What was TDs worst move as Bills GM

[Pyrite Gal]

Personally,Ii think he never recovered from an initial mistake of hiring an HC who was not ready to move beyond being a great DC. GW had little feel for the offensive side of the game, destroyed the OL (even further as it had gotten bad under Butler) by hiring Vinky who has never been an OL position coach and replacing him when he had to demote his lifelong buddy with the equally inexperienced Ruel, and even screwed up the D by allowing or insisting Robinson and Jenkins be signed.

 

Yet, though I think his and our fate was cast right from the start, I am curious what other folks think (though a lot of the general rants against TD have struck me as fairly misguided as I have seen little evidence that he managed the crapshoot of the draft worse than the average GM) and in this poll rather than general indictments, I am looking for specific cases.

[Mark VI]

The Fried Baloney Fiasco.

[AJ1]

I can't pick between options 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7. They are all equally bad in my book.

I would have voted for an unstated option: picking back to back incompetent HCs but that's a compound error not a singleton.

[Rico]

Definitely extending Bledsoe. He had other moves that may have arguably been worse like hiring MM + GW/drafting MW & giving him that contract, but they were moves that may have looked good on paper at the time but ended up falling apart. With Bledsoe, TD had a get-out-of-jail free card... he could've and should've let that gutless quitter walk after his 2003 atrocity of a season. It ended up costing the Bills a playoff spot, and if they would've made the playoffs in 2004, TD would probably still have his job despite all his other mistakes. Stupid, stupid move.

[youbotymyboty]

I can't pick between options 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7.  They are all equally bad in my book.

I would have voted for an unstated option: picking back to back incompetent HCs but that's a compound error not a singleton.

698423[/snapback]

 

not getting Charlie Weiss

[Scraps]

Definitely extending Bledsoe. He had other moves that may have arguably been worse like hiring MM + GW/drafting MW & giving him that contract, but they were moves that may have looked good on paper at the time but ended up falling apart. With Bledsoe, TD had a get-out-of-jail free card... he could've and should've let that gutless quitter walk after his 2003 atrocity of a season. It ended up costing the Bills a playoff spot, and if they would've made the playoffs in 2004, TD would probably still have his job despite all his other mistakes. Stupid, stupid move.

698436[/snapback]

 

Bledsoe cost the Bills a playoff spot in 2004? Who would have been the QB to lead us to the playoffs that year?

[Rico]

Bledsoe cost the Bills a playoff spot in 2004?  Who would have been the QB to lead us to the playoffs that year?

698443[/snapback]

Shane Matthews.

[Steven in MD]

I point to 3 bad moves by TD.

 

Moving back into the first round to take Willis. I think he gave up too much at the time with a team that did not have a year to wait.

 

Hiring GW and then MM instead of looking for an experienced HC.

 

His continual lying to the fans about how good the team is. It is clear to me that he is a terrible personnel manager, and terrible at PR.

[Rubes]

Honestly, I can't decide between them all. They all equally sucked.

 

As well as not focusing on the OL.

[ajzepp]

Definitely extending Bledsoe. He had other moves that may have arguably been worse like hiring MM + GW/drafting MW & giving him that contract, but they were moves that may have looked good on paper at the time but ended up falling apart. With Bledsoe, TD had a get-out-of-jail free card... he could've and should've let that gutless quitter walk after his 2003 atrocity of a season. It ended up costing the Bills a playoff spot, and if they would've made the playoffs in 2004, TD would probably still have his job despite all his other mistakes. Stupid, stupid move.

698436[/snapback]

 

But it was Bledsoe's team....Drew told us that himself

[Max997]

I point to 3 bad moves by TD.

 

Moving back into the first round to take Willis.  I think he gave up too much at the time with a team that did not have a year to wait.

 

Hiring GW and then MM instead of looking for an experienced HC. 

 

His continual lying to the fans about how good the team is.  It is clear to me that he is a terrible personnel manager, and terrible at PR.

698459[/snapback]

 

 

do you mean moving back into the first round to take Losman because Willis was picked with the Atlanta pick obtained from trading Peerless Price to them

[Max997]

there were so many you really cant just pick one but if I had to I would have to say it was his first move hiring GW

[Steven in MD]

do you mean moving back into the first round to take Losman because Willis was picked with the Atlanta pick obtained from trading Peerless Price to them

698495[/snapback]

Sorry I meant the trade and ultimately picking WM.

[Ennjay]

Sorry I meant the trade and ultimately picking WM.

698520[/snapback]

 

Hold it. Trading Price for a first-round pick was one of the few things TD actually did right, although we can debate what he did next with the pick. But losing Peerless Price did not drag the Bills down to where they were in '05.

[VABills]

Trading to get Losman, and then cutting Bledsoe before Losman was ready for primetime.

[/dev/null]

Sorry I meant the trade and ultimately picking WM.

698520[/snapback]

 

TD didn't move back to select Willis in 2003. In 2002 he traded the 2003 first rounder to New England for Bledsoe, therefore New England owned our first round pick in 2003.

 

We didn't get back in the 1st round until Peerless Price had a breakout year and TD had probably his finest moment as Bills' GM by slapping Peerless with the Franchise tag and fleecing Atlanta out of a 1st round pick. That 1st round pick was where Willis was drated

[/dev/null]

Trading to get Losman

698550[/snapback]

 

/agree

[apuszczalowski]

Bledsoe cost the Bills a playoff spot in 2004?  Who would have been the QB to lead us to the playoffs that year?

698443[/snapback]

Wow, I actually agree with you on this one

 

Bledsoe didn't have a tremendous year, but who would have been the Bills QB that would have carried us into the playoffs?

[MartyBall4Buffalo]

For me it's most definitinly failing to retain the services of Dick Lebeau. I dont feel as if Marvin Lewis was some can't miss head coaching choice. He's failed to improve the bengals defense and has been blessed considerably with several high draft picks inlcuding having carson palmer fall right into his lap. While I like John Fox and the mentality he brings to the panthers I feel as though had we kept Lebeau over Jerry Gray our defense would have still been playing at an extremely high level, and if necceasary had meathead still failed Lebeau could've been the fallback option, and we would've maybe seen an offense predicated on running the football and strong defensive play. Lebeau would've been able to do the small things jerry gray couldn't like know when not to blitz, better scheming against better competition and overall better preperation.

[Fewell733]

I think the worst move was the entire 2002 draft class. 10 picks, zero starters.