocrity for years to come. And I'm tired of it.

You just can't criticize Marv with some people. He's reached sainthood because he was HC during the glory years. But his hiring as GM was not the right long term move. It was strictly a PR thing that Ralph figured would get fans into the seats and help them forget TD. After three drafts, three free agency periods, and 43 games, this team isn't much better than the one that hit the field in early 2006. They can't beat good teams, and are staring nine consecutive seasons without the playoffs dead in the face. Any team's first priority should be winning their division. While Buffalo was promoting Guy, Modrak, Overdorf, and Brandon, Miami hired Parcells, the Jets made big but good moves with Jenkins and Favre. Even NE has recovered somewhat when Brady went down. Their combination of Pioli and Belichick is very strong. Buffalo has the weakest front office in the AFC East, and the result is consistently underwhelming. Those moves you outlined are the ones that drag a franchise down. Cynical is right, the hiring of DJ should trump any other move though.

They were low priced depth acquisitions. The others like Tripplett, P. Price, Fowler, and Royal were not intended to be that, and two of those guys are out of the NFL, one cannot start anymore, and Royal is what he is-a blocking TE.

How about the other 2006 UFAs: Larry Tripplett (5 yrs 18.5M) Melvin Fowler (3 yrs 7M) Tutan Reyes (2 yrs 5M) Matt Bowen, Kiwaukee Thomas, Anthony Thomas, Andre Davis, and Craig Nall. I sincerely believe that DJ guided Marv more than many around here realize. Because Marv had only recently re-entered the NFL after nine seasons away, he had to have relied on DJ. Dawgg, I agree that Edwards will become a solid if not excellent starting NFL QB. But whiffing in the 2006 FA, overpaying Dockery, Walker, Kelsay, and Schobel will hamstring this organization for a long time.

That ship sailed long ago when, IMO, Ralph told Russ and Dick to IR him and prove a point. Crowell didn't handle that situation well, but Buffalo went nuclear. It's just more proof that Ralph still dictates more than we think and handcuffs his HC and whomever is handling the GM role. It's moves like these which defy logic and create an atmosphere in which no strong HC or GM candidate would want to work.

Brandon is not a guy with a history of evaluating and scouting players. He cut his teeth handling the business and marketing end of things since he arrived in 1998. I'd say he did quite well, considering the team hasn't been strong and they've continued to sell plenty of tickets. But he's not an guy I'd want guiding the football operations of a NFL team. The greater question is why when the Jets had Mike Tannenbaum, Miami with Parcells, and NE with Scott Pioli that Buffalo felt the need not to have someone well-versed in handling players and scouting talent.

I can understand that. I can also understand that letting that sort of thing out to the fanbase would absolutely kill support for the franchise. If the Bills are holding back in pursuing success for fear of not being able to sell to a local group, then that's an issue. The games may still be selling out, but I think fans are seeing through the smoke Buffalo tries to sell as a winning team each year. I would hope the front office isn't upset next year when the season ticket base isn't as high. You have to wonder when the bubble will burst and fans start demanding a winning team though.

8 years ago, Ralph handed control over all football operations to TD. Ultimately, it didn't result in success, but demonstrates that Ralph finally discovered that he alone cannot get this team to respectability. Should this season get worse, I would hope he isn't gun-shy about doing it again. TD's failures should not prevent Ralph from finding another qualified GM type from outside the organization to run things again. I agree that Holmgren would want plenty of power and money, but we're seeing that you can't put a price on someone to come in and revamp losing franchises. Both Atlanta and Miami have gone from being at the top of the NFL Draft to being on the verge of a playoff season in one year. Their new GM's are clearly the difference, in that they found good HC's and drafted the right players. Ask Arthur Blank and Wayne Huizenga if hiring Dimitrioff and Parcells was worth it now. At this point, if there isn't enough money to find a proven NFL winner to run the front office, then perhaps we need to re-evaluate if this franchise is serious about becoming a winner. Potentially going nine straight seasons without a playoff team in the salary cap era is absurd.

I don't think enough Bills fans realize how much control DJ has in personnel. Modrak and Guy gather information from various sources, but who is there in the front office to check DJ? I'm not sure there is another person that can do it. IMO, Holmgren's season started sliding downhill when they were hit with the injury bug early. People around here started giving Buffalo a pass in 07 when three main contributors (Denney, Simpson, and Posluszny) went down. To make this evaluation fair, if Holmgren gets universal blame for Seattle's poor showing this year, then DJ deserves it for last season. I would welcome Holmgren to Buffalo, but it's not happening. He'll leave for a season and become the next Parcells, as in a guy who is brought in to re-do an entire franchise. It's precisely what Buffalo needs right now.

Look, it doesn't say they can't re-sign him to an extension. All your PFT link says is they can't slap the tag on him a second straight season. And let's keep in mind that Mike Florio once reported that Terry Bradshaw had died. Tennessee has loads of cap room, and will give him 10M+ a season to keep him. The cap will rise to about 123M next season and I can't imagine Bud Adams going cheap with his best player. Would you?

Well, if they value a side of the ball which is on the field no more than 10 percent of the time over depth on defense, so be it. Last I checked they're back to playing backup safeties at LB. How many teams do that year in and year out? Stamer and Haggan were both 240 plus anyway.

It's funny to talk about options at the DT position. The Bills have spent 3 off-season trying to fix that spot, and it seems like no matter what Brandon, Guy, and Jauron do nothing works. First it was Larry Tripplett who was an epic flop. Kyle Williams isn't the part of the solution. McCargo is a bust. They traded for Stroud who seems like he's still a fine player. I don't see much from Spencer Johnson either. Haynesworth is a pipe dream, and the key to Tennessee's defense. The Titans will not allow him to leave. If they did, Tennessee would begin the long search to find someone to replace him. Some teams have playmakers and some do not. Those that have them usually go to the playoffs.

Amen. Last year Coy Wire was forced to play LB. This year's safety turned LB is Bryan Scott. You have to wonder who's doing quality control on the roster they put together. Granted there were injuries to DiGiorgio, Buggs, and Bowen, but none of those guys were in a position to be starting OLB's this year. And furthermore, none of them weigh more than 225 pounds. After Posluszny, Crowell, and Mitchell I don't think Buffalo had another spot starter LB on the roster. C2C is a nice accounting term, but it limits the amount which can be spent on depth players. The result since it's been implemented is razor thin depth. At this point, I don't think there's anything on the street free agent market because this is a problem which should have been resolved back in March.

I think everyone knows now the value of a consistent pass rush. Teams that have one generally win games, and those that don't have secondaries that get picked apart. I also suspect his salary brings so the criticism, much like Vanek did in Buffalo. Both teams are smaller markets, and their fan base isn't big city who cares how much they make type fans. Carolina is 8-3 and in a good position to win the NFC South. Even though their impression of him isn't the same, I think the Panthers know it's a buyer's market and get a decent amount for him. I wouldn't give him the contract he's going to get, but tell that to a team with no pass rush and nothing to show for in the past few season. There are some teams out there with money burning a hole in their collective pocket. And I don't see Buffalo making that move.