Raiders interested in Russ Brandon

[Lurker]

A new stadium will allow the team to attach a license fee to the most desired inventory and develop $ that way.

It strikes me that Russ would be the perfect guy to sheppard a new stadium to completion, given his contacts with Goodell, Schumer, Cuomo et al. That opportunity alone would be worth sticking around for, after which he could write his ticket anywhere...

[Kirby Jackson]

Congrats Kirby! You seem to have made a clear point and worn down those who want to blame Russ for how he scouted the SEC and coached the OLine.

Just trying to provide a little perspective to the rationale. Pegula is nobody's fool either. His organization when complete will be top of the line in all facets. The same goes for his facilities. Edited December 31, 2014 by Kirby Jackson

[BillsVet]

I think Brandon goes if he can take his hand-picked team of chiefs, his executive assistant, and of course, his copy of Ralph's HOF bust. That and a nice severance package of the final money owed on his contract. Lol

[Kirby Jackson]

 

Interesting. You mean Koelmel? The banker guy?

Thats the guy.

 

 

It strikes me that Russ would be the perfect guy to sheppard a new stadium to completion, given his contacts with Goodell, Schumer, Cuomo et al. That opportunity alone would be worth sticking around for, after which he could write his ticket anywhere...

Exactly

[K-9]

Russ has managed to generate LOTS of nonshared revenue for a small market team with an old stadium. That is why he is so well respected around sports. As fans we don't think that this matter to us but understand that the cap raises a lot each year and each team doesn't make the same. The Patriots for example generate way, way, way more money than the Bills. The cap is a function of overall revenue not just shared revenue. The teams that make more nonshared revenue push the cap higher and higher and small market teams will have a hard time keeping up. Russ has proven to be a master of that and with a new stadium will do even more. Be careful what you wish for because regardless of Pegula's money the gap is closing between the cap and the shared revenue. You are going to want someone to generate the nonshared portion. If you don't understand that then you don't understand what Russ Brandon's job is or has always been.

 

Nice to read a post from someone who actually understands the business from a business side of things.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[dave mcbride]

Tim Graham @ByTimGraham

Word to me today out of Oakland: Brandon to Raiders might've been a thing if Pegulas weren't new Bills owners. Brandon staying with Bills.

Good.

[K-9]

Can see Goodell's mitts all over this if true. Goodell isn't gonna let a dysfunctional franchise bring the NFL back to LA. No doubt that Brandon worked closely with Goodell the past couple years acting as a defacto owner. Goodell probably told Davis that only way I'm letting you into LA is if you hire someone that I trust to run things.

 

I think you're forgetting who Goodell works for.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Best Player Available]

 

 

I don't have a link, I'm sorry, but Russ has made comments himself to that effect over the years. He got out of that GM role as quickly as he could, and every time someone has asked him about football decisions over the last couple of years he completely defers to the GM and coach -- despite the fact that his power within the organization has increased, not decreased, since his failed stint as GM.

well that may have been true during the Wilson era. But if I read it correctly, he is no longer CEO. Kim Pegula is.That in the business world is a huge loss of power. he is now president. he also is puported to be headed to strictly the business side of the team. Right where he belongs. Running the football side, his hires, etc. are not his strongpoint. I am being kind there. Every second of this long period of stink, has been under his watch one way or the other. He hires cronies and they are not the best available. Or like he said during the head coach search two years ago. " we will leave no stone unturned" Marrone had some buzz but they really interviewed three people. The chip Kelly interview lasted all of fifteen minutes. hardly a in depth search for a franchise with one of the worst records in all of sports. As usual with the Wilson ownership people like Brandon, Littman, and Overdorf had way to much concern with the money as opposed to buildng a winner. The end results bear this out.

 

I wish him luck if he stays on as a business person. if he leaves I along with many others would be thrilled. he regionalized the franchise. His work is done. I am sure he wants power and better things. IMO the Pegula family may have other ideas.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Best Player Available

[Lurker]

Interesting. You mean Koelmel? The banker guy?

God, no!! Please don't link his name to anything other than beer vendor with the Bills.

 

Koelmel's the anti-Russ. A pompous gas bag who's universally laughed at in the Buffalo banking community.

 

The personification of that old Texas saying, "all hat, no cattle..."

[K-9]

youve been hitting home runs with your replies in this thread -- i think anyone that after reading through this doesnt see what your saying just doesnt want to even if you typed out a full thesis on the topic.

 

really all it takes to understand the situation is realizing:

 

1) brandon didnt make/veto football decisions. he has been a voice in discussions, but as a high level executive and acting owner, thats always the case.

2) that by growing non-shared revenue he has both kept the team afloat AND given the guys like overdorf/littman/GMs the resources needed to make the moves they want to make (those decisions not always right, but atleast they were empowered by both his leadership and growing of resources).

 

 

theres a lot of mud and murkiness to get lost in through a decade plus, but at its core i think those are the 2 biggest issues and hes been an asset not a liability as best anyone can tell.

 

Good take here, as well, NS.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Conversely can you show evidence that he was out there scouting players and making involved football decisions? If eballs comments that he fired himself aren't rue, then how and whom removed him from the position? By the time he left the GM position RW unfortunately wasn't doing much more than staring at the walls. That was the problem until two seasons ago when RW realized he couldn't do it anymore, no one was really steering the ship. So likely RW would have been the only person to fire RB and considering his entire lack of involvement with anything team related his last few season, hard to see him doing that. I highly doubt Mary Wilson would have stepped in and did it, so who's left.

 

Further, how often do you see a GM get fired from a position with the team and still stay with the team, and two years later promoted to a position to become the GM's boss. IUt just doesn't happen. If RB really wanted the GM position so bad, he could have easily ran Whaley off by vetoing everything he did over the past two seasons.

 

So does eball have a link, no, he's just connecting the dots in an intelligent manor as opposed to just having complete hatred for the guy and blaming him for everything and never accepting anything that sounds logical that would give him any type of credit.

 

So in your opinion repeating something long enough is then accepted as truth? Show a link where that is " truth".

[Chef Jim]

 

 

Chris Trapasso ‏@ChrisTrapasso 1m1 minute ago

Telling you...what Russ Brandon did marketing wise for playoff-less #Bills over past decade would be viewed by many in NFL as job well done.

 

People in Oakland aren't as gullible.

 

I keed...I keed.

[Kirby Jackson]

 

God, no!! Please don't link his name to anything other than beer vendor with the Bills.

 

Koelmel's the anti-Russ. A pompous gas bag who's universally laughed at in the Buffalo banking community.

 

The personification of that old Texas saying, "all hat, no cattle..."

I know nothing about the guy but I heard that rumor over the summer. Things may have changed but there was definitely smoke at that point.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

RB did what he was able to do with the money RW and Littman allowed him to work with. That's why Littman left the same day the team was sold, he followed RW's edicts around money to the Tee. Why would RB not want to spend more of RW's money, it makes no sense for him to want to limit the $$. If the team spent more money maybe the team would have won more which would have made RB look even better. I agree completely with your comment about Littman and Overdorf, though even with Overdorf, not sure he wasn't just following the marching orders he was given. But please don't include Brandon in that list as it makes no sense for him to want to spend less money.

 

As usual with the Wilson ownership people like Brandon, Littman, and Overdorf had way to much concern with the money as opposed to buildng a winner. The end results bear this out.

 

I wish him luck if he stays on as a business person. if he leaves I along with many others would be thrilled. he regionalized the franchise. His work is done. I am sure he wants power and better things. IMO the Pegula family may have other ideas.

[K-9]

well that may have been true during the Wilson era. But if I read it correctly, he is no longer CEO. Kim Pegula is.That in the business world is a huge loss of power. he is now president. he also is puported to be headed to strictly the business side of the team. Right where he belongs. Running the football side, his hires, etc. are not his strongpoint. I am being kind there. Every second of this long period of stink, has been under his watch one way or the other. He hires cronies and they are not the best available. Or like he said during the head coach search two years ago. " we will leave no stone unturned" Marrone had some buzz but they really interviewed three people. The chip Kelly interview lasted all of fifteen minutes. hardly a in depth search for a franchise with one of the worst records in all of sports. As usual with the Wilson ownership people like Brandon, Littman, and Overdorf had way to much concern with the money as opposed to buildng a winner. The end results bear this out.

 

I wish him luck if he stays on as a business person. if he leaves I along with many others would be thrilled. he regionalized the franchise. His work is done. I am sure he wants power and better things. IMO the Pegula family may have other ideas.

 

This is wrong and you're really stretching to make a point. You conveniently left out Butler, Donahoe, and Levy the three who actually resided over most of that stretch.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Best Player Available]

Conversely can you show evidence that he was out there scouting players and making involved football decisions? If eballs comments that he fired himself aren't rue, then how and whom removed him from the position? By the time he left the GM position RW unfortunately wasn't doing much more than staring at the walls. That was the problem until two seasons ago when RW realized he couldn't do it anymore, no one was really steering the ship. So likely RW would have been the only person to fire RB and considering his entire lack of involvement with anything team related his last few season, hard to see him doing that. I highly doubt Mary Wilson would have stepped in and did it, so who's left.

 

Further, how often do you see a GM get fired from a position with the team and still stay with the team, and two years later promoted to a position to become the GM's boss. IUt just doesn't happen. If RB really wanted the GM position so bad, he could have easily ran Whaley off by vetoing everything he did over the past two seasons.

 

So does eball have a link, no, he's just connecting the dots in an intelligent manor as opposed to just having complete hatred for the guy and blaming him for everything and never accepting anything that sounds logical that would give him any type of credit.

What credit in your opinion does he deserve on the football side of operations? Hiring a staff that finally beat the pats* jv squad? i thought Belicheck might fall asleep in the 4 th quarter. So that got the team to 9-7 depsite the horrid coachng on offense. Remember he signed off as CEO on those hirings.

 

BTW please point out where I ever used the word " hate"l I did not. I will contend he SUCKS as a football mind. As A busness man he is good. How about that TO signing. That sold some of his " inventory" didn't it? Trouble was the team still sucked.

[dave mcbride]

Congrats Kirby! You seem to have made a clear point and worn down those who want to blame Russ for how he scouted the SEC and coached the OLine.

 

I'd agree with this, but you do realize that RB is at Alabama's walk-through practice right now putting the final touches on his A+ scouting report for senior guard Arie Kouandjio, right? He's been tweeting out that Arie's knee injuries aren't nearly as worrisome as his brother Cyrus's. I wouldn't be surprised if Whaley's marching orders for the 50th pick were already in his inbox.

[RealityCheck]

Can we trade Russ for draft picks?

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

I'm not really trying to give him credit for the football side of things as he had little if anything to do with making any football related decisions even when he was the GM. But the reverse is I'm not blaming him either. Don't know if he sucks as a football mind because again he's made little if any choices. Was he still leading the football side, did he sign off on things sure.

 

so what would I give him credit for from a football side of things. Well for the last half dozen or so years the team still did well enough to sell out the majority of their games, generated some brief excitement over time and these things helped generate a $1.4bil sale price and keep the team in Buffalo. Are these more business related things, sure, but if every year the team had been 2-14, and had 20,000 people in the stands like in the late 70's I doubt the team would have sold for anything close to what it did and maybe as we speak the moving vans would be packing up for the move to LA by now

 

My overall point is given the limited amount of money he had to work with and all the uncertainty around RW, he did a pretty amazing job over the years, and he has made little football related decisions. Were most of the people he hired to make the football moves bad hires, sure, but again with the money he had to work with what would you expect. For ten years or so he's bee nable to make chicken soup out of chicken s**t which is pretty amazing IMO

 

This is the first season RB is not limited by RW's purse strings, though we really have no idea where TP stands on this either, we're all just assuming he's going to agree to spend more money.

 

What credit in your opinion does he deserve on the football side of operations? Hiring a staff that finally beat the pats* jv squad? i thought Belicheck might fall asleep in the 4 th quarter. So that got the team to 9-7 depsite the horrid coachng on offense. Remember he signed off as CEO on those hirings.

 

BTW please point out where I ever used the word " hate"l I did not. I will contend he SUCKS as a football mind. As A busness man he is good. How about that TO signing. That sold some of his " inventory" didn't it? Trouble was the team still sucked.

[Best Player Available]

 

 

This is wrong and you're really stretching to make a point. You conveniently left out Butler, Donahoe, and Levy the three who actually resided over most of that stretch.

 

GO BILLS!!!

Nice too see he has his supporters. here are some facts. They are not made up, and easily found in a google search. As a marketing guy I would hire him. As a football mind and ability to identify football people he is very low on the franchise building chain. His results are indisputable.

 

Since Russ Brandon was promoted in 2006 he has presided over the longest current playoff drought in the NFL. he was onboard way earlier before that promotion. Did his work have a hand in Buffalo remaining a NFL city? YES!

 

Here is the teams numbers under his watch. A 382 winning percentage. The team has given up 531 more points than scored. Theres more but stats aren't the discussion point here.

yea Ralph re hired Marv, and others. Does anyone think Brandon's opinion was not asked for? Does anyone think Marvs GM stint did not have promotional, nostalgic, and in part was used to move "inventory". yes it did just like the TO signing. And the selling of a home game. Nothing about winning, everything about the bottom line.

 

I really have no issue with Brandon as long as he concentrates on selling seats. I believe with zero evedince and it is just my opinion the Pegulas may be thnking the same thing. For him I wish he takes another position and probably will because of his diminished role with new ownership.As I am sure his parachute is golden.