What was TD's best move for the Bills?

[Pyrite Gal]

This is a companion off-season poll to one asking about his worst moves so if folks are looking to simply vent their frustation or to jag off while ragging on TD I am also providing another thread for folks to do that.

 

This ask was inspired by Rico noting in a thread about Schobel being extended that he was surprised when this worked out and he thought it was one of TDs better moves.

 

Certainly, there were a ton of posts dancing on TD's deserved grave as Bills GM which seem to claim he could do nothing right. However, though I think he deserved to be fired (failing to deliver a playoff berth at all during his five years here with little immediate prospects to accomplish this after a 5-11 season is ultimate stat which totally justies his dismissal IMHO), I think there were a number of moves he made which were among the best I have seen from a GM.

 

In the end, I think he failed because he was just too defensive and bruised after gettingfired and run out of town by a guy he hired in Pittsburgh that he coul not uild a winner here. However, his inability to overcome this problem makes me think of Branod in On The Waterfront, he coulda been a contenda if he was little more secure and had either hired Fox or tried to attract Lewis here instead of hiring GW.

 

At any rate, I am curious what folks thought he did that was his best move (and the above tries to clear the deck of the ranting agaist TD that asking this heretical question might easily inspire, but we will see).

[Rico]

Since none of TD's moves ended up amounting to anything while he was here (ie. playoffs and beyond), I will choose to look at how they will impact the future... and I think extending McGee last year to a relatively cheap contract was an very outstanding move. Schobel is very solid, but McGee is a difference-maker, on ST and at CB.

 

Getting TKO to sign here was big, but I have to see how he comes back first... I'm pretty sure McGee will give us more than 2 great years.

[Mark VI]

His best move was out of town.

 

 

 

 

OK,ok...signing Spikes.

[ajzepp]

I think TD's move to get JP will ultimately end up being viewed much more positively than it is now.

[Max997]

"Managing us out of cap hell a year earlier than expected"

 

 

I love how people still give TD credit for this and make him out to be a cap genius...he cut a bunch of people, how friggin hard is that

 

his cap managing was not as good as people make it out to be anyway, look at the overpriced deals he gave aging veterans like Milloy and Vincent and overpaying for an average at best G in Villarial. Yeah you can go back and forth with some of hisgood signings but the fact is he wasnt as good as people make him out to be

[apuszczalowski]

What, TD had no good moves, He is evil, the son of Satan (not Miro), he eats babies for breakfast, he signs his name with 666

 

I think his best thing for the team was how he could always sell us on believing this year was going to be our year, and the fact that when it came marketing this team, he would get a A+++

 

As for a personnel move that I think was his best, the price move was good, getting WM (no matter what people wanna say about his "character") was a good move, Drafting and signing McGee long term, etc. His best move had to be setting his sights and bringing TKO to Buffalo. He brought in an instant Defensive leader and someone who can be a leader for a while. You can't blame him for the injury to Spikes cause that can happen to anybody. Marv could trade a 7th round pick to Indy for Manning and it would still be one of his best moves even if Manning got injured in his first game as a Bill because injuries happen and they are not something a GM or caoch can control.

[Marv's Neighbor]

Definately, LEAVING!

[/dev/null]

What, TD had no good moves, He is evil, the son of Satan (not Miro), he eats babies for breakfast, he signs his name with 666

698560[/snapback]

 

thanks for bringing up the memory of that thread

good times, those were good times

[Pyrite Gal]

"Managing us out of cap hell a year earlier than expected"

I love how people still give TD credit for this and make him out to be a cap genius...he cut a bunch of people, how friggin hard is that

 

his cap managing was not as good as people make it out to be anyway, look at the overpriced deals he gave aging veterans like Milloy and Vincent and overpaying for an average at best G in Villarial. Yeah you can go back and forth with some of hisgood signings but the fact is he wasnt as good as people make him out to be

698554[/snapback]

 

Yeah, I mostly stuck this in the survey as an option, though there were other things on the list like his move of transition tagging PP and then managing hios anger well so he could pull off the trade with AT that I thought were far above the norm of what most GMs can do. The cap management work by him I think was better than average, but some GMsare good and some are bad,

 

While I do not think his cap management his first year and overall qualifies him for football goddom, I think that actually he does deserve some significant credit for this work.

 

If cap management were so easy, then why doesn;t everyone do it well and why do so many teams still do it poorly?

 

Cap management issues were a big factor in a significant chunk of the NFL swallowing hard and taking the CBA deal that essentially the NFLPA demanded. The two hammers were going to be no huge raise in the immediate cap figure which was forcing a bunch of teams to cut players they did not want to cut. The second was the prospect of an uncapped year where differences in skill at cap management were going to get washed away by differences in cash flow.

[Ramius]

thanks for bringing up the memory of that thread

good times, those were good times

698567[/snapback]

 

just for old times sake...

 

http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=23265

 

Born: April 26th 2005

Died: October 27th 2005

 

The thread spanned 6 months, 68 pages, 2 separate closings, had 124 posters post something in it, 2 posters with over 100 replies (you being one, EC-Bills thw king at 174, and i was a distant third with 89), and 5 posters with over 50 replies.

 

Son of Satan, how we miss thee.

[boomerjamhead]

You guys really do hate Moulds, don't you? TD's best move was one of his very first and that was re-signing Moulds way back when.

[MartyBall4Buffalo]

Re-signing Moulds was definitly one of Tommy D's better moves but I voted for drafting Nate Clements. 29 forced turnovers in the last 5 seasons 20 picks and 11 forced fumbles 9 recovered by the bills 2 by the oppositiion. Thats more forced turnovers then Champ Bailey, Chris Mcallister, Patrick Surtain, Ty Law, and probably just about every corner in the league. 6 td's 4 by pick 2 on punt returns. Arguably Donahoe's best draft pick.

[BuckeyeBill]

Reading these... aside from not going to the playoffs, TD did a pretty good job. I think his weakness was not getting a solid coaching staff and not buillding up the offensive line.

[BuffaloWings]

I was torn between tagging/trading Peerless and drafting McGee, but I'd have to say McGee right now. So far, he's earned his worth as a KR and is getting better as a CB.

 

The #1 pick we got for Peerless (McGahee) is right up there, but I'm not so sure of Willis as a mature player just yet. I'll give him 2006 to really judge him, but I have a feeling he won't be in Buffalo once his contract is up.

[Pyrite Gal]

Reading these... aside from not going to the playoffs, TD did a pretty good job.  I think his weakness was not getting a solid coaching staff and not buillding up the offensive line.

698648[/snapback]

 

Exactly!

 

TD flat out deserved to get canned due to his record of not getting to the playoffs on his watch (a fact which I think stemmed from his initial fatal mistakes of putting a higher priority on hiring an HC he could best if nrcessary rather taking a risk of his own job by hiring a winning HC).

 

However lost in the autodrive ranting that he sucked in all areas, is the fact that he made some pretty great moves. This episodes of nice work were easily overshadowed by the bigger issue of him hiring out of fear rather than being strong enough to take risks.

 

However, I think a fair and balanced (to use a phrase) assessment of TD is one of being pretty good on a lot of the specifics, but in the end being fatally flawed in terms of broader context,

[The Jokeman]

My vote went to In 2001 trading down the 1st and still getting the 1st CB taken. As this sole move impacted others:

 

1)It meant not taking Kenyatta Walker...

1a)and had we taken Walker we would would not have two 2nds which means likely no Travis Henry.....

1b) which means no Ashton Youboty.

1c)Plus In not taking Walker we likely would have never taken Jonas Jennings and instead taken a CB such as Jaime Henderson who has shown to be nothing more then a nickel back which means....

1d)Assuming everything remains the same for the 2001 season we would have then taken Quinton Jammer 4th overall instead of Mike Williams and.....

1e)Not taken Terrance McGee in 2003 (because had Coleman) and maybe instead taken OT Brett Williams....

and quite finally 1f)No Jennings would have meant no 7th Round compensation this year which means possibly no Aaron Merz.

 

I'm sure I missed something somewhere but it's easy to see how 1 decision could impact several others.

[Bill from NYC]

Getting a 3rd for Henry was a literal act of genius.

Anybody who wishes to sing the praise of Travis should really do so, but TD got an early 3rd for a player who is now a dumb, worthless drug addict, and I am being kind.

[beerme1]

Nancy, Nancy, Nancy whichever one of you it is. Why do you insist on deleting any post that challenges your authority? Good God, delete this for grammatical errors why dont ypou? nok?

 

Seriously though, I dont get why you won't let me challenge the poster after the objecction she raised a few weeks ago about anyone still talking about THE SON OF SATAN?

And yet now, here she/he is talking about THE SON OF SATAN not once but twice and with poles and polls. R U Kidding me?>

Wait I get it, she is family.

Ok then. OK then.

[Pyrite Gal]

Nancy, Nancy, Nancy whichever one of you it is. Why do you insist on deleting any post that challenges your authority? Good God, delete this for grammatical errors why dont ypou? nok?

 

Seriously though, I dont get why you won't let me challenge the poster after the objecction she raised a few weeks ago about anyone still talking about THE SON OF SATAN?

And yet now, here she/he is talking about THE SON OF SATAN not once but twice and with poles and polls. R U Kidding me?>

Wait I get it, she is family.

Ok then. OK then.

698987[/snapback]

 

I assume that it is me you are refering to saying I railed against folks for talking about TD. I assume your are correct but I do not even remember saying this/ However, since I did, boy was I dumb before. Your posts pointing this out has shown me how dumb i was before. Thanks for contributing to my knowledge og this issue, which must be hard to do given stupid hypocrisies like this one.

 

Now folks can go back to reading and talking about the Bills instead of posting about my stupidity.

[ExWNYer]

I think extending McGee last year to a relatively cheap contract was an very outstanding move. Schobel is very solid, but McGee is a difference-maker, on ST and at CB.

698425[/snapback]

I'd have to say McGee right now. So far, he's earned his worth as a KR and is getting better as a CB.

698711[/snapback]

 

Agree. McGee...with Spikes 1A.