Nihilarian

After watching last nights pre season game I doubt its Cassel that gets the ax. If the Bills defense doesn't score on a freak tip up then the final score is 17-3 22 of 38 for 223, and three fumbles. Kraig Urbik didn't help with his crappy snaps. I would think that the backwards pass, and turnover by Simms will do him in as the 3rd string QB. The one thing that Rex shouldn't tolerate from his QB is turnovers, and it looks like the Mr BuffFumble / the Geno INT machine curse followed Simms from the Jets.

Dunno what game you watched? But IMO Matt Simms is the one that should be worried. That backwards throw was classic and reminded me of Mr Buttfumble. What a way to turn the ball over The game really has no relevance because mostly backups were playing as teams don't want any starters getting hurt. Nobody was injured by the coaches must have been pulling out their hair with all the penalties. The one vet that stood out to me was Kraig Urbik playing center, and his fumbled snap & bad hand off. I gotta wonder if they keep him and his 2mill a year.

Me too, and give him a 2.5 mill signing bonus.

Well, the Bills knew what they had in Jackson by missing only two games the last two seasons, and it sure didn't look like he had lost a step after that 41 yard run & score against the Steelers. My point, and apprehensiveness comes from the fact that Rex Ryan has stated that the Greg Roman run playbook is the biggest run playbook in the history of playbooks, and the Bills plan to run the ball more then any team in the history of the NFL. Now, given those two statements, and the fact that all five of the RB's have been out with injuries this pre season. Then the player with the best yard per carry in the pre season so far is QB Tyrod Taylor with a 9.8 avg, and Jackson right behind him with a 9.6 avg. If a player hasn't hit the wall yet, then why release him? I suppose we will see how everything plays out this year. I can only hope for the teams sake they made the right move with this.

I don't think it was just Marrone either with Hackett running Fred and Spiller right up the middle all the time in that JV offense of his. I think he knew the coaching staff stunk, and was defending his QB. Jackson was also impressed with Kyle Orton and thought it was a good thing for EJ to learn from a QB who spent so much time preparing for a game. Lord knows he probably wasn't learning much from Hackett / Marrone.

I dunno maybe its just me. Because I never saw this great 5th round pick at RB play good enough to unseat Jackson as the #2. I understand he move up the depth chart in camp, and looked good before his injury. Still, lots of RB's look great in camp / pre season to make the team, and then fall on their face once the season starts. Aside from that it looks like Whaley has been trying to replace Jackson for awhile now. Didn't he try and trade up for Carlos Hyde two years ago, and then go after Bilal Powell this off season?

Really good article here; http://www.buffalorumblings.com/buffalo-bills-opinion/2015/9/2/9244003/bills-gm-doug-whaley-taking-heat-from-fred-jackson-release Bottom line its all on Whaley if this move doesn't work out. Frankly, I don't see anyone on the roster even close to the skills of Jackson as a backup RB. I still question this decision as Dixon, Brown, Williams all have a lot to prove once the regular season starts. IMO Jackson actually outperformed both Lynch and Spiller at times, and I gotta wonder what the fans would think if that started to happen again this year.

I think the thought of Whaley going rogue is because of the marketing campaign surrounding Fred Jackson by one of the teams biggest sponsors, and now that player is no longer on the team. After reading the article is sounds like everyone in the org thought going forward it was to be a "we" decision including Whaley-Ryan- Brandon, and the Pegula's, and clearly some were left out of the process on the marketing side. The only one I see throwing anyone under the bus is Fred Jackson over the way Doug Whaley released him by giving him no options except a wave goodbye. Jackson saying Whaley wasn't honest with him.

Muscle Hamster...really? After last season I won't ever trust that guy again. EDIT: Funny thing now that I recall, I benched Martin and picked up Freddy who did pretty good for me.

You gleaned all this from his one pre season game against Carolina where he rushed 14 times for 40 yards a 2.9 yard per carry average, or perhaps his exploded testicle? Lord that's a scary thought.

I dunno Yolo you would expect all that to be discussed when they sit down to turn in the playbook / iPad / tablet or whatever it is now. At least I would expect that for the third leading rusher in Buffalo Bills history behind only Thurman and OJ.

Maybe its just me, but that seems to difficult to believe after one bad showing in one pre season game along with some limited camp time. Seems like wishful thinking. Sure hope Karlos Williams lives up to this.

Yep! Probably the most beloved player since the Thurman-Kelly- Bruce Days, and the way it went down just wasn't right. From what I read Whaley didn't give Fred the option of taking less money or even asking if he were willing to retire.

I dunno maybe I missed something here if Karlos Williams beat out Fred for the #2 job. Hasn't he been injured since that first pre season game in which he had 14 rushes for 40 yards 1 TD (a 2.9 (YPC avg)? Now Bryce Brown had 6 rushes for 52 yards 1 TD (a 8.7 YPC avg), and then neither played in the next two games. At this point I'm thinking Dixon gets the start if McCoy can't play week one, and Brown is his backup with Williams still recovering from his mysterious groin area injury. Releasing Fred with Shady questionable for the opener makes even less sense now then it did when it happened. Not a good way to start the season, Whaley effed up the JuJu

I honestly don't get it either, and things could end badly this year if the backup RB's stink it up while Fred does well on a different team. I didn't like the move, and its looking worse. Not like Fred to undeservedly throw his ex GM under the bus. He loved Buffalo and we loved him.

Last year the 49ers offense was 25th in points for, and 20th in yards. They were 30th in passing, 4th overall in rushing yards, That was with Kaepernick at QB, Frank Gore at RB, Vernon Davis at TE, Anquan Bolden & Michael Crabtree at WR. they finished at 8-8 in 2013 they were 11th in points for, and 24th in yards. in 2012 they were 11th in points for, and 11th in yards in 2011 they were 11th in points for, and 26th in yards. I think you were thinking of their defense, or in rushing yards as they have been a top 5 unit in rushes over the last 3 years.

Fred was 2nd, Dixon was 3rd, karlos was 4th, and after Fred was released Dixon became the #2. at least from what I saw in pre season

Two years ago the moron twins proclaimed they would run Spiller until he threw up, and that offense didn't go anywhere. Now Rex Ryan has said this years Bills will run the ball more then any other team in the history of the NFL, and probably with QB Tyrod Taylor helping. This with each and every RB hurt and kept of of games in the pre season. Only to cut the top backup now is kinda scary. The only other really good known NFL RB on the team was Freddy, and while Dixon was decent we don't know if he can carry the team like Fred did. We have unknowns in Bryce Brown. Karlos Williams. All I can say is I hope the Bills FO knows what they are doing in letting Freddy leave.

That's one way of looking at things. I can only presume the cutting of Freddy was the last nail. Cheer up dude the season hasn't even started yet

This~! Lets get a few games into the season before we judge Roman in any way. Will the QB situation be successful? Will the O line look as strong as it has in pre season to protect the QB, and make that ground n pound work? As we all know pre season is all vanilla, and DC's as well as OC's don't implement their full defense / offense till that first whistle in the opening game. we should know a lot about the offense after the first two games. Indy might have a weak O line but they still have one of the best young QB's in the game in Andrew Luck. Will the Bills offense be able to keep pace should the Colts offense, as they averaged 406 yards a game last year. Then in week two after the half when Bilcheat makes his halftime adjustments will TT still look as good? Time will tell. http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2014/11/28/jed-yorks-tweet-provokes-fans-to-call-for-greg-romans-job/

Read the article because it sounds like they just cut him and didn't offer any other options. Not to take a cut in pay. Not to contemplate retiring as a Buffalo Bill

PFT also asks about this issue somewhat, "In meeting with the media, Whaley answered questions but said nothing, citing “competitive reasons” for not elaborating on the decision to move on from Jackson." http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/31/fred-jackson-would-have-done-anything-to-retire-with-bills/

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/31/fred-jackson-would-have-done-anything-to-retire-with-bills/ "Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Jackson would have “done anything” to retire with the Bills. Jackson, however, wasn’t given that chance." Then, "Whaley declined to say whether the Bills tried to trade Jackson, but he acknowledged that the salary cap was part of the decision. If so, the cap number could have been reduced. Again, Jackson wasn’t given that chance" Releasing the news about which QB is starting in 13 days had to be a deflection after the news about Fred. I honestly don't think the Bills FO was aware of how much of the fan base loved the guy after reading this.

Everyone I've talked to is pissed about the Bills cutting Fred, and all pretty much agree its to justify Whaley's trade for Brown.

Interesting note from Rotoworld, "It all comes down to the explosiveness Tyrod brings to us," were the words of coach Rex Ryan. Taylor is certainly explosive, but has lacked passing finesse going back to his days at Virginia Tech. He'll be someone the Bills try to hide, hoping for rushing yards and big plays. Taylor's legs put him on the QB2 radar, and leave him as an intriguing early-season possibility in daily leagues. http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/nfl/316187/bills-confirm-taylor-as-starting-quarterback