Buffalo86

Even longer, by my count. McDermott's voice is the voice of a new Bills' generation. Our generation!

What in the world is going on here? First they fire Whaley, and now this?!? That's two smart moves within mere days of each other. I am loving these new look Bills. I think this is an easy one. If they pick up the option, they have to pay Sammy ~$13mm no matter what. If they don't & he proves them wrong, they can try to work out a new deal at the end of the season & have the franchise tag (+3 to 4mm) to fall back on. Would you bet $4mm against $13mm on a coin flip? I wouldn't. Besides- even if they did pick up his option & he blew up (in a good way), he'd be expecting a new deal in 2018. How could you disrespect him like that, expecting him to play under the option figure? He'd be forced to mail it in!

He'd probably just quit on us, get kicked off the team, and go back to the Pats. That's what he did with the Steelers.

It would make sense if McDermott watched Whaley undermine 2 HCs and wasn't interested in being #3. Good for him (and for us) if he actually did demand that.

Assuming this has already been discussed elsewhere in this thread, but this was a rumor for months? The Buffalo News reports ex-Bills GM Doug Whaley's fate was sealed when the team hired coach Sean McDermott. Per reporter Vic Carucci, Whaley's firing was "fulfillment of a condition of McDermott's employment." This had been the rumor for months. It's a little surprising the Bills were willing to go through the public motions for weeks on end, but then again, they're not a good franchise. They're hoping McDermott will change that. May 1 - 2:59 PM Source: Buffalo News http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/9496/doug-whaley

Ha! Glad you guys enjoyed it.

This thread is already twice as long as the one it referenced. I guess we care twice as much about what Pats fans think about the Bills as they do.

Even if McDermott doesn't end up being the guy, he'll always hold a special place in my heart for forcing change. For the first time since 2005, our GM will come from outside the walls of OBD.

I've read it many times, and don't see the significance of what you're trying to point out. It sounds like you're blaming Banks for having "peppered Buffalo general manager Doug Whaley with questions about the team’s new approach on the coaching front." That monster! What else could Doug say?

For the first time since they ran Flutie out of town, I have faith that our team is moving in the right direction. Some have an issue with the timing, but I figure the best time to fix a mistake is as soon as possible after you recognize it. My one complaint would be that they waited so long.

I think it's much more likely that Whaley was swayed by Brandon, being that he & Nix were Whaley's mentors. Consider this quote from Whaley: "Here it is in a nutshell: we’re a national brand now with Rex,” Whaley siad to Don Banks of Sports Illustrated. "What I tell people is, during the combine, when Bill Belichick was walking with Rex Ryan that day? The story wasn’t about Bill Belichick, and this was right after the Patriots won the Super Bowl. The story was about Rex Ryan wearing Thurman Thomas’s jersey. When would you ever have thought that? That’s all you’ve got to say." What NFL GM would give a crap about that? Those sounded more like the words of a marketing guy than a GM.

But can you do... the Milano Mosh!?!

They probably missed the assurances of being off the bus starters, but otherwise, I doubt they care. If McDermott really was controlling the draft, then the guy who brought them to Buffalo is still in Buffalo.

I've been listening to a lot of Testament lately. Had this album on cassette back in the day, but never gave it much of a chance. I was missing out. When it comes to thrash metal, few can match these guys.

I respectfully disagree. There will always be some who are in it just for the money, but the top ones actually want to excel.

Then maybe Bill won't mind.

Right on to those of you preaching accountablility, which has been absent for at least the last 10 years or so. I remember when Jauron would take full responsibility for his losses without any fear of repercussion. It occurred to me that something was seriously wrong there.

I bet the other teams in our division were hoping it wasn't true. Even Belichick is probably bummed; I hear he had grown quite fond of his annual RFA poker games with Doug.

I think it's a reasonable assumption that the Bills won't be picking up Sammy's option, which was probably another source of friction with Whaley.

I was vocally against every one of the moves I listed at the time they happened. Don't know enough about Jones & White, but I like those picks. Love the Dawkins pick; I had posted several times about wanting him leading up to the draft. Can't believe Peterman was still available at that point in the draft. Overall, I think we had one of the better drafts in the league. Did I miss anything?

I remember that thread. Didn't it use making the team as the benchmark for success? Or was it starting for the Bills? By either measure, Chris Kelsay was a resounding 10 year success! Since we're taking this personal, let me know the first time you come up with any analysis of any sort, or for that matter, any original thought whatsoever. All you do is spout off of what others have written & recycle corny one-liners that you surely heard someone else say. I was thinking the same thing. Wasn't it said that Whaley would be hired as another team's GM "in a second"? We're already running late.

I'm beyond confident that McDermott won't be answering to Brandon on football matters. Whaley felt compelled to do so because Brandon & Nix were his mentors, and Whaley was in over his head. Brandon is good at the non-football business side, and for the first time, I honestly believe that's where he'll stay.

Whaley should've been fired when: He traded a king's ransom for Watkins, then said there wasn't much of a gap between Sammy & the other top WRs in the class. It was clear that the importance of draft picks was completely lost on him He traded our 2014 5th round pick to the Bucs for a 7th and the next year's 5th. Horrible value, and the pick would've been better spent on McCarron, Murray, etc. He went into the 2014 pre-season with Thad Lewis and Jeff Tuel as our backups, having already seen what they were capable of the year before He traded for Bucs' WR Mike Williams, a guy with character issues & with whom Marrone had a bad history. This may have been the first of many moves aimed at undermining his HC He traded #2 QB Matt Cassel, possibly against his coaches' wishes, for some future late round picks, forcing EJ Manuel back up the depth chart He pushed for EJ Manuel to start in 2016 before the Bills were eliminated He said that if EJ didn't work out, Whaley himself would be looking for a job He gushed about what a perfect hire Rex was, while supposedly not meaning a word he said He traded multiple picks for a LB who fit Rex's scheme perfectly. You know, Rex: the guy Whaley supposedly didn't want He declared our first 3 picks of the 2016 draft to be off the bus starters. None of them were. He either lied about or was the only person who didn't know that Shaq Lawson would need surgery He forced his supporters to ignore the rest of the modern day NFL and hang on to the irrelevant claim that he was better than our last few GMs He re-signed Dareus to a huge deal without any clauses for personal conduct violations. This is low on the list, as I'm not exactly sure how common this is in the NFL. But if it is common practice to include such clauses, oh boy... Most of the items listed above can be traced back to this: Whaley fell too hard for EJ, and he spent far too much trying to prove he was right. Good riddance.

Buddy Nix was still collecting a paycheck? Absurd.

If being "Mr. Irrelevant" doesn't give him a strong dose of humility, I don't know what will. Being selected by the Bills certainly wouldn't have.