MAGIC MAN

Jahbonas: I suspect what happened is this. Wilson was fully aware and supportive of the restrictive non-relocation language that Erie Co and NYS wanted in the lease. He probably made that clear to Goodell and dispatched Brandon with marching orders to ensure the owners supported it. The owners, most likely, supported that language out of deference to Ralph and his place as one of the most senior owners. After that, when they had discussions about the sale process, Ralph decided to structure the 4 member voting group that is in charge of selling the team with the 4 people he trusted the most, his wie, his niece, his financial guy and his lawyer. While it probably went without saying, I'm sure Ralph told each of them, make sure you don't sell it to anyone that wants to move it out of Buffalo. It would be great, once the sale is over for Mary to share the story and the process they used to give Ralph the proper credit. Jahbonas, I get what your issue is, did Ralph keep Bills in Buffalo or did Pegula, the easiest answer is BOTH.

^ Consensus on board and through rumors and sources is that the LEASE is a binding agreement that limits movement (that's a given) -- the second aspect, is that the trust was given a directive by Ralph (no proof in writing has surfaced, but their actions suggest it exists) to not sell to buyer that has any intention on moving team.

The bid deadline has past !! All bids must be in, of course that's until the trust agrees to accept a late bid

Not sure, but, I don't think it really matters, unless the mystery bidder is Steve Ballmer with a $2B check ;-)

Interesting development or just another bit of false information, who the hell knows ! I was told 4 months ago, pre-NDA's that Pegula was prepared and willing to bid well over $1B (the number quoted was $1.3B), if necessary. I was hoping he could get the team for as little as possible to ensure he could invest more of his money into a new stadium. This is only a speed bump in the process.

As if Ray decking his fiance wasn't bad enough, this video shows that she didn't strike him at all AND he showed virtually zero regard for her after the hit. Shame on you Roger, got it wrong ?, you got it way wrong. Goodell needs to reopen the case and levy a suitable suspension of at least 6 games.

Someone has a bone to pick.

I'd actually love to see the same map with the #2 and #3 fans in each county, I think that would be more telling as to which teams do indeed have "national" appeal.

He's gotten a taste of NFL, you might be right that he covets the UM job. That program sure needs something, hasn't been the same since Carr left.

The guy wins. Did well at San Diego, Stanford and now with 49ers. If he leaves or gets fired, he'll immediately be the hottest HC candidate on the market. Bills would be lucky to get him, he'd attract very good assistant coaches, provide instant credibility and proven success. Something this team hasn't had in a LOOONNNGGG time. I think with Pegs as owner, he'd be willing to write the check that Bills would need to get him here.

Winning absolutely solves everything (in most cases, i.e. Jerry Jones/Jimmy Johnson), however, so does losing. If this team wins, Marrone/Whaley will be viewed as a dynamic duo young GM/young HC and Brandon will have successfully navigated through a dysfunctional organization and created a winning culture. If this team loses, however, they ALL should be gone. Right now, I'm losing hope by the day that they'll win, but, like 30 other teams they are 0-0, so anything can happen.

Common Denominator(s) = Brandon, Littman, Overdorf You want to kill the snake, you cut off the head. You want to change the losing culture that permeates OBD, you start at the top. Until then, NOTHING will change. The new owner will "get it".

FO seems like it's imploding, anyone changing their opinion ?

If they haven't been to the playoffs in 14+ years and saw their "franchise" QB and offense struggle all preseason, they'd be saying the same things people on this board have been saying and worse. Just because fans are venting their pent up frustrations doesn't mean those frustrations aren't warranted and justified. We all want this team to win and at every turn there seems to be another obstacle.

In the end, all that matters is whether they win or not. If they lose, everyone will comb through all this bulls**t to find a reason to fire one person and not the other or to find a scapegoat, in the end, if they lose this year, the entire OBD brain trust, TOP TO BOTTOM needs to be fired. If they win, i.e. make the playoffs, this will be rationalized as being the "fire" and "intensity" they needed to get over the hump and to create that winning culture and no one will care, just like none of us cares about the 1989 Bickering Bills. Just win.

^He definitely has conviction for his point of view. Translation: Yes, he is arrogant

From the get go, I thought WHO was on the trust was an enormous deal, I went back and forth on email with Jeremy White that day because he and Howard were downplaying it on air -- I thought at the time there was no way Ralph would put his family in that situation. I just want the new owner to be approved and on board so we can truly look forward, as much as we are all confident the team is staying, it will really feel like a new day when there is a new owner.

^ Agree with your comments, but, a question, didn't Ralph at one point say himself that the team would be sold to the highest bidder after he died ? I wonder, given all that we believe has transpired with the lease and the directives he gave to the 4 member trust, why he would have said that.

Still not sure why keeping the team in Buffalo, if it's a requirement, why it hasn't been made more public, obviously the bidders would all need to know that requirement. I guess, they wanted the process to be confidential and didn't see the need to pick and chose what information is made public and what is not, just keep it all private. I'd also be curious if the 4 member trust was aware of the consternation in the community and whether they ever felt the need to relieve that with a more public pronouncement. We haven't heard anything public from any of the four on the sale process. Again, they don't owe any of us that courtesy, but it would have been a nice gesture. In the end, maybe their way of doing that is to leak information to select media members and friend and colleagues to get the word out. In the end, if the team indeed stays in Buffalo, we'll all forget the process and move on with renewed enthusiasm.

Delicate balance between, the lease, the approval of NFL owners, Ralph's wishes and the almighty dollar

^ In this thread ? I believe you posted that there is no additional provision in the trust, the lease is what is driving non-relocation, correct ?

Got it, and understand each of your thought processes. I think the trust, like you said, is trying to maximize their leverage to get the bids as high as possible, while respecting the lease terms and Ralph's inherent wishes. Do you both think we can still get new owner approved by mid-October owner's meeting, even with the firm deadline being reported as Sept 9th ?

^ But it's been widely reported that the bidders know they need to be prepared with a long term plan to keep team in Buffalo, if the bidders already know that, why not make it public ? I'll try to answer the two questions I posted, hopefully Bandit, Kirby or Kelly will chime in, since they are the most in the know. 1- I don't believe there is any specific language in the trust rules/guidelines, I think there is an informal understanding amongst the group of 4 that Ralph didn't want the team moved as part of this process. The lease itself provides a very restrictive short term window that ALL bidders must adhere to anyway, so, the trust is simply abiding by that and asking for a long term plan. 2- Why not make it public ? there is nothing to make public since it's informal. The only reason this matters is it speaks to whether Ralph created something that was iron clad, and I think the answer is, he supported the lease, which is iron clad in the short term and he put his family/friends on the voting trust, which is the long term. Anyone disagree ? know something I don't ?

No one ever answered the previous question on non-relocation language in trust or not, so here's another question to ponder ---- "if the bidders are aware that they have to present plans to keep team in Buffalo, why doesn't the trust make that portion of the rules/guidelines public ?" It would certainly put the community of Bills fans at ease and obviously it wouldn't compromise the bidding process since it would be information that would have been shared.

Reading some of these threads makes me laugh. Seems like we need some ground rules on who gets credit and blame for what. Technically this was Nix trade, just like technically the 2013 draft was Nix's draft. Most of us don't believe either to be the case. However, those on the board that are still infatuated with the current FO, credit Whaley for the Sheppard-Hughes trade and those same folks argue that Nix picked Manuel. Talk about selective amnesia, UGH ! In any case, this was a GREAT trade for the Bills, whoever each of you partisans want to credit doesn't really matter to me. BTW, I count myself as one of said partisans.