NFL Execs expect Gathier trade

[In-A-Gadda-Levitre]

So, all that needs to happen is Nix/Gailey say, "We want this guy" and he's a Bill regardless of cost? Where is your evidence? They did very little in free agency and signed no big names or huge contracts. There is no indication whatsoever that the recently promoted Brandon and Overdorf are not still deciding who gets paid what and have been put out to distant pasture never to be heard or seen again.

again, didn't say that. What they did or didn't do in FA is more reflective of Buddy's philosophy and probably shared by Chan as well.

 

What has happened is that football guys are running the football side of the operation, and they're being given responsibility for the quality of the product on the field. That's very different from last year, and you can choose to believe that it's the same ole or not.

 

Regardless of what happens with the CBA, you can bet that LT and QBs drafted amongst the first 50 players overall will continue to command some serious money. So unless Ed Wang, and our current collection of OL players rise up and perform well enough to make the Bills a contender this season, in terms of giving whomever is playing QB time to throw and to open holes for all the top flight RBs we have, we're gonna pay someone that kind of money next season anyways.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Of course RW has the final word and Brandon gets a big piece of it as well. I never said Buddy and Chan decide by themselves, in fact I agreed it would get a lot of scrutiny. However, last year's "we'll go with the guys on our roster and not pay Peters" blew up in their faces, made worse by the injuries and lack of good offensive coaching.

Do you think Overdorf or Brandon took the heat for that? Really? Who was fired and who got promoted?

I don't remember anything being said about Overdorf's role in the new organization. Just because he wasn't canned doesn't mean same as it ever was. He might still be negotiating contracts, but he's clearly got some different marching orders.

It's not clear at all that his job function has changed one iota, let alone dramatically.

Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors at OBD, but to use bean counters and the previous FO structure as the basis for who might be filling the biggest hole on the team (perhaps behind QB) is a mistake.

The mistake is to assume that because there is a new face in the management structure, that all the pre-existing fiefdoms in a business were turned upside down and blown up. Reality just doesn't work that way. The financial side of the Bills business remained intact with the promotion of Nix to "head of football". Why would it not? The boys are making money for the old man.

[Sisyphean Bills]

again, didn't say that. What they did or didn't do in FA is more reflective of Buddy's philosophy and probably shared by Chan as well.

Maybe. There are a lot of factors, many of them beyond the control of Buddy Nix. (Buffalo is not a place players want to come, frankly.) So giving him (and/or Chan) all the credit or blame isn't entirely accurate.

 

You can't really prove anything from a negative. Just because she doesn't buy a car doesn't mean she was following her master plan that she would like to walk everywhere she needed to go. It is just as likely that she didn't have the money to buy a car in the first place. Or that she preferred to ride her motorcycle. Or ...

What has happened is that football guys are running the football side of the operation, and they're being given responsibility for the quality of the product on the field. That's very different from last year, and you can choose to believe that it's the same ole or not.

Indeed. The indications are that it is different. The question is to the degree. I have taken abuse here for years for saying that Jauron was more involved in things than those that wanted to dip him in Teflon wanted to believe. He put his fingerprints all over the product last year, and it was not a good thing. He got himself fired in fact.

 

The decisions made by the Jauron-Brandon tag team were a disaster. It forced Ralph's hand. Are the decisions that Nix-Gailey are making better? Who knows, but we hope so. They can't be much worse, fortunately.

Regardless of what happens with the CBA, you can bet that LT and QBs drafted amongst the first 50 players overall will continue to command some serious money. So unless Ed Wang, and our current collection of OL players rise up and perform well enough to make the Bills a contender this season, in terms of giving whomever is playing QB time to throw and to open holes for all the top flight RBs we have, we're gonna pay someone that kind of money next season anyways.

I'm not expecting much this year. It's the honeymoon period; I understand that. I do want to see progress and a team actually being built, rather than more of the same old same-old of the team treading water and regressing as quickly in one area as they can improve in another.

[BillsVet]

RW knows as much as anyone in football what a good LT makes. He also knows the crapshoot of the draft.

 

Really? The man is 91 years old and doesn't scout, nor has he ever. He's a businessman with a football team, not a personnel guy with a side business.

 

RW's prime ended about 25 years ago, which coincidentally is before the LOT position took on more meaning. All he knows is how much he'll make, and of course when to tell Mr. Smithers to sign TO for marketing purposes.

[In-A-Gadda-Levitre]

Do you think Overdorf or Brandon took the heat for that? Really? Who was fired and who got promoted?

 

It's not clear at all that his job function has changed one iota, let alone dramatically.

 

The mistake is to assume that because there is a new face in the management structure, that all the pre-existing fiefdoms in a business were turned upside down and blown up. Reality just doesn't work that way. The financial side of the Bills business remained intact with the promotion of Nix to "head of football". Why would it not? The boys are making money for the old man.

No, I don't think they did. What I meant was last year's low cost plan didn't work and that should give Buddy and Chan some leverage if they decide that spending the money on Gaither is going to make their team much better right away.

 

Nobody knows if his job or the fiefdoms have changed. I just think the philosophy is different and Buddy will be given some latitude to do it his way and that includes money to pay players that him, his staff and the coaches think are worth it.

 

Maybe. There are a lot of factors, many of them beyond the control of Buddy Nix. (Buffalo is not a place players want to come, frankly.) So giving him (and/or Chan) all the credit or blame isn't entirely accurate.

 

You can't really prove anything from a negative. Just because she doesn't buy a car doesn't mean she was following her master plan that she would like to walk everywhere she needed to go. It is just as likely that she didn't have the money to buy a car in the first place. Or that she preferred to ride her motorcycle. Or ...

 

Indeed. The indications are that it is different. The question is to the degree. I have taken abuse here for years for saying that Jauron was more involved in things than those that wanted to dip him in Teflon wanted to believe. He put his fingerprints all over the product last year, and it was not a good thing. He got himself fired in fact.

 

The decisions made by the Jauron-Brandon tag team were a disaster. It forced Ralph's hand. Are the decisions that Nix-Gailey are making better? Who knows, but we hope so. They can't be much worse, fortunately.

 

I'm not expecting much this year. It's the honeymoon period; I understand that. I do want to see progress and a team actually being built, rather than more of the same old same-old of the team treading water and regressing as quickly in one area as they can improve in another.

we're in total agreement with this part.

[In-A-Gadda-Levitre]

Really? The man is 91 years old and doesn't scout, nor has he ever. He's a businessman with a football team, not a personnel guy with a side business.

 

RW's prime ended about 25 years ago, which coincidentally is before the LOT position took on more meaning. All he knows is how much he'll make, and of course when to tell Mr. Smithers to sign TO for marketing purposes.

come on, you're really trying to make a case that Ralph Wilson, Jr. doesn't know what the going rate is for elite LTs or their impact on the success of the offense?

 

I'd concede he might not know whether Jason Peters is worth $8M or $10M, and he might have perceptions about the dollar value of Gaither, Bell, Brown and others, but he's very well versed in the economics of player salaries. I'd also think that although OLTs don't put butts in seats or sell a lot of jerseys, they contribute heavily to winning and that makes Ralph a lot more money.

[Rico]

Really? The man is 91 years old and doesn't scout, nor has he ever. He's a businessman with a football team, not a personnel guy with a side business.

 

RW's prime ended about 25 years ago, which coincidentally is before the LOT position took on more meaning. All he knows is how much he'll make, and of course when to tell Mr. Smithers to sign TO for marketing purposes.

He didn't have to scout OT's, that was Linda's job.

[Lurker]

He didn't have to scout OT's, that was Linda's job.

R.I.P.

 

(stay classy, Rico...)

[Rico]

R.I.P.

 

(stay classy, Rico...)

(DIAF, Lurker...)

[BillsVet]

come on, you're really trying to make a case that Ralph Wilson, Jr. doesn't know what the going rate is for elite LTs or their impact on the success of the offense?

 

I'd concede he might not know whether Jason Peters is worth $8M or $10M, and he might have perceptions about the dollar value of Gaither, Bell, Brown and others, but he's very well versed in the economics of player salaries. I'd also think that although OLTs don't put butts in seats or sell a lot of jerseys, they contribute heavily to winning and that makes Ralph a lot more money.

 

RW hasn't known what the going rate for HC's has been for about the last 10 years. Remember when he fired Wade Phillips and tried to avoid having to pay him, claiming that WP quit?

 

BTW, how many 91 year old CEO's are out there? Nonagenarians are usually retired and not making decisions, like TO's signing was, for one of the 32 NFL franchises.

[Sisyphean Bills]

No, I don't think they did. What I meant was last year's low cost plan didn't work and that should give Buddy and Chan some leverage if they decide that spending the money on Gaither is going to make their team much better right away.

 

Nobody knows if his job or the fiefdoms have changed. I just think the philosophy is different and Buddy will be given some latitude to do it his way and that includes money to pay players that him, his staff and the coaches think are worth it.

 

 

we're in total agreement with this part.

I think I agree with your first part, but I'd put it out there as simply fan-fueled hope rather than certain fact. Hopefully, Buddy can leverage the disastrous decision-making process of recent years to sway Ralph into making good changes that actually improve the team. The franchise needs better leadership, direction, and decision-making and quite desperately. We'll see where the ride goes ... but until they hatch, I'll hold off counting the chicks.