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What are Some of the Biggest Head Scratchers Made by Bills Ownership/FO in Bills History ?


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50 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

I’m sorry but Ralph was a terrible owner toward the final decade of his ownership.  He hurt the team....period.

 

To his credit, when he fired Butler, he did try to get a big name to run the Bills.  Ralph did something uncharacteristic....he opened up his wallet (I’m sure some moths fluttered out of the billfold) and have Tom Donahoe a big money deal and a lot of power.  He named him President which was shocking.  Donahoe was given credit for the Steelers resurgence in the mid to late 90’s and he was a hot candidate.  In the end, Donahoe wouldn’t hire a coach who threatened to usurp his power (like Bill Cowher did).  He could do much better than 9-7 plus everyone hates him at OBD.

 

It was a swing and a miss.  It didn’t work so Ralph fired him - I admire the effort.
 

 The worst decision was replacing him with Marv Levy as GM.  Levy had no GM experience and was about 80 at the time.  It was clear that he was just a figurehead to sell tickets.

 

So rather than hiring a real GM to actually win...Ralph hired someone he was comfortable with because...he’s the owner and he wanted to dammit!

 

Of course, Marv was terrible and hired bad coaches.  Eventually he faded into the background and Ralph refused to hire a “real GM.”  He then hired Buddy Nix because he felt comfortable with him.  
 

Ralph screwed those team so bad during these years.  

More like dating an old flame after getting divorced.... You know what you’re getting into and you’re okay with ending it again. 

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2 hours ago, frostbitmic said:

Drafting Donte Hitner over Haloti Ngata and then trading back into the 1st and taking John McCargo over Nick Mangold in the same draft.

 

Giving up a 1st for surfer boy Robb Johnson after 1 good game in Jacksonville.

 

Giving up a 1st for the statue of Bledsoe

 

Making Russ Brandon GM

 

Hiring Rex Ryan as HC.

Don’t you dare bring up missed draft opportunities .... that will lead to more “We coulda had mahomes”

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2 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

This invites the saga ? of DF vs RJ, although this pales compared to the many decades of futility, as posted above, 

 

Why do we do this to ourselves, why rehash the agony????

 

Go Bills!!!

Because it was agony. And let's pretend the stupidity of that decision didn't exist. Because we all know what an illustrious career Robo had in Buffalo after the Titans game. Besides these kind of threads are not only non therapeutic but are a waste of time. What's done is done.

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37 minutes ago, Gray Beard said:

Maybin

Rex Ryan

Johnson over Flutie in the playoffs 

 

I agree- rarely have I been so right as I was about those three things. The Ryan was so bad because that team was built in the exact opposite way as Ryan likes to play with a GM who does not draft well in the areas he needed.

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29 minutes ago, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Fitzpatrick extension mid season was a sign of a poorly run team. 

 

I was just going to add this.  I was ready to fight someone in the front office when I saw that stupidity.  

 

Honorable mentions:  

  • Using 9th pick in the draft to take CJ Spiller with Lynch and FJ on the roster.  
  • Whitner over Ngata
  • Not having a true GM for so long
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1 hour ago, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Fitzpatrick extension mid season was a sign of a poorly run team. 


I would argue that resigning Dick Jauron early in the 2007 season was more of a killer.  It meant DJ got to stay about 1 and a half years longer than he should have.  It also set the team back.  Again - this was all due to the fact that Ralph didn’t want to hire a real GM after his experience with Donahoe

28 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

1. Toronto games

2. Russ Brandon as GM

3. Marv Levy as GM

4. Hiring Rex Ryan

5. Wasting draft picks repeatedly to move up the draft


I wouldn’t call the Rex Ryan hire to be headscratch.  At the time, he had a reputation as a “good” coach - laugh if you will, he did.  Many thought that Rex was a sacrificial lamb for Jets management who couldn’t get him talent to work with.  Despite this, his NYJ teams played hard for him.

 

At the time in 2015, Rex was considered a top coaching candidate.

 

The hire was a disaster....but at the time it made sense

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