DefenseWins

I can certainly believe that. I wonder actually whether he really made any decisions during Rex's tenure or was just following orders to make Rex "happy"... After all, wasn't Pegula heavily involved in signing Rex? So it was at least at first likely that he (Whaley) would feel compelled to bring in the players that Rex wanted... I'm not excusing Whaley for this but it would certainly fit the narrative...

FWIW here is a career injury report on Maclin... http://sportsinjurypredictor.com/injury-predictor/player/9283

A 3 win season is a definite possibility for this team... 6 wins would be their best probable outcome if things went reasonably well (not many injuries for example and Watkins plays close to a full season) I'll stand by that prediction barring unforeseen circumstances....

I really don't see any reason to trade Watkins at this time... A more plausible situation happens after the season if Watkins has say 800yds receiving and say 7-8TDs and say the Bills finish at 6-10 or 7-9... To move into one of the top 3 picks in next years draft, do the Bills offer both 1st rd picks and Watkins? That could be a more likely scenario down the road... Unless of course some big name receiver goes down in the preseason or early this season and someone gets desperate enough to make the Bills a stupid offer...

Hey there is no rush on any of this... He is under contract for this season... Watch and see how he performs in training camp... If a big name WR goes down with an injury early on and they offer you a #1 pick for Watkins you seriously consider it... You can always franchise him or negotiate an extension if he has a big season... But you stay flexible...

How bout the Bills SAVE $15Million/yr to spend on more productive players?

That so called "stud WR" will need someone to throw the ball TO HIM... and "stud WR's" don't spend all their time on the injury report either - they produce on the field....

And now a question for ALL you OJ fans out there who want his name to remain up on the wall... What then should New England do now that Aaron Hernandez has had his conviction wiped out due to a quirk in Massachusetts law? I mean technically he is now an innocent man... Even more so than OJ since OJ was convicted of what amounted to Armed Robbery...

The trouble with that theory is that he had supposedly been beating his girlfriend in college and as we all know MOST abusers don't seem to commit double murders... He was showing a propensity for violence even back then... I believe he was convicted of what amounted to Armed Robbery - still a serious crime in most parts of the country...

Has anyone else received security warnings when trying to access Buffalo Range lately? My Kaspersky security software reports this site as a source of malware and warns against trying to access the site. Anyone know what may be going on?

It should also be remembered that Buffalo passed on Paxton Lynch when he was available last year... It's gonna be alot of "fun" watching their careers while we fail to make the playoffs year after year...

I don't know about your football acumen but you have good taste in music...

I think I would settle for making the playoffs before I die... 17 years no playoffs and counting... Color me selfish if you will....

Maybe we should all just let this season play out and THEN decide whether to keep him or not. (depending on his health, his productivity this season, and whatever trade offers may come) If we go 6-10 again (as I expect we will) and we somehow end up drafting one of the QB's being talked about the Bills may need extra draft capital that a trade would provide. Right now everyone seems to be jumping the gun on this as if some decision needs to be made imminently.

Try INSANE...

Read again Sherlock - I was replying to a ridiculus trade of TT and our 1st pick for K.Cousins... Any NFL GM would instantly laugh in your face.... I personally would have drafted Mahomes at #10... When you have GM's like Elway and now Dorsey trading up with the Bills to draft their future QB's, am I supposed to believe that these 2 guys don't know what they are doing? Maybe they will turn out to be wrong... And maybe we will get to sit around for another 15 years watching other teams in the playoffs with QB's that we could have / should have drafted ourselves... Let's not go down the list of QB's that the Bills had a chance to draft but passed on "cause they had other needs"...

My point exactly... They are paying TT 15 million for no reason? If they wanted to "tank" they should have named Cardale the starter and used that 5th rd pick on a player other than a QB with a reputed weak arm as well... What is finishing 7-9 every year if not losing/losers?

I highly doubt that Russ is going to decide who the next GM of the Sabres or The Bills is going to be... Nor did he hire Rex (Pegs did that) and Whaley was brought on board as Buddy Nix's assistant GM presumably by Buddy himself... And it was Whaley's stupid decision to trade for Watkins... Brandon is a marketing guy NOT a football guy NOR a hockey guy... And he has done a pretty good job at the marketing side IMHO...

Except the Bills (however awful they have been over the last 17 seasons) are NOT the WWE...

I'm not sure why there is so much anti-Brandon feelings by some. Even when he was promoted to totally run the team in 2013 by Mr Wilson, the most/worst thing he did was to hire Doug Marrone and give him that contract that let him walk with 4Million... Whaley supposedly p*ssed off Marrone with the Watkins trade shenanigans... Brandon didn't draft anybody to my knowledge... That would have been ON Whaley and Buddy Nix since Marv left after his GM stint... Other than getting credit/blame for the "Toronto Series" (which benefited the team quite a bit financially) what else is he "guilty" of doing?

Yeah, he has definitely proven that he can "PLAY" starting QB... The rookie at least has an upside... IMHO 10 wins is definitely out of the question - even before you look at the schedule....

Here is today's pro football talk article: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/05/04/sammy-watkins-shows-the-risks-of-trading-up/

Thanks... Why do some people make picking up or declining to pick up the 5th year OPTION as meaning that he will automatically be leaving? He is still under contract and the Bills can still tag him next year, if necessary, or more likely sign him long term assuming he plays a full season for a change... It's not like he is being cut...

"Elite Talent" as you put it doesn't win football games... "Elite Production" does... You can have all the talent in the world but if you don't produce/win games what does it matter? IMHO you only cough up multiple high (#1) draft picks for a "Franchise QB"... No other position merits it... And when it is said prior to the draft that it is expected to be a deep draft for WR's, the decision to invest a second #1 pick to get arguably the same kind of production from another player seems puzzling to say the least, if not worse... As I remember it at the time, it was categorized by many as being a "desperate move" at the time it was announced... It was also rumored to have caused considerable friction with HC Doug Marrone who allegedly was not in favor of the move either... BTW I am not in favor of "cutting" Watkins and no one else that I am aware of has even suggested that either so why do you bring that up?? If you are referring to the Bills not picking up his 5th year option that seems like a prudent business decision since if he turns his career around, he will no doubt be rewarded with a very rich contract offer from the Bills and if he gets injured again and misses many games a much tougher decision will need to be made but at least there will be more of a sample upon which to make that decison...

I understand that Whaley may or may not have been responsible for hiring of any head coaches during his reign, but the one decision that he DID make was the Watkins fiasco. Technically Buddy Nix selected EJ Manuel so I am not going to directly blame him for that pick. But the Watkins move was pretty sad. It had been said before that draft that it was going to be a good year for WR's... That decision alone could be justification for firing Whaley IMHO... In essence Whaley wasted two #1 draft picks with that decision... I don't know how anyone can possibly defend that one...