Wing Man

Screw the pick at 8, trade down and get extra picks. God knows we have holes everywhere and both Smith and Barkley will be off the board by 8. Glennon, Wilson, and Brey are all accurate throwers with zip on the ball and I like them all better than Barkley. Wilson was the unfortunate recipient of a terrible receiver and offensive line corp his senior year, but he lit it up the scoreboard in his junior campaign. My guess is we'll get Nassib at 41 as the Syracuse floodgates remain open.

Benedictus XVI must be going to the Chiefs.

I just don't understand. Fred is a great running back. Why haven't we released him yet?

I miss a guy like Shultz coming across the middle. He could chop a receiver in half. TE - Tony Hunter, ND We drafted him ahead of Jim Kelly in 1983. He was out of Buffalo after 1984 and out of football in 1986 because the scouting report said he couldn't block Nancy Reagan. The Bills have never drafted a TE in the first round since, probably a good idea.

A few decades ago, a sports columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune wrote about two Chargers players who had been arrested on drug possession charges. Back then, the Chargers were selecting in the low single digits of the NFL draft every year. The columnist wrote that while the type of drug was not disclosed, based on the team's play that season he was fairly positive it was formaldehyde. I hope Doug Marrone and his staff can truly turn this team around because I'm exhausted talking about this every three years. Send the whole team over the falls if you have to, just build us a blue collar team we can be proud of.

Big 12 defenses are abysmal, maybe more than Big East defenses. Saying he's Ryan Leaf is an exaggeration, I admit, but I worry he'll flame out in the NFL. Just a feeling. Some of his bad games were really bad. I'm probably overreacting. I'm watching Glennon in these clips and see a quarterback that makes bad decisions when he's under pressure, which appears to be constantly. I wonder what he might have done with a real offensive line. He does look like Trent Edwards here but he rarely gets the protection he needs. He makes the wrong reads sometimes as well. He's a project, no doubt, but no more so than any other quarterback in this draft.

It strikes me that we realistically need two quarterbacks, not one. Thigpen is 90 years old and shows no sign of returning to the skill level he had in his prime, which lasted for about two weeks. We totally mismanaged Tavaris Jackson or we might have been talking about drafting a backup QB this year. God knows how he watched the games from his living room while Fitz turned the team into a school bus fire week after week. Talk about a total lack of respect for a man who knew how to win games for a franchise that at the time didn't have everything together. I'd have been livid. Left with the options we have, we're surely going to reach for someone to be our franchise quarterback. Glennon appeals to me as does Wilson. We may end up with Nassib and I don't have any problem with that. Barkley is too inaccurate and he had the confidence knocked out of him this season. If only Aaron Murray had declared for the NFL. Geno Smith looks more like Ryan Leaf than Peyton Manning to me. He scares me.

Justin Hunter would be tempting at 8. Too bad he played for Tennessee where he might have really blossomed elsewhere. I'd sooner trade back and get AJ Murray from Georgia who seems really undervalued to me.

I'd feel much better taking an Aaron Murray, Mike Glennon, or even a Tyler Wilson.

I'm still a strong believer in bringing in Tony Dungy. Marty Schottenheimer would be a close second, followed by Lovie Smith, Brian Billick, and Mike McCoy. Looks like Andy Reid is going to Arizona to try and resurrect Kevin Kolb. If they're traveling to Arizona, they're probably going to pursue Wiz and hope to take Horton as DC.

Backup to accomplish what? To teach our new franchise qb how to play in the NFL. No thanks.

I just love these exhaustive coaching and GM searches. It depends. Are we looking for someone to grow a franchise quarterback and then fire for someone who could actually take on and beat the Patriots? What assistant coaches will he be bringing in? The OC from Rutgers? The DC from Monmouth?

Everything hangs on Nix. If Nix is about to get nixed, it may or may not indicate a big name coming in who would want full control. If Nix stays, all the doors are open, except for the usual set of brilliant coaches unwilling to come to Buffalo. The Jon Gruden rumor is wavering. If the Kelly Thomas Corp rumor had been true, the new ownership group might have laid out for Chip Kelly.

Just saw the video. He said, "Rosebud."

There are a lot of rumors out there. Which one is she referring to?

Hardly a surprise, although it's surprising it happened so fast, by Bills standards. Here's hoping the rumors are all correct and we can move forward with the Buffalo Bills forever. You are a good man, Chan. Sorry to see you go this way.

What's the most compelling factor in this story is there aren't any denials coming out of OBD or any major laughter coming from the local media. It appears the media is marching to a Bills request for radio silence until tomorrow.

I'm in love.

Ralph's legacy in Buffalo is huge, and may be made larger based on the contents of tomorrow's presser. If it includes a sale or a path to keeping the Bills in Buffalo, he will have sealed his impact on the WNY community. It also may be an indication of failing health for Ralph which would be a terrible shame. The need for video editors could indicate problems Ralph may have communicating.

Knox was the rock solid believer in the run, run, pass, kick offense. He did, however, get the Bills to the playoffs. Still, I seem to remember this Levy guy who was pretty good.

1. Tony Dungy 2. Marty Schottenheimer 3. Chip Kelly (Ore.) 4. Sean Payton 5. Bill Musgrave (Vikes OC)

Somehow I doubt the holiday party was ON LIKE A MOFO. There's a wide array of permutations that could be in play here, but a change of ownership would obviously be a titanic development, and not like the ship. Pick a rumor, any rumor: The Jaw, Jon Gruden, Polian, Chip Kelly, Jim Kelly, Bob Rich, Terry Pagula, Ralph Wilson, Buddy Nix, Chan Gailey, Tim Tebow, Andy Levitre, Thurman Thomas, Marty Schottenheimer, Doug Whaley, Tony Dungy, Bill Belichek, Nic Saban, Brian Kelly, Jim Haslett, Jay Gruden, Perry Fewell, Dick LeBeau, The Stache, Russ Brandon, Sean Payton, Fireman Ed, The TEMPO restaurant, Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Terell Owens, SUNY Fredonia, Buffalo Wild Wings, 2 out of 3, 5 out of 7, 1 divided by 0.

Well, forever next to everyone else in the organization except for Brandon and Ralph. I'm sure there will be another exhaustive search that turns up a genuine unknown in about a week, if anything changes at all. Caldwell isn't a bad choice, but getting Caldwell could be difficult given this franchise's record hiring GMs. When Russ Brandon is handed the GM job, it's no wonder the league laughs at us.

Let me begin by saying that I would embrace having Buddy Nix back at GM next year. Three years ago we had a roster that wouldn't beat most college teams. Now we scream that our team is underperforming because our head coach sucks - no argument there. Many would agree we have many of the pieces together except at QB, LB, and a shut down corner, which Gilmore has the potential to become. The QB anyone would assume would be addressed in next year's draft. A LB or two could be picked up in free agency and/or the draft. The Mario Williams coup last season shows me how aggressive he can be at getting talent for the team. Gailey is his most glaring mistake, but it happens - to this team a lot. You can make arguments about a lot of his draft picks, but even the best GMs swing and miss sometimes. Still, rumors abound (Thurman?) of a housecleaning at One Bills Drive which will be welcomed by many. Some head coaching prospects would want total control of both GM and field ops. The big wild card in all of this is the health of Ralph Wilson. Who's really running the team, Ralph or his daughter? If it's Ralph, you can probably count out any number of GM and head coaching combinations and vice versa. First, here's a compilation of GMs that would make anywhere from a reasonable to a brilliant choice for GM: Doug Whaley - Buffalo, Dir. of Player Personnel This is certainly the obvious choice and the incestuous one as well, and we know how Ralph likes to hire people he knows. Whaley has been with the organization forever and is ready to be plucked by another franchise at any moment. The Bills may ask Nix to step aside to make room for Whaley at GM just to ensure they don't lose him. It's a safe pick, kinda, I think. Nix could get promoted to President of Football Operations or retire altogether. AJ Smith - San Diego, GM Another incestuous move having been here in Buffalo before under Butler. He had a good resume in San Diego before things went sideways after being the most recent victim of Norv Turner. AJ and Norv are about to be shown the door come Monday. He did burn some bridges here upon leaving Buffalo, particularly by bad mouthing Ralph Wilson which reduces his chances. He would be the 2d straight Chargers product in the office. There are more than a few detractors about this choice, however. Nix would surely retire in this case. Bill Polian - Frmr. Indianapolis, Buffalo GM There are people all over Western New York praying for this to come true. Polian has even expressed interest in possibly coming back. Won a Super Bowl with Indianapolis and built Buffalo into a killer team. Of course, he had his own falling out with Ralph, but he did make it on the Wall of Fame this year, something Lou Saban has yet to do. You can dream can't you? Oh, please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please!!!!! John Dorsey - Green Bay Dir. of Football Operations This is as much a lateral move from one football rabid small market team to another. A 21 year veteran in player scouting who was promoted this year to his current title. Widely believed to be among the top available talent not presently a GM. He passed on an interview with Indianapolis last offseason. This would be a pick up in the inspiring category. David Caldwell - Atlanta Dir. Player Personnel David will be on a lot of teams' short list this year. Although he's only worked from the college side before this year, he's considered a brilliant evaluator of talent. Tom Gamble - San Francisco Dir. Player Personnel Gamble is burning on the radar of multiple teams. He combines experience on both the college and pro side and even spent seven years as a college scout for Bill Polian in Indy prior to moving to SF in 2005. He has experience in contract negotiations and salary cap management. His father, Harry Gamble, was a college and pro coach and an NFL executive later on in his career. Polian on Gamble: "He's got a complete grounding in the game. He grew up in the game. This is exceedingly important when you consider there are a lot of issues that you have to deal with when becoming a GM that will come up with a team. You're at a big disadvantage if you don't have this experience in dealing with everything. That's why non-football people have a harder time succeeding. Because Tom has so much experience and grew up around the game with his dad, he's going to be more prepared than most. That's a huge advantage." High praise for certain. Competition for Gamble will be fierce and San Francisco may match offers to keep him in house. He'd be a total steal. -- There are other highly touted candidates from the Giants and Ravens that aren't interviewing because there's an understanding that they're a lock to take over the GM spot within their own organizations when the existing GM retires. Of course, if we bring in a big name head coach, he'll likely want total control. If Ralph is really in control, he'll never part with that much money annually for a GM/Coach, IMHO. Realistically, a lot of expensive GM/Head Coach combos have been total busts, so it's hardly a slam dunk solution. We're just starving for a team that resembles an NFL franchise so fan interest in head coaching saviors is intense following more than a decade of incompetent "up and coming" assistants. Part 2: Coaches we're not going to get and more of those brilliant "up and coming" assistants. Part 3: Nightmare scenarios

This is definitely a fun read. I personally hope Gruden would take the job here, but I suspect Brandon is at Tempo trying to negotiate his price down to $500,000 a year from Gruden's opening salvo of $12Million a year.