Is the decision to fire Jauron out of Wilson's hands?

[Da Big Man]

The end of the world is upon us. Me & DBM agree!!!!!

 

Good to have ya back you bastardo!!

Hey brother take an extra hit for me!!! Good to be back . U.B. Bulls rocked Ball st. last night and I've already got tickets to the International Bowl in Toronto Canada. Psyched about that. Lets hope the Bills can win for us tomorrow in T.O.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

All those players were brought in signed by Levy, can't fault Brandon on those. Every team in the league overpays for free agents. If you don't overpay you'll get no one. The problem the Bill's have is RW isn't willing to throw good money after bad when one of these guys don't work out so the Bills tend to be more stuck with them. Other teams may tend to sign someone else to replace their last mistake. The Bill's need to hit home runs more than most teams. While I agree a top notch GM will likely hit more home runs, it's really up to the scouts more than the GM, so having Brandon IF you have a good scouting department is still OK. I also don't think even the best GM's hit that many more home runs than the Bill's average, but again, they have the ability to spend more money to cover up their mistakes. And again to build through the draft, you need top scouts.

 

While he's at it, he should bring in a real GM who understands how to build a team through the draft and via free agency. One who doesn't overpay for mediocre talent (Dockery, Walker, Kelsay) and one who doesn't squander draft picks (McCargo, Poz, Losman).

 

That will translate to more wins more than (yet another) head coach.

[BillsVet]

All those players were brought in signed by Levy, can't fault Brandon on those. Every team in the league overpays for free agents. If you don't overpay you'll get no one.

 

There is a premium to pay in free agency. Using UFA is a penalty for drafting poorly, which at times both TD and Marv did. As a result, some teams depend on UFA more than others. It's not an excuse that every team pays more for players because some don't. When is the last time the Giants, Colts, or Packers paid big dollars to a free agent? They draft well, meaning they don't dip into UFA as much. And it gives them cap flexibility because they don't rely on UFA to build their team.

 

The problem the Bill's have is RW isn't willing to throw good money after bad when one of these guys don't work out so the Bills tend to be more stuck with them.

 

RW paid big dollars when TD was GM and he still couldn't get a winner. Spikes, Milloy, Fletcher, Bledsoe, all were big FA's or trades which didn't help the team into the playoffs. But he's also signed Dockery, Walker, K. Mitchell, Sp. Johnson, and traded for Stroud. He still hands out dollars, even though he's not able to match some of the huge signing bonuses.

 

The Bill's need to hit home runs more than most teams. While I agree a top notch GM will likely hit more home runs, it's really up to the scouts more than the GM, so having Brandon IF you have a good scouting department is still OK. I also don't think even the best GM's hit that many more home runs than the Bill's average, but again, they have the ability to spend more money to cover up their mistakes. And again to build through the draft, you need top scouts.

 

I highly recommend the book, "The GM" by Tom Callahan. It tells the story of Ernie Accorsi, Jerry Reese's predecessor as GM for the Giants and explains how a successful front office operates. Scouts can deliver their advice, but whomever makes the decision to take a guy is what matters more. And the Bills do not have the GM to bring everyone together on draft day and in free agency like the Giants have. No matter what, Accorsi and Reese are the reason why the Giants are so strong. Part of the reason Buffalo is weak and without depth is because they don't spend near enough to the cap, and have been hamstringed by bad GM's like Donahoe, Levy, and now Brandon.

 

Contrary to many on this board, the Bills front office is a mess and insufficient. Scouting is one thing, and I believe Modrak is fine as Director of Amateur Scouting. Guy is a mystery as Pro Scouting Director, because he's not the final decision maker in whom the Bills go after in UFA. Their record there is not good, but relying on UFA is not the key to success anyway.

 

Because the Bills front office is organized strangely, it's hard to pin blame on any one person. Ultimately, blame should go to Ralph for not hiring legitimate GM's that relied too much on Jauron for help in the personnel game. Neither Levy nor Brandon were/are prepared to handle what a GM does.

[Dawgg]

I just don't buy into all this draft talk of value and such.

 

... and neither does the Bills' front office. That, my friend is a major reason the Bills are mired in mediocrity.

 

That year that Bills traded up for McCargo, surrendering valuable mid-round picks:

 

- The Packers got 2 starting offensive linemen who have started in playoff games in the mid rounds.

- The Bucs got a starting tackle who have started in the mid rounds. Also chose a starting guard in the first round.

- The Chargers got both their starting tackles after the first round.

- The Steelers got a starting tackle in the fourth round.

- The Saints got a starting guard in the fourth round.

 

The list goes on... these players aren't fringe starters who start on a bad team like Keith Ellison. These are legit NFL starters, many of whom have been extended to long-term deals, and most of whom have started in playoff games.

 

These teams (a) value middle round picks and make wise selections and (b) focus on extending their own star-caliber players whom THEY drafted like Lamaar Woodley, Jeremy Trueblood, Marcus McNeill, etc...

 

The Bills, on the other hand, overpay for other teams' trash.

 

Again, you wonder why the Bills are bad?

 

You do realize Poz has almost twice the number of tackles as Harris this year, right? What makes shim so much better?

 

You realize David Harris has been injured for most of the year, right?

 

That's like saying Patrick Willis had more tackles than Poz last year. Bottom line, they are comparable players. Neither player is that much better than the other... that was obvious on draft day as well. Yet the Bills saw fit to throw away a 3rd rounder to move up to take Poz.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Definitely agree GM is the most important position in sports. Look at how many teams over the years were terrible, they keep gpong through coaches and players all because they have a bad front office. The nthey get a good GM and all of a sudden they are good. A few examples, Giants were terrible until they brought in George Young, Mets until they brought in Fred Cashen, The bills until Polien, Colts until Polien (a pattern is developing) Islanders with Bill Torry in 70's, Atlanta Braves keep winning every year, though never quite win it all, but still their GM has brought in many good players, San Antonio and Suns keeps winning almost every year, Canadians back in the 70's with Sam Pollick I think was the GM's name And who was their coach of all those successful teams Bowman, But he wants to play GM, so he comes to Bufflol, rebuilt the team, they improved some, but they were never great, so then rebuilt a second time, and again never did great. Finally they dumped him. GM is important, more than most people think.

 

 

I highly recommend the book, "The GM" by Tom Callahan. It tells the story of Ernie Accorsi, Jerry Reese's predecessor as GM for the Giants and explains how a successful front office operates. Scouts can deliver their advice, but whomever makes the decision to take a guy is what matters more. And the Bills do not have the GM to bring everyone together on draft day and in free agency like the Giants have. No matter what, Accorsi and Reese are the reason why the Giants are so strong. Part of the reason Buffalo is weak and without depth is because they don't spend near enough to the cap, and have been hamstringed by bad GM's like Donahoe, Levy, and now Brandon.

[BillsVet]

Definitely agree GM is the most important position in sports. Look at how many teams over the years were terrible, they keep gpong through coaches and players all because they have a bad front office.

 

I'm still wondering why it's acceptable to so many Bills fans that Russ Brandon be the nominal head of an organization which has realized so little success in the preceding years.

 

Find a real GM, and they in turn will find good coaching. At the same time, that GM will gather the right executives to locate and keep good players.

 

Everything flows from the front office and it's definitely hard to overcome bad decisions.

[dave mcbride]

I do. Our fearless moderator, Simon was one who said Ralph was an idiot to get rid of Donahoe and that Donahoe was doing as good a job as he could under the circumstances. Oddly, Chris Mortensen's take on it was essentially the same.

 

This is called arguing by anecdote. If anything, you're proving the old saw of "the exception that proves the rule." That's one person, and even Simon couldn't muster much enthusiasm for Donohoe by the end.

[Fan in Chicago]

This is called arguing by anecdote. If anything, you're proving the old saw of "the exception that proves the rule." That's one person, and even Simon couldn't muster much enthusiasm for Donohoe by the end.

Not to say I am a huge TD fan, but when he was fired, he exited the Bills with a 31-49 record (a 39% win percentage) and no playoffs. After him, we are 20-24 (45% win percentage) and strong signals of three non-playoff years. Are we better off ? On record we are but as far as hope and playoffs are concerned, we are still empty. I am not sure I am happier today than during the TD regime.

[Sisyphean Bills]

This is called arguing by anecdote. If anything, you're proving the old saw of "the exception that proves the rule." That's one person, and even Simon couldn't muster much enthusiasm for Donohoe by the end.

No. It's calling countering a (false) absolute. Dan's argument was that there was no one that felt TD should continue. That argument is false, as my statement said. Simon, buftex, and Mort disprove the absolute.

 

This post may help you understand my earlier post.

 

(And, yes, multiple threads carrying on the same conversation sucks.)

[Mike in Syracuse]

Does anyone know what the net revenue of the Buffalo Bills is? I'm talking after ticket sales, merchandise sales, revenue sharing etc. There's been a lot of speculation that Wilson won't fire Jauron because he doesn't want to "eat" the rest of Jauron's contract because it's millions of dollars.

 

I'm think that as a line item for the Bill's it's really a nominal fee. Especially when considering what plummeting ticket and merchandise sales mean for your bottom line.

 

Personally would you spend $1,000 of your own cash to bring a real coach in? I certainly would!