Whaley interviewing for Steelers GM

[LeGOATski]

  On 3/20/2022 at 8:15 PM, Bill from NYC said:

Was it, even though he gave him a needless, cap killing raise?

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Absolutely. The RB that helped break the drought. He was crucial.

[Breakout Squad]

Whaley sent porn to employees 15 years ago. Who cares? 

[Buftex]

  On 3/20/2022 at 1:13 PM, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

Because he is competent.  Competence allows for honesty.  As a GM, Whaley was incompetent in any and every way.   His only significant moves were bringing in 3 good FAs.  Terrible at picking coaches.  Never got a QB.  "ownership" wasn't preventing him from doing his basic duties. 

 

The pass he gets here is bizarre.  The NFL is notorious for recycling FO talent, yet no team has hired him in any capacity since he was canned.

 

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I guess you missed my point...Whaley didn't get to pick his coaches.

 

Both Rex and McDermott had more control than he did.  He wanted nothing to do with Ryan...that was the Pegula's, and Russ Brandon's' choice. And that hire is what did Whaley in. It was a "splash" move...Ryan set the team back and destroyed the momentum they were building. His influence on the franchise and the roster was too big.  McDermott got to choose his own GM.  They are on the same page.  Ryan and Whaley never were. Rex had more power. It shouldn't have worked that way.

 

Whaley is hardly the first GM who had difficulty in finding a QB.  The relative ease with which teams find QBs now did not really exist just a few years ago.  Ultimately, none of it matters now, but I don't think those criticizing Whaley fully comprehend what happened during his tenure. Your thumbnail assessment doesn't take much of anything, other than wins=losses into account...there ts a reason that the franchise was so bad for close to two decades. It didn't start with Whaley...

Edited March 21, 2022 by Buftex

[JohnNord]

  On 3/20/2022 at 6:00 PM, Scott7975 said:

I see there are people with coke bottle glasses on that still want to give credit to Whaley for all of the Bills good moves and blame someone else for all the bad ones.

 

Whaley signed that good FA.  Whaley drafted that good player.  Whaley traded for that good player.

 

Oh no that bad player was a different GM or the coach picked him, not Whaley.

 

Oh Whaley had no say in the coaching search.

 

 

Whaley was a bad GM period

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You got it Scott!  The mental gymnastic some Bills fans do to exonerate him from any bad move is something…

 

Case and point, the Jerry Hughes deal was made while Buddy Nix was GM, yet people want to give Whaley credit.

 

The EJ Manuel selection…also made while Nix was GM.  But that was all on Buddy, not Whaley because….”he wasn’t GM”

 

There’s many examples here. I’ll never understand why Whaley get the love that he does from some fans.  He was NOT a good GM

  On 3/20/2022 at 9:32 PM, GreggTX said:

He wasn't all bad, but he had a HUGE swing and miss with EJ Manuel. That was his downfall. If he's drafted Russel Wilson, he might still be working as a GM. Most of his 1st round picks underperformed. His day 2 and 3 picks were OK as were his FA moves for the most part. Still, you HAVE to nail those 1st rounders to be successful.

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I would disagree… I’ll say his downfall was not drafting EJ.  His downfall was doubling down on EJ by mortgaging the franchise that Sammy Watkins would help him develop into a good QB.  Many criticized the selection in 2014, and they were right 

[Mr. WEO]

  On 3/21/2022 at 12:16 AM, Buftex said:

I guess you missed my point...Whaley didn't get to pick his coaches.

 

Both Rex and McDermott had more control than he did.  He wanted nothing to do with Ryan...that was the Pegula's, and Russ Brandon's' choice. And that hire is what did Whaley in. It was a "splash" move...Ryan set the team back and destroyed the momentum they were building. His influence on the franchise and the roster was too big.  McDermott got to choose his own GM.  They are on the same page.  Ryan and Whaley never were. Rex had more power. It shouldn't have worked that way.

 

Whaley is hardly the first GM who had difficulty in finding a QB.  The relative ease with which teams find QBs now did not really exist just a few years ago.  Ultimately, none of it matters now, but I don't think those criticizing Whaley fully comprehend what happened during his tenure. Your thumbnail assessment doesn't take much of anything, other than wins=losses into account...there ts a reason that the franchise was so bad for close to two decades. It didn't start with Whaley...

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We all fully comprehend what happened during his tenure, thanks.  
 

And as with all things Whaley, he was happy to let others think bad moves like Rex were someone else’s fault.  Go look up Doug’s own comments about landing Rex and point to where he hints that he wanted nothing to do with that hire.  
 

He was a bum who signed 3 good FAs.  That’s it.  McD flushed his roster down the toilet to excellent effect

Edited March 21, 2022 by Mr. WEO

[QCity]

  On 3/21/2022 at 12:31 AM, JohnNord said:

 The mental gymnastic some Bills fans do to exonerate him from any bad move is something…

 

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It really is bizarre. I think Whaley appears to be a good GM in the eyes of people that equate it to a fantasy football GM.

 

One of my favorite clown-shoes moves that went under the radar was the Bryce Brown trade. The man gave away a 4th-rd pick for a RB that lasted for 36 carries 

 

 

[Bill from NYC]

  On 3/21/2022 at 2:23 AM, QCity said:

 

It really is bizarre. I think Whaley appears to be a good GM in the eyes of people that equate it to a fantasy football GM.

 

One of my favorite clown-shoes moves that went under the radar was the Bryce Brown trade. The man gave away a 4th-rd pick for a RB that lasted for 36 carries 

 

 

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Giving away the store for Watkins when we had no QB was also rather dumb. The man had no self control.

[Kirby Jackson]

  On 3/19/2022 at 11:52 PM, Rico said:

Always good to see the die-hard, hardcore Whaley fans get together every now and then.   

Where’s CBiscuit97? Kirby Jackson?

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Say it 3 times and I will appear.
 

Thought Whaley did a decent job. I said, for a fact, that he had a ton of respect still in Pittsburgh. No one wanted to believe it at the time. I think that him interviewing validates what I was told. The Rooney family and Kevin Colbert think very highly of him as a talent evaluator. 

 

This was an odd time to try to call me out when it is proving what you (and others) disputed.

Edited March 21, 2022 by Kirby Jackson

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

  On 3/21/2022 at 10:35 AM, Bill from NYC said:

Giving away the store for Watkins when we had no QB was also rather dumb. The man had no self control.

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That's the move that tells me the EJ pick was his. 

[H2o]

Whaley was pretty good at evaluating defensive talent. It showed in his time with the Steelers and it showed here as well. He fell well short on the other side of the ball though. I don't have any ill will against the guy, but I think he is better off in a defensive personnel role only than he is in a GM capacity. 

Edited March 21, 2022 by H2o

[Bill from NYC]

  On 3/21/2022 at 11:07 AM, BringMetheHeadofLeonLett said:

That's the move that tells me the EJ pick was his. 

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That makes sense and btw, long ovdue congrats on a GREAT screen name. I'm not sure what it means lol, but for a short period of time, Lett was the best DT that I have ever seen. 

[Rico]

  On 3/21/2022 at 10:48 AM, Kirby Jackson said:

Say it 3 times and I will appear.
 

Thought Whaley did a decent job. I said, for a fact, that he had a ton of respect still in Pittsburgh. No one wanted to believe it at the time. I think that him interviewing validates what I was told. The Rooney family and Kevin Colbert think very highly of him as a talent evaluator. 

 

This was an odd time to try to call me out when it is proving what you (and others) disputed.

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Welcome back!

 

We will see if he gets the gig or not. 

[T master]

  On 3/19/2022 at 8:45 PM, Maybe Someday said:

If he’s grown a backbone he could be a halfway decent GM. Chances that has happened?  

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Whaley was a wheeler dealer but like you say he needed to stand up for what his view was for the team he got the coaches what they wanted but it was the total wrong direction for what was here already .

 

And if we need any more conformation on that alls we need to say is REX ...

 

I think he has probably learned from his time in Buffalo and won't be the GM that's trying to please every one as much as he was here .

[May Day 10]

I would take him any day of the week as a 'talent evaluator' or even one of the AGM roles that you hear get hired and they just do their job and you never hear about them.  As a General Manager, not so much

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

  On 3/21/2022 at 11:54 AM, Bill from NYC said:

That makes sense and btw, long ovdue congrats on a GREAT screen name. I'm not sure what it means lol, but for a short period of time, Lett was the best DT that I have ever seen. 

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Ha!  Thanks.  It's a nod to an old Sam Peckinpah/Warren Oates film.   I'm a big fan of the 'love her and leave her/drag a fly-covered head across a Mexican desert genre of films. 
 

(I despised Lett back in the day)

[Jauronimo]

  On 3/21/2022 at 1:02 PM, May Day 10 said:

I would take him any day of the week as a 'talent evaluator' or even one of the AGM roles that you hear get hired and they just do their job and you never hear about them.  As a General Manager, not so much

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Director of pro personnel any day of the week.  

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

  On 3/21/2022 at 12:16 AM, Buftex said:

I guess you missed my point...Whaley didn't get to pick his coaches.

 

Both Rex and McDermott had more control than he did.  He wanted nothing to do with Ryan...that was the Pegula's, and Russ Brandon's' choice. And that hire is what did Whaley in. It was a "splash" move...Ryan set the team back and destroyed the momentum they were building. His influence on the franchise and the roster was too big.  McDermott got to choose his own GM.  They are on the same page.  Ryan and Whaley never were. Rex had more power. It shouldn't have worked that way.

 

Whaley is hardly the first GM who had difficulty in finding a QB.  The relative ease with which teams find QBs now did not really exist just a few years ago.  Ultimately, none of it matters now, but I don't think those criticizing Whaley fully comprehend what happened during his tenure. Your thumbnail assessment doesn't take much of anything, other than wins=losses into account...there ts a reason that the franchise was so bad for close to two decades. It didn't start with Whaley...

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I'm not a Whaley guy but I do agree with you that he never hired his own coach. That seems obvious, actually.

 

I think it was when they hired Ryan that it was reported he wanted to wait for the Steelers to be eliminated and interview their DC Keith Butler (who wasn't a great candidate IMO but still).

[Rico]

  On 3/21/2022 at 2:54 PM, 2020 Our Year For Sure said:

I'm not a Whaley guy but I do agree with you that he never hired his own coach. That seems obvious, actually.

 

I think it was when they hired Ryan that it was reported he wanted to wait for the Steelers to be eliminated and interview their DC Keith Butler (who wasn't a great candidate IMO but still).

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That’s pretty putrid. I don’t believe he ever hired his own coach either, he was just speaking the company line.

 

it should be noted that neither Brandon nor Whaley would’ve been subjected to the same amount of ridicule if it weren’t for the vocal minority of posters who insisted that they did a great job for the Bills.

[Jauronimo]

  On 3/21/2022 at 3:00 PM, Rico said:

That’s pretty putrid. I don’t believe he ever hired his own coach either, he was just speaking the company line.

 

it should be noted that neither Brandon nor Whaley would’ve been subjected to the same amount of ridicule if it weren’t for the vocal minority of posters who insisted that they did a great job for the Bills.

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It should be noted that the fine people of TBD have active imaginations and no shortage of hate.  Defense of Whaley and Brandon was mostly a factor of years of reading unhinged diatribes linking Russ to crimes ranging from the Kennedy assassination to personally drafting Donte Whitner.

[Rico]

  On 3/21/2022 at 3:23 PM, Jauronimo said:

It should be noted that the fine people of TBD have active imaginations and no shortage of hate.  Defense of Whaley and Brandon was mostly a factor of years of reading unhinged diatribes linking Russ to crimes ranging from the Kennedy assassination to personally drafting Donte Whitner.

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Dick Jauron fanboy, that’s pretty hardcore!