BillsFan4

Another great hire (on paper) by Beane. Future is looking bright.

Simple question for you man. Not trying to start an argument or anything... Why do you think McDermott decided not to pick up Tyrod's 5 year contract (that would have been very reasonable cap hit for a guy viewed as a franchise QB), and instead gave him a 2 year deal that allows the Bills to move on after this season with only $8M dead cap? If he were truly convinced that Tyrod is the future QB, why did he kind of bet against him by shortening the contract? If Tyrod proved to be the franchise QB, it will most likely cost a lot more to keep him now.

Huge hire if true! We are putting together an all star front office IMO. How can anyone be complaining over these hires? Or saying "more of the same"? I can see being unsure of Beane at first, and what his role was vs McDermott. But hiring Schoen, Gaine and now Allen... I just don't see any way that they are just "yes men" to McDermott. They are all WAY too well respected around the NFL to come here and not have actual input into the players we pick. IMO They wouldn't have taken this job if that were the case. I am thrilled with this front office staff. So far I couldn't have asked for more. I know it's early yet, but so far I think this is looking like the best front office staff we've had in decades. Obviously we have to wait and see what they do in Buffalo, but all of these guys have a good track record of identifying talent (especially Gaine and Allen, who I'm more familiar with than Schoen)

Really? I don't see it. Switch Yates and Cardale, and I see that as the most likely outcome. Not that I wouldn't love if Cardale could grab the #2 spot. I would. IMO I just think he is so much farther behind Peterman in his development (even though this is his 2nd year here) that I can't see him beating him out, let alone both Peterman and Yates. I think Cardale's in for a big fight to even make this roster. Having Tyrod, Peterman & Cardale (or Cardale and peterman) earn the top 3 spots would be what's best for the Bills future. So that's definitely what I'm rooting for.

That's a damn good point. Also, maybe his trust (or lack there of) in Whaley and his scouting staff's evaluations played a part, too. And if he knew Whaley was out the door right after the draft, maybe he didn't want a new GM coming in and being tied to a top 10 QB pick that he had no part in making.

IIRC Kraft gave Belichick full control of the entire football operations when he was hired in 2000 and he has been the de-facto GM ever since. Belichick then chose to hire Scott Pioli to help him out. So he had much more power than McDermott when he was hired in NE. Belichick has always had control over the football operations with the Patriots. Kraft immediately gave him a ton of power.

This guy is well respected, so I trust what he says - Neil Stratton @InsideTheLeague "Had heard this was coming. Seemed unlikely due to lateral move, but league sources made it clear Gaine was seeking a fresh start w/#Bills. " Sounds like maybe he was ready to move on from the Texans, plus wanted to be a part of the Bills. I also heard Beane on the Nohn Murphy show today. He said they are going to give Gaine even more responsibility than what he had in Houston. He said they plan to help Gaine grow and, basically, ready himself even more for a GM job. He did also get a raise and a promotion. So I'm sure it was a lot of things that factored in.

Oh, I wasn't trying to say it will be some big, open competition. I think Tyrod is the starter unless/until someone legitimately Takes the starting job from him. I don't see it being an open competition like in 2015 when TT earned the job. I think Tyrod will run with the 1's. I was just speaking to that stuff about him saying Tyrod is our QB of the future. I think that is still very much TBD, and I don't think McDermott is settled on him being the Bills QB of the future. I think unless Tyrod unequivocally locks down that starting job and leaves absolutely no doubt that he is the franchise QB of the future, they will be looking hard at drafting a QB high in next year's draft. Look at it this way Transplant - if he were so sure that Tyrodmis the Bills future QB, then why did they insist on re-negotiating Tyrod's long term deal? You'd think he'd want Tyrod,locked in for 5 years on a very reasonable starter salary. But instead they made it a 2 year prove it deal that kind of bets against Tyrod and allows the Bills to walk away after this season if they really want to. If he does very well, he will be making more per year then he would have on that long term deal and it will likely end up costing the Bills more than it would have if they just picked up that deal.

Yeah I don't see it as an issue at all. I couldn't be more excited about this Gaine hire. I just seen it continue to get brought up, which is why I posted that article. The Texans were desperate for a QB. And who knows, had Jimmy Sexton given Elway the chance to match that Texans offer, he may have done so. He was offering $16.5M per year on a multi year deal, then the Texans offered $18M and Sexton took it without giving Elway the chance to match it (according to that article). Like you said though, I think Osweiler wanted out of Denver.

To be fair though, he also said that the Bills has their #2 wide receiver on the roster before the draft. Then they traded up to get Zay Jones. Tyrod may be his guy, or it may just be that pretty common "coach speak". I think it will really be up to Tyrod, and what he does on the field this year. As well as what Peterman/Cardale do behind him. Plus where we pick in the draft, which QBs are available to us and how much McDermott/Beane (etc) like those QBs will also play a part, unless a QB on the roster really take a strangle hold on the starting job and leave little doubt that they are our franchise guy. Like Beane said today, they will continue turning over every rock for a QB if there is any doubt as to whether or not they have their franchise guy.

Here's a good article breaking down how Osweiler was acquired, and what I felt were some of the key points - http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texans/article/Osweiler-acquisition-began-in-film-room-ended-6886807.php 'O'Brien and Smith had agreed from the beginning that if there was a chance the Texans could get Osweiler, they would vigorously pursue him.' "Rick did a heck of a job," Bob McNair said. "He said, 'I'm going to get you a quarterback. Regardless as to where he might come from, we're going to get you a quarterback". '... Smith and members of his personnel department were scouting college quarterbacks and preparing their reports for the coaches, who would check them out after the season. Brian Gaine, who serves as the director of player personnel, oversees the pro department. Part of his responsibility is to compile scouting reports on players in the last year of their contracts and present them to Smith.' '... O'Brien took off a couple of days before returning to the film room. First, he evaluated each of the Texans. Then, he turned to prospective free agents and watched tape before filing his report with Smith. When O'Brien finished, Osweiler was at the top of his list of quarterbacks.' '... Smith brought in his scouts from around the country. They set their draft board. Then, Smith, O'Brien and the assistant coaches reviewed the analysis of each prospective free agent prepared by Gaine and his staff. They decided how they wanted to attack free agency - what players Smith was going to pursue when the legal tampering period began March 7, two days before the start of the new league year when free agents could sign with other teams. To make sure they were on the same page, Smith and O'Brien went to the film room and watched hours of tape on the 6-8, 240-pound Osweiler. "We came out of the film room agreeing that Brock Osweiler was the quarterback to lead us where we want to go," Smith said.' So it sounds to me that all Gaine did was help put together a scouting report on Osweiler and any other potential free agent (which is what his job entailed). It sounded like it was mostly all Rick Smith and Bill O'Brien to me. From what I've read (in this article and others) Rick Smith was hellbent on getting Bill O'Brien a QB for that following season, and him and BOB decided pretty early on that Osweiler was the one they wanted. They agreed months before that if he hit free agency that they pursue him hard.

Wow, I thought he was just joking around and trying to be funny when I read that quote you posted. But he was dead serious... lmao. What an absolutely horrible article. I mean, seriously... wow.

I know, this is strange. Every hire they have made lately has been universally praised across the entire NFL. All very well respected guys. Same with the Sabres hire of Botterill. Even the other team's fans have praised the hired and bend upset to see these guys go. I am not used to this... lOL If people were excited about the Rex Ryan hire and they're not by this new staff, I really don't know what to tell them... (except that they're nuts, maybe. lol just kidding)

There's a few different versions of the story out there, but none I have read really link Gaine much at all to the deal. Most stories say it was BOB and Rick Smith working together, or Rick Smith acting more on his own. I don't think they were even allowed to meet with him before signing him (the Texans owner said something to that account) I guess it was a pretty rash/hasty decision because they were in a bit of a bidding war with Denver (I believe Denver dropped out of the bidding war after offering roughly $16M per year on s multi year deal). Honestly, I'm not worried about it. Gaine has helped bring a ton of talent to Houston.

OMG! This is a fantastic hire. He has helped bring a ton of talent to the Texans. I would have been happy with him as GM. I am very very impressed by this hire. Bills seem to be putting together a great staff top to bottom (front office and coaching staff). I am getting super excited! lol

McDermott said the same thing about having our #2 wide receiver on the roster before the draft. Then they traded up to get a receiver. I think it's just coach speak. But I am glad they are open minded about it. Tyrod deserves a chance to establish himself as the Bills QB. I love his work ethic. Seems like he never leaves One Bills Drive, even during the offseason.

Yes, he fabricated that whole story and later admitted it.

Poor Jeff (and Billsareback). You doing ok bud? We can get you some counseling if you're traumatized.

I'm not going to say that I didn't enjoy watching scantily clad women dancing on the sidelines. But I think the Stampede Drum Corps adds a lot more to the game experience. I grew up playing percussion though, and have been in drum corps myself, so maybe I am biased.

That was a good read. Thanks for sharing Yolo. Definitely seems like Beane and McDermott are very close. Interesting that it sounds like Beane had to be recruited to come here, too. Here is an article on Beane's appearance on Howard & Jermey this morning. It adds some context to McDermott & Beane's comments on the QB - http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/just-mcdermott-beane-wont-fully-commit-taylor-bills-starting-qb

How could he come from the Lealie Frazier coaching tree? McDermott never even worked under Frazier, so I don't see how he can come from his tree (unless I am just misunderstanding what you are saying here). Usually when someone says a coach comes from another coach's tree it means that he was an assistant coach who was brought up and mentored by that head coach (which is one reason why everyone always says McDermott is from Andy Reid's coaching tree). LF was a defensive backs coach in Philly from '99 to '02. Sean McDermott was hired as a scout in '99. He was promoted to Andy Reid's assistant in 2000. He didn't even start working on the defensive side of the ball until '02 (the same year Frazier left). Then McDermott worked under Jim Johnson from '02 until '09 when JJ passed away. He then took over the defense and ran that same aggressive 4-3 under zone JJ defense in Philly, and took basically that same (aggressive) system with him to Carolina (although with less zone blitzes (from what I read Rivera limited the blitzing)). Even the Rivera influence I'm not sure about. I've already went into detail on why I see Andy Reid's influence all over this team already, so I won't get into that again. But as far as McD's defense in Carolina, I still see more of Jim Johnson/Sean McDermott Philly defense than I do Ron Rivera's. But Rivera hasn't coached a 4-3 defensive scheme since '05-'06, so it's been a while since I seen his scheme (and it was married with Lovie Smith's D scheme at the time). Rivera had switched to a 3-4 defense in his time as a DC since his days in Chicago, and obviously that scheme was much different than what was run in Carolina.

There were a lot of reports that the Bills - McDermott, Monos, Pegula (and Whaley I believe) met with every single top QB prospect in this draft, worked them out, had dinner with them etc. Some they met with 2 (or more) times. I am not going to speculate on whose decision it was. It may very well have been Sean's but I don't know that. Everything the Bills have said is that they make group decisions, though. I also don't know that they will draft a QB next year. Like I said in my last post, plans tend to be fluid anyway. I was just passing on the information that I had read here.

I would not say I am extremely optimistic, but I am definitely more than mildly optimistic. I also don't expect the playoffs this year. So I didn't vote for any of the listed options... lol I am optimistic by nature though. I tend to always look for the positives in any situation. I think it makes life much better, in general. It has been a whole lot of change though, which is what most of us have wanted for a long time. None of us really know how it will work out, but the change alone makes me hopeful. We know for sure that the way they had been doing things simply didn't work. The front office and coaching staff's always seemed to be on a different planet. It seemed like the MO was to give a coaching staff 1-3 years and then throw them under the bus. To me, it seemed like the front offices main job priority was to ensure their own job security by passing the blame onto the coaches. So, I think having a front office and coaching staff that seem to be in lock step and are completely tied together is a huge step forward alone. McDermott was also my first choice as far as coaches go, so I was thrilled with his hire. I've been a fan of his for a while now. I really love the staff he's assembled so far, and many of his traits and priorities. He has put together a coaching staff known for being teachers of the game. I think he hired 2 of the very best line coaches in the NFL (Waufle and Castillo). Dennison was a great OC hire IMO. Not 100% sold on Leslie Frazier, but he is well respected in the NFL and I expect to be running Sean McDermott's defensive scheme, so we will see... I als love that they seem to be focusing on the little details. I think that is something a lot of great coaches have in common. I see a lot of traits of great coaches in Sean McDermott. Hopefully in time he will prove to be one of them... As of now, I think that this is the best coaching staff, from top to bottom, that the Bills have had in a very long time. I honestly didn't know enough about Brandon Beane to say much either way. I knew he was very well regarded in Carolina and around the NFL but that's about it. The more I've seen/read, the more excited I am getting. I am definitely not expecting playoffs this year. I think that they are going to take their time building this team from the ground up. So I am willing to have patience. All I want to see this season are steps in the right direction and growth from our players. I really want to see these guys get some time to build this right. IMO, bad teams stay bad by constantly switching coaches and scheme. I want to see some continuity for s change.

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.

People were saying that Leroi said that the plan was to go after a QB next year, too. I haven't been here that long but Leroi has been dead on with almost all the information I've seen him share. From what I can gather, he works for the Bills. None of us know what the plan is for sure. Plan's tend to be fluid anyway. Maybe Peterman or Cardale or Tyrod grab the starting job by the horns this season and never let go (however unlikely that is). The Bills did put a lot of effort into scouting the available QBs, and they did still take a shot at a QB in this draft, they didn't just ignore the position. They obviously felt that none were worth the #10 pick (although I read here yesterday that they likely would have drafted Trubisky had he been there at 10, but refused to sell the farm for him). But at least they are aware that QB is a need and are putting in the time to evaluate the prospects. None of us control the Bills or what they do. All we can do is sit back and hope they get it right. Endlessly crusading for a QB that was already drafted by another team does no good (not referring to you specifically, just saying). As I've also said before, the Chiefs were simply in a different position than the Bills were this year. Andy Reid and John Dorsey have spent the past 4 years building up that team and not drafting any QBs (except for one 5th round pick in 4 years...). They were in a position where the last big need they had to put them over the top was at the QB position. Reid and Dorsey also have quite a lot of job security and can afford to take a gamble on a project QB at 10. They were also bringing that project QB into a much better position than what he would have been in with the Bills. They have a much stronger team to surround him with. The Bills were not in that same position.