TXBILLSFAN

Hey, Bandit I'll attempt a productive discourse, since I do value our exchanges I know you know I'm no fan of Russ -- and here's a perspective I'd like your opinion on I absolutely get the debate about Russ' level of involvement in football matters over the past 17 years -- ranged from 100% to 10% or maybe less -- but, while acknowledging that I have 3 points: 1- Russ still has influence on WHO the Bills hire as GM / HC. The fact we haven't had one successful GM or HC over those 17 years, doesn't he deserve some of the blame for giving bad advice ? 2- There is general consensus that selecting a QB is an organizational decision. I think there were several threads about the Manuel pick being one that was made collectively by the FO. Setting aside EJ, doesn't Russ deserve blame for the state of that position over the past 17 years ? The choice to select the ones we selected, but more importantly the choice to NOT select one for so many years ? 3- Culture. I've said this before, the culture of this organization is set at the top. The top was Russ for many years. The culture is way too accepting of mediocrity, that bleeds across all parts of the organization. Thoughts ?

A distinction without a difference. In the last 12 drafts, only EJ was selected in the first TWO rounds. We complain about not having a franchise QB, but show me the urgency and commitment this Brandon led organization has had for this position ?? Criminal

How many 1st, 2nd or 3rd round picks have the Bills used over past 20 years on the most important position in team sports ? How many successful GM's have the Bills had in the past 20 years ? How many successful HC's have the Bills had in the past 20 years ? EDIT (with answers): Most important position in team sports and no franchise QB: they've used 3 picks in first 3 rounds over 20 years !! --- criminal Not one successful GM (0 for 5), not one successful HC (0 for 7) over past 17 years Keep defending Keep tolerating mediocrity Keep Brandon What a !@#$ing joke !

Famous leadership book, Good is the enemy of Great -- in Bills case, Mediocrity has been the enemy of Good, so no path exists to be Great The point on Brandon that has to be highlighted to all his defenders is that he's been involved over the past 17 years of a failing organization. The defenders want to debate his exact involvement, I no longer do. The fact that he has had ANY influence says it ALL. He's failed when he's had 100% control and he's failed when he's had 10% control. I don't want him to be a Bills employee or have Pegula's phone number when they search for the next GM or HC or even a football czar. The fact that he was partly responsible or full responsible over the past 17 years says it all

Brandon was a failure as a GM, a failure as the head of football operations and a failure as an advisor to the owner on football related matters. Regardless of the role he has today (pick one from the above list), he's failed. This team has failed for over 17 years. The objective is to win, PERIOD. If you want to change the culture you start by getting rid of Brandon and gutting the rest of the FO, the GM and the coaching staff. Sure, in the process, some good people will be victims of the purge, but, in the end, create a winning culture from scratch, this team is TOXIC. Why would/should fans trust Brandon to play any part in any decision that impacts the on the field product ??

Need a results based culture and hold EVERYONE accountable, not just GM and HC, translation CLEAN HOUSE

8-8 NO, for the what, last 20 years Fire Rex and Whaley and put Brandon in charge of finding the next GM and HC -- it's worked so well over the past 20 years

Appreciate and agree with the perspective on the QB/OC, I do agree that's where the problem is. I was underwhelmed with Hackett during Watkins first year and obviously more than underwhelmed with Orton/Manuel throwing him the ball Last year, it seemed like Taylor and Roman figured it out in 2nd half when Watkins came back from his injury and got him the ball with decent frequency So, now, same QB, but different OC -- again, sample size is small, 3 games with a lingering injury, but we'll see as Watkins gets in game shape if they ratchet up the targets

You'd think if you had a weapon you'd use it. This defies logic. Either that stats lie (i.e. he's not that good, or, isn't open) or the Bills have had 3 terrible OC's during Sammy's tenure

I think the question is why isn't he being targeted more often ? It would stand to reason if he is explosive per target as his statistics indicate only a !@#$ing moron would not throw him the ball. Do we really believe our play callers are !@#$ing morons ?

I cancelled Sunday Ticket for first time in 12 years. I've only watched two Thursday night games (I hate NFL on Thursday nights !). I've also gone from watching 4-5 hours on Sunday to closer to 1-2 hours. I've also gone from being in 4 fantasy leagues to 2. For me, it's a combination of things: 1- Bills perpetual mediocrity 2- Saturation (was ok with Sunday night games, Thursday is over kill and Sunday am is joke) 3- Too many commercials, breaks in game. Soccer/hockey is actually better system, put billboards around field and cut commercial time in 1/2. 4- other options that are better, college football, hockey and yes, even soccer. 5- quality of games itself is worse. New passing rules have made franchise QB a requirement for winning. (again, I'm sure I'm biased given Bills haven't had a franchise QB in two decades), but nonetheless, the rules favor passing and have changed game significantly

I'm not sure logic tracks, i.e. "Nothing on the field changes with Russ gone" ? If he's advised the decision makers that have resulted in the hiring of the long list of failed GM's and HC's, doesn't it stand to reason that with him out of the picture someone else will make better recommendations ? As for his performance on the business side, I think that is somewhat true, although all franchises have benefited from the explosion of the sport's popularity and the latest Forbes information on 2015 would suggest the Bills have hit a wall in that area, since they rank 28th in Revenue; 32nd in operating income and 32nd in valuation.

I appreciate your perspective as it comes from a strong foundation of sports management. I think we can all agree that the management of the football side of this franchise for the past 16 years has been at our near the bottom of the NFL While we can waste a lot of time debating the depth of influence and/or decision making Brandon had on decisions that have led to this performance, it is fair to say that he has been a trusted adviser to the people ultimately making the football decisions as well as to the owners that have ultimately hired those people to make the decisions With that said, why doesn't he bear some responsibility to the performance of this team over the time period where he was advising the owner on whom to hire in these key football positions ? Was he not part of the management team that hired failed GM after failed GM ? Failed coach after failed coach ?

One example, selecting an injured Shaq Lawson in first round.

I don't want to turn this into SabreSpace, but, I think it was logical and rational to give Darby/Lindy more time and the benefit of Pegula's money (i.e. signing Regher, Ehrhoff, Leino) to see if that tandem could make it work. Once it was obvious it wasn't working, he got rid of both of them. Setting aside the LaF exit drama, there were 2 main pieces to the blueprint: 1- Put an established hockey expert in control of the roster 2- Commit to the rebuild by completely tearing down the roster and rebuilding it based on a mixture of draft picks and young players Bills can and should do the same. (one edit: DON'T LET THE COACH MESS WITH THE ROSTER !!, the coach, coaches the GM controls the roster!!) (Rex has his filthy hands too deep into this roster and he's screwing it up)

If that is the end game, I can live with that process. The Sabres have the right blueprint.

Fear of change might not be your motivation, but, I grew up in WNY and still have most of my family and friends there. I think to a lot of them and to other fans, Russ represents someone who is one of them. He's from the area, he went to school locally and he's the local boy that made it big. I think a lot of fans love him because they believe he has their best interests at heart. In turn, they fear an outsider coming in and the unknown. I also believe Brandon's influence is at a low point, but, he's still there whispering in Pegula's ear and advising him on all things (including football), i.e. hiring Rex. Granted, I know Pegs fell in love with Rex's BS, but, a strong President or strong football czar would never have let Rex into the process. The day Rex was hired was my low point as a Bills fan. A football czar is the way to go. I tell people, had Pegs been owner when Polian was GM, who knows what kind of run this team could have had. A strong GM with a deep pocketed owner is a recipe for success. Unfortunately, I think Pegs will have to stumble blindly into a strong GM or football czar, he doesn't seem like he's going to get there on his own.

Some people, in this case fans, are more comfortable with the status quo and view change as a bad thing, they have an almost unhealthy comfort with the given and a fear of the unknown. Changing the culture of an organization is difficult and requires bold moves at the highest levels. Part of me thought the ownership transition would be enough to change the culture at OBD, that clearly is not the case. The losing culture is so embedded in that building it reeks and the performance of this franchise over the past 16 years, where mediocrity is considered success is pathetic.

I spent years reading this forum without posting. About 4 years ago, I started to actively post. About a year ago, I couldn't take it anymore, as an avid fan, my frustrations with this team hit a breaking point and I signed off this site and have had the discipline to read it once a month or less and I've only posted a handful of times over that same time period. The subject of Russ Brandon strikes a live and raw nerve with me, as some of you (bandit), might recall from my previous posts. I don't think there's much value in litigating the role Russ plays on the Bills and/or Sabres, however, I do believe his role on the Sabres is different from his role on the Bills and that is completely logical and not at all inconsistent with how multiple unit organizations/businesses are run under the same CEO/owner. I offer this perspective. If nothing else, Russ, at a minimum, has served as a key adviser to the ultimate decision maker for the Bills over the past 15 years. At times that role has morphed into being the decision maker and at times it has strayed further away into a secondary adviser. In any case, his advise has produced the product that we see on the field in some form or another. That is enough evidence in my opinion to ask, or even beg for the Pegulas to look elsewhere to get advise in the future and remove Brandon from the organization completely. This isn't a with hunt, this is a desire to get fresh ideas into an organization that has spent too long reliying on this person to help guide a team that has performed worse than any other sports franchise during that same time period.

This is a situation where both sides are right and a deal might not and should not get done. Fitz feel it's not worth it to be starter and take all the hits/pressure and get paid like a backup Jets feel he's the quality of a backup and is being forced into a starter role out of necessity and should be paid based on that I wish the Bills took that approach a few years ago, instead, they paid Fitz starter money and got burned, smart FO's don't do that !

I would have been happier with Robinson, Spence or Ragland at end of 1st and have an extra 2nd Another option would have been to roll dice on Jack at end of 1st, high risk/high reward with an eye on longer term if he needs micro-fracture

I'm not convinced Mario's regression was his and his alone, same player with different coach, actually same defense with different coach produced a lot more. My frustration is the overall lack of improvement and the fact the Bills are stuck in mediocrity and not so much this particular pick. I thought this team was a legit (not franchise) QB from getting to playoffs, which would have been a good step forward. After last year, I'm not sure where this team is ? All of sudden, we have holes at DL, LB and S. The offense took a step forward and the defense took a huge step backward. Progress ? Free agency has been a net loss and every team improves on draft day. Like I said, hard to find reason to get excited. Not faulting Shaq per se, just the lack of overall progress As for the pick, I would have preferred a trade down and add a pick in 2nd/3rd to get more help with the other areas of need.

Shaq 2016 v.Mario 2015 is improvement, Shaq 2016 v. Mario 2014 is not. Improvement would have been Rex being able to get out of Mario in 2016 what he gave in 2014 and using draft pick to improve team in another area of need Like I said, finding it hard to get excited or too optimistic over this team and this pick at this time

Finding it hard to be excited, seems to me that Bills continue to simply tread water. Lose Mario and gain Shaq. Granted Mario was shell of his former self, but pre-Rex, Mario was dominant, last year he sucked. Add Shaq and we are back to where we were in 2014. To compete for Super Bowl, this team needs step function improvement and needs to stop running in place. 7-9, 9-7, 8-8, simply doesn't cut it.

I'd be real curious how aggressive the Bills were in trying to land Foles, Bradford and/or Cutler, while all are flawed, all are significant improvements over what we have. I also think the NFL has made the QB too important. I know, sounds like sour grapes from a fan of a franchise without a franchise QB, but, if you think about it, no other team sport is in this position. Sure, in hockey, the goalie can be that important in a single game, but, let's face it, you can find a goalie you can with rather easily. The fact that only 15-20 people at any given time can play the position effectively, yet, you can't win without one is troublesome. I think Pegula will give he current plan a go for a year or two (maybe 3) before he realizes he needs to blow this up and get into the Top 3 to have shot at franchise guy.