Sully: A New Low Point For Pegula, Bills

[mob16151]

Sullivan hits new lows everyday.

[sodbuster]

 

Tim Graham actually asked about that...Whaley brushed it off saying the were $30 million under the cap...

He asked who sets the salaries, in an effort to get Whaley to blame somebody.

 

"Q: A little clarification on how contract work, Russ Brandon and Jim Overdorf meet with free agents at the combine, the Bills were up against the salary cap this year how does it get to be this process where you have so many people involved in the process, and whose fault is it the Bills were up against the salary cap with a losing record?

 

A: I set the plan, and at the combine Russ (Brandon), and JO (Jim Overdorf) and Kevin Meganck divvy the duties up to talk to different agents, especially are own free agents, perspective free agents. As for up against the cap, depending on what we do I think we will have $10-30 million, so I will have to disagree with you on that."

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Having said that, Sully undermines his article (almost as much as Doug undermined Rex) with his hatred of the Pegulas.

 

I wish you'd either present evidence other than your own unsupported belief (and some La Canfora tweets citing some anonymous OBD deep throat who claims they decided to fire Rex a month ago and have moved on from Tyrod Taylor), or quit saying this as if it's an established fact.

 

At the very least, could you qualify it as "in my opinion based on alleged leaks from OBD" or something like that?

 

It's kind of seeming like a bit of a crusade for you. One doesn't have to like Whaley, think his presser went well, or approve every decision he's made to be fair and not regurgitate rumor as fact.

 

Thanks for considering this viewpoint.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/01/02/jerry-sullivan-new-low-point-pegula-bills

 

Wow. Sully speaks for the people once again.

 

You being the people?

 

That presser (to put it mildly) could have gone a lot better and more professionally - on both sides of the mic. But Sully and his knives don't speak for me or many others.

He can be a good writer, actually, and I enjoyed his stuff once. Now he writes like he's pickled in bad Irish booze.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Not at all, but the problem with the Pegulas has probably been that they've been a little too hands on. Now, if the Sully types at the presser today had taken the axe off of the grinding wheel long enough to pay attention to what was going on, they may have noticed that this was potentially a sign that they are stepping back a little bit and letting football people take the wheel.

 

Also, in their vendetta induced tunnel vision, they failed to ask about many other aspects of the coming offseason, like our 23 pending free agents.

 

They did ask about that. Whaley said the majority of the free agents are guys brought in on 1 year contracts as backups to see what they can do and it's not as daunting as it seems (meaning the number 23, I assume). That does make sense - so many injuries, had to bring in FA to try to compensate.

 

 

Tim Graham actually asked about that...Whaley brushed it off saying the were $30 million under the cap...

Different question? Someone stated the Bills were up against the salary cap so how do so many people get involved meeting with FA at the combine and whose fault is it that we're up against the salary cap when you have a losing record?

 

Whaley claimed responsibility ("I set the plan") and said they divvy up the duty of talking to their own and prospective free agents, then pointed out we have cap space this year (per OTC, $22 million)

(the big difference is that ~$20M of dead cap came off the books last year)

 

I wish someone had followed up on that $10-30 million question by asking "what moves might you make to increase the cap space to $30M"? though I doubt they would have gotten much, certainly not in the pack-o-pit-bulls atmosphere.

[K-9]

Sully focuses on the low point in everything. Low information readers, low intelligence, low expectations. Sully is the Dalai Lama of Low.

Tim Graham actually asked about that...Whaley brushed it off saying the were $30 million under the cap...

This is inaccurate. Whaley said, depending on factors yet to be determined, they expect anywhere from 10-30m in cap space. Cap space is the least of their problems. Edited January 3, 2017 by K-9

[Peter]

 

I wish you'd either present evidence other than your own unsupported belief (and some La Canfora tweets citing some anonymous OBD deep throat who claims they decided to fire Rex a month ago and have moved on from Tyrod Taylor), or quit saying this as if it's an established fact.

 

At the very least, could you qualify it as "in my opinion based on alleged leaks from OBD" or something like that?

 

It's kind of seeming like a bit of a crusade for you. One doesn't have to like Whaley, think his presser went well, or approve every decision he's made to be fair and not regurgitate rumor as fact.

 

Thanks for considering this viewpoint.

 

You being the people?

 

That presser (to put it mildly) could have gone a lot better and more professionally - on both sides of the mic. But Sully and his knives don't speak for me or many others.

He can be a good writer, actually, and I enjoyed his stuff once. Now he writes like he's pickled in bad Irish booze.

I am going to bed in a minute.

 

As I have mentioned before, I do not have photos or a recording of the conversation with LaCanfora. In my view, there would be three sources of leaks in general: Rex and the coaches; the Pegulas; or Doug Whaley and his people.

 

 

I think that we can all agree that Rex did not leak this. I think it is a very safe bet that the media shy Pegulas did not leak this. That leaves us with the most likely suspect in any event: Doug Whaley or people close to him.

 

Typically, you would follow the money. In this case, you consider who would most benefit from placing the blame at Rex's feet even though you have been around for more of the losing. Who now has more power? Again, I think it is both a reasonable and fairly safe bet that Doug Whaley was the source of these leaks.

 

In case some of you guys still think that the leaks did not undermine the team, Jerome Felton has this to say:

 

The first reports that coach Rex Ryan would potentially be fired in-season surfaced shortly before a Week 11 game against Pittsburgh. Such missives quoting anonymous sources continued until Ryan was dismissed five days before the team's season finale against the Jets.

Felton said the reports, and their timing, served to undermine the team itself. Felton said players would receive notifications on their phones positing Ryan’s imminent demise while trying to psychologically prepare for kickoff.

“Literally the last weeks before every single game, it was, ‘Yeah, Rex might get fired after this game,’” Felton said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “That’s tough and frustrating."

 

 

 

 

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/jerome-felton-bills-media-leaks-rex-ryan-firing-2016-season-struggles/wlv5tnlo5pro1oiwtr9bwidij?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

As for crusades, I do not recall starting one thread on this issue. Over the course of the past several weeks and months, there have been multiple anti Rex threads (many on the same day). I am not shy about responding. At one time, I was told that I was one of only two people that supported Rex staying. Of course someone else started that poll and we discovered that that was not true.

 

Interestingly, I came across this thread in which Fred Jackson says that Whaley is the only guy in the organization who was dishonest with him.

 

http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/180434-fred-says-whaley-dishonest-with-him/

 

As an aside, it is interesting who started that thread.

 

There also is this from that time:

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/09/01/report-bills-g-m-went-rogue-in-cutting-fred-jackson/

 

Hmmm.

 

As I have mentioned on several occasions, I have no love for Sullen, Bucky, et al. I am embarrassed about how Doug Whaley handled himself even with all of the extra time he had to prepare. Compare this to the Sabres end of year press conference from a few years ago when I was shouting at my computer in favor of Darcy and Ted Black when the guys from TBN went on the attack.

 

For those of you that are happy that Rex is gone and the way things have gone down at OBD, reality is going to set in. I just watched Louis Riddick (Rob's brother by the way) say a lot of the same things that Bedard, Jason Cole, and I have said about the way the Bills job will now sadly be looked at by others around the league. You guys will say, who cares what anyone says. I think that potential candidates will care.

 

Rex is gone. You guys should celebrate. Good for you. Rex apparently was the only impediment to the Bills 11-5 roster competing for the Super Bowl. Now that Rex is gone, I fully expect that we will be competing for the Super Bowl for several years to come, we will defeat world terrorism, and there will be world peace.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Peter

[K-9]

I am going to bed in a minute.

 

As I have mentioned before, I do not have photos or a recording of the conversation with LaCanfora. In my view, there would be three sources of leaks in general: Rex and the coaches; the Pegulas; or Doug Whaley and his people....

You forgot Berchtold. My money is still on him.

[Peter]

You forgot Berchtold. My money is still on him.

 

I could only see him being the one only if he was doing it at the bidding of someone else. I doubt it is him because he knows the Pegulas butter his bread and he would not want to lose his job. He also would not seem to have a dog in this fight. My guess (without knowing) is that he enjoyed working with Rex in comparison to how Doug Whaley treated him so horribly and so horribly in public in front of the media. It truly was awful.

[plenzmd1]

 

 

Rex is gone. You guys should celebrate. Good for you. Rex apparently was the only impediment to the Bills 11-5 roster competing for the Super Bowl. Now that Rex is gone, I fully expect that we will be competing for the Super Bowl for several years to come, we will defeat world terrorism, and there will be world peace.

As we have seen with so many other Bills coaches....his body of work will determine his ability to get a next job.

 

Oh that's right...he will not have a next job, just like the rest of the dregs we have had in here to coach.

[nucci]

http://buffalonews.com/2017/01/02/jerry-sullivan-new-low-point-pegula-bills

 

Wow. Sully speaks for the people once again.

No, he doesn't

[Beef Jerky]

He just mad b.c Pegula won't let him get an interview.

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

Yeah, this comes across as petty ax grinding.

 

"Waaaa, they sent out Whaley, and the GM deflected questions and didn't tell the whole truth. Then they have an interview to...not one of us waaaa"

 

Sully, for all his negativity, at least used to be balanced. He's been spending too much time with Sully.

[dave mcbride]

He just mad b.c Pegula won't let him get an interview.

You're misreading what he stated. It's not about private interviews, it's about facing the media in public.

[plenzmd1]

Bills are a dysfunctional mess.

 

There really is no arguing this.

Sure there is. Their PR is a mess, that is 100% inarguable I think.

 

But that's all we know for sure.

[DrDawkinstein]

Like I've said before, Sully (and the rest of TBN) can't get any real stories out of the Bills so they try to inject themselves into the story and make it Sully vs The Bills.

 

Boring, soap opera crap that I'm not interested in.

 

GREAT article posted last night by Warrow though.

Edited January 3, 2017 by DrDareustein

[GG]

You're misreading what he stated. It's not about private interviews, it's about facing the media in public.

 

So he's a scorned teenager? Who says that the owners have to face the media?

 

Did Kroencke stand at the podium when he fired Fisher and answer questions? No.

 

This is more of TBN's sour grapes that PSE always goes to national outlets for breaking news. What the old codgers at TBN forgot is that maintaining good relationships in reporting is part of the job.

[DC Tom]

So let's see if I have this straight: Sully is bitching about the GM press conference not being handled by the owners, but by the GM, because the questions Sully et al. asked were best directed to to the owners, hence inappropriate for the GM's press conference. So obviously, the problem is the Pegulas, and not Sully's et al. ****-ass reporting.

 

Yes, the Pegulas have a PR issue. But they will continue to have PR issues until "reporters" like Sully unass their heads and learn what a "press conference" is.

[Seasons1992]

Anyone who needs to know the truth about the state of journalism and the quality of the press these days, need to read no more than this

 

 

So it's not about covering the team, or getting the right answers from the GM. It's all a B word session in how the owners don't like them. Really, really really don't like them.

 

What a bunch of rank amateurs.

 

No wonder Timmah couldn't take the heat of a simple little Internet forum.

 

Hear, hear.......as someone with a Journalism degree, it is sad to watch it degrade to it's current status.

[GunnerBill]

This is all on the Pegulas. I agree with Sully on that. They decided to hire Rex Ryan, they decided to fire Rex Ryan (I actually believe they were the ones controlling the leaks about his imminent firing too) and they decided to send Lynn up to face the music last week and then Doug Whaley up alone to face the music yesterday.

 

This is the Pegula ownership model folks.

 

I said last week and I remain of the view that the Jeff Lurie approach when he fired Chip Kelly last year is the right one. Get out there early, face up yourself, own your mistake and move on. Rex Ryan is a bad coach. He should never have been hired, the Pegulas should have probably stuck to their instincts last year when I honestly believe they were close to making him a 1 and done Head Coach and fired him then. But they have not convinced anyone with their handling of this whole affair. They better hope beyond hope that Whaley nails it now left to his own devices (well he and Jim Monos) because if he doesn't they are likely faced with a decision this time in 2018 or 2019 to burn the whole lot down and the genesis of that disaster will be in the frankly horrible decision they made in January 2015 to hire Rex Ryan.

 

Hear, hear.......as someone with a Journalism degree, it is sad to watch it degrade to it's current status.

 

 

I agree with this as another person with a journalism degree and as a former regular at these types of press conferences in another sport. The questions yesterday were moronic. They knew where they were being stonewalled and went on and on. How many questions were there about guys we might look to bring back?

 

Robert Woods?

Groy?

Gilmore?

Alexander?

Brown?

 

There are no clues about what the Bills will want to do there because the questions were not asked. It was an absolute **** show.... but that wasn't all on Doug Whaley it was partly on the moronic Buffalo media too.

[PromoTheRobot]

I am going to bed in a minute.

 

As I have mentioned before, I do not have photos or a recording of the conversation with LaCanfora. In my view, there would be three sources of leaks in general: Rex and the coaches; the Pegulas; or Doug Whaley and his people.

 

 

I think that we can all agree that Rex did not leak this. I think it is a very safe bet that the media shy Pegulas did not leak this. That leaves us with the most likely suspect in any event: Doug Whaley or people close to him.

 

Typically, you would follow the money. In this case, you consider who would most benefit from placing the blame at Rex's feet even though you have been around for more of the losing. Who now has more power? Again, I think it is both a reasonable and fairly safe bet that Doug Whaley was the source of these leaks.

 

In case some of you guys still think that the leaks did not undermine the team, Jerome Felton has this to say:

 

 

 

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/jerome-felton-bills-media-leaks-rex-ryan-firing-2016-season-struggles/wlv5tnlo5pro1oiwtr9bwidij?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

As for crusades, I do not recall starting one thread on this issue. Over the course of the past several weeks and months, there have been multiple anti Rex threads (many on the same day). I am not shy about responding. At one time, I was told that I was one of only two people that supported Rex staying. Of course someone else started that poll and we discovered that that was not true.

 

Interestingly, I came across this thread in which Fred Jackson says that Whaley is the only guy in the organization who was dishonest with him.

 

http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/180434-fred-says-whaley-dishonest-with-him/

 

As an aside, it is interesting who started that thread.

 

There also is this from that time:

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/09/01/report-bills-g-m-went-rogue-in-cutting-fred-jackson/

 

Hmmm.

 

As I have mentioned on several occasions, I have no love for Sullen, Bucky, et al. I am embarrassed about how Doug Whaley handled himself even with all of the extra time he had to prepare. Compare this to the Sabres end of year press conference from a few years ago when I was shouting at my computer in favor of Darcy and Ted Black when the guys from TBN went on the attack.

 

For those of you that are happy that Rex is gone and the way things have gone down at OBD, reality is going to set in. I just watched Louis Riddick (Rob's brother by the way) say a lot of the same things that Bedard, Jason Cole, and I have said about the way the Bills job will now sadly be looked at by others around the league. You guys will say, who cares what anyone says. I think that potential candidates will care.

 

Rex is gone. You guys should celebrate. Good for you. Rex apparently was the only impediment to the Bills 11-5 roster competing for the Super Bowl. Now that Rex is gone, I fully expect that we will be competing for the Super Bowl for several years to come, we will defeat world terrorism, and there will be world peace.

If it's true that Rex had a private meeting with Terry and ended up quitting/getting fired, it's not out of the question that he was the source of the leaks.