Dawgg

You're playing a childish game in an effort to justify your favorite team's futility. Even you know the difference between promoting from within in an organization that is consistently winning (Pats, Steelers) versus promoting from within in an organization that owns the longest playoff drought in NFL history (Bills). Let's be adults here

^ This.

I disagree strongly with this statement. Buddy himself stated that he recognized his talent and would have taken him in the 4th round. That's the sign of a good scout. And that's why Buddy Nix is an asset to this organization (as a scout) A GM is able to take that information, synthesize it, and determine the player's value in the context of his roster composition and the expected value that other NFL teams are likely to place on the player. This is where Buddy falls short and that is a big, big problem in the GM role. Love Buddy to death, just not as the GM.

Yet another poor (borderline stupid) excuse by a Buffalo Bills fan who will excuse this inept front office in any way possible. Let's go with the facts: Russell Wilson was a projected 3rd-4th rounder. Let's take a look at the teams drafting in the 3rd round (in order) leading up to the Russell Wilson pick. Buddy Nix stands out in this list as a truly inept GM. While most franchises either already had a good QB situation or had already brought in a developmental QB onto the roster, Buddy Nix felt that a track star receiver was a higher value. See below: 1. Indianapolis: Drafted Andrew Luck and were targeting Wilson with their second 3rd rounder (see Schefter article) 2. St. Louis: Already have young QB on the roster. (Bradford) 3. Minnesota: Already have a young QB on the roster (Ponder) 4. Denver: No QB need. Signed Peyton Manning to $96M contract. Spent 2nd round pick on Brock Osweiler. 5. Houston: No QB need. Committed to Schaub and drafted QB TJ Yates last year, who started and won a playoff game for them. 6. Buffalo: Inept, out-of-touch General Manager who is better suited in a scouting role. 7. Jacksonville: Already have young QB on the roster. GM was fired. (Gabbert) 8. Washington: Drafted RGIII. Targeted Russell Wilson with their next pick (see Schefter article) 9. Miami: Drafted Tannehill 10. San Diego: Committed to Philip Rivers. Also signed Charlie Whitehurst. Fired GM. 11. Kansas City: Could have used a young QB. That's why front office is getting cleaned out. 12. Seattle: Hired a good young GM from the outside and it is paying dividends.

Buddy Nix's Core Assumption: 3rd round is too high for Russell Wilson. Thus, we should trade up for TJ Graham instead. His core assumption was wrong in 2 major (and rather concerning) ways: Buddy Nix failed to anticipate that other teams would have Wilson valued as a 3rd rounder. Seattle clearly did. As did Philadelphia and Washington, all of whom were picking ahead of the Bills' next selection. See Adam Schefter article here. With no developmental QB on the roster and a plethora of WRs, Buddy Nix and his staff did not grade Russell Wilson high enough to justify the use of the team's 3rd round pick. GMs get paid big bucks to make these calls and Buddy straight up blew it. It's very concerning that he is our GM. Great scout, terrible GM.

BlueFire, I want to address this flawed point of yours. First off, you are probably right -- that Buddy had a 4th round grade on him and expected him to be there in a later round. But what difference does it make? The ability to place an appropriate value on a player, considering all factors, lies at the core of a general manager's job. The ability to time these moves properly and make the appropriate assessment as to where these players sit on other teams' boards is the very essence of a GM's job. In an earlier post, you suggested that Russell Wilson was surprised to be going in the 3rd round. You are wrong in this assertion. In fact, most draft pundits had him projected to go right around where he was selected or even earlier. ESPN's camera crew was even focusing on him during the 3rd round while he waited at home to be drafted, interviewing him before, during and after his selection. Even if your suspicion is correct (which I think it is), it offers further evidence that while Buddy Nix is a very very good scout, he is a terrible General Manager. He even had the gall to state in an interview that he felt the 3rd round was "too high" for a player like Russell Wilson. Rather than admit that he was wrong in his assessment, he has the arrogance to imply that his draft board is the source of truth when it comes to player evaluation.

In 3 years: 14 out of 27 picks were spent on the defense. Over $120M in free agency commitments dedicated to the pass rush. Commitments to past-their-prime veterans in Nick Barnett and Shawne Merriman And what has been the result? One of the worst-performing defensive units in Buffalo Bills franchise history. In any other NFL city, this alone, coupled with an NFL record playoff drought, would get a GM fired. And more often than not, it would also get his sidekick assistant GM fired. In Orchard Park, everyone gets raises and promotions under the guise of "continuity" Please don't be ridiculous. (S)he is not saying that. (S)he is simply stating that QB play does undoubtedly have an effect on the defense.

Nobody is suggesting that coaching has "nothing" to do with it. Of course coaching is a factor. But at the end of the day, Buddy shopped for and provided the groceries and despite tremendous resources, he screwed it up. That alone should get him fired. - Spent $140M on the DL. - Drafted Sheppard to be the MLB of the future. Sheppard has thus far been unable to hold this position down with consistency. - Signed Nick Barnett after the Packers deemed him dispensable. Barnett played rather poorly. - Claimed and signed Merriman, confidently boasting that "I know this guy" with the expectation that he'd return to form. He clearly didn't and was cut prior to camp. - Drafted Moats and thrust him into starting duty. Moats is not a starting caliber player. - Drafted Brandham and Tank Carder. Carder couldn't crack this terrible LB corps and Brandham too early to tell. - Drafted McKelvin (good) and Aaron Williams (bust so far). Retained past-his-prime veteran McGee, while cutting the more reliable veteran in Drayton Florence. Defense remains the weakest unit on the team.

And those numbers themselves reflect the failure that Buddy Nix has been these past 3 years. He made a conscious decision to focus more resources on the defensive side of the ball, recognizing that the team had a glaring weakness there. As you correctly point out, resources aren't spent in a vacuum. But in spite of all the resources spent on defense, we are left with a unit that is among the worst performing in franchise history. That Buddy didn't address the QB position adequately is a large failure. Far more egregious, however, has been his inability to field a competitive defensive unit despite the significant resources directed toward the effort.

Correct. One can blame Wannstedt all (s)he wants, but the talent level on this team is abysmal. While Mark Anderson and Mario Williams are good players, Dareus has underperformed relative to his draft position and the defensive backfield is woeful outside of Stephon Gillmore. Spencer Johnson makes $3M/yr as a reserve. Shawne Merriman makes $4M to be invisible on the field Kirk Morrison and Travis Jackson are weekly inactives making $1M and $3M, respecively This roster has been mismanaged like none other, yet Jim Overdorf is praised by his boss and is blessed with a job for life. Such is life at One Bills Drive.

I hope you're right, my friend

The true irony is that those with my interpretation are being lambasted for failing to listen to the pres conference when in fact, we are taking Russ Brandon's words at face value. Perhaps there's some implied subtext as hopeful fans seem to suggest. I for one doubt it.

Has he added any Pro Bowl caliber talent? Wood and Levitre are Pro Bowl caliber players and he inherited them. To say he "filled" the positions with capable starters is fair and that's a basic expectation of a GM. Yes, he drafted linemen every year -- any GM with a pulse should be doing that and Nix did. Kudos to him. The pass rush wasn't a consistent problem for the past decade. In fact, defense has been one of the few bright spots during the GW and MM era. With the help of Marv's and Nix's regime, the defense has devolved into one of the worst-performing units in franchise history. And no, Buddy Nix doesn't deserve a gold star for throwing $150 million at 2 D-linemen, nor does he deserve major kudos for drafting the consensus #3 player at the #3 draft slot (Dareus). It's not that you are a "kool-aid" drinker. You (and most Bills fans) have standards that are so low, it's laughable. By your logic, simply adding pieces until you get it right is sufficient? On-field performance is irrelevant? This is truly laughable and epitomizes the state of Buffalo Bills nation. Moore's development was holding the defense back? How about botching the LB position? Chandler wasn't used enough? Is he some sort of major weapon? He's not even a Top 25 tight end in this league. And Nix deserves credit for "discovering" him? That should keep him employed? Wow. As I've said numerous times, Nix is not all bad. In fact, he's done a few good things. Does it justify "staying the course" with him as GM? Absolutely not. If Whaley takes over soon and truly changes the course of the franchise, I'll be thrilled. At this point, I'm dubious.

First off, the extension was given on October 28th, before even evaluating the QB over the course of a full season. A more prudent approach would have been to evaluate the body of work over the course of a full season. If he tears the league up on a consistent basis, the franchise tag is at your disposal. One need to look no further than Rob Johnson to undertand the fallacy in handing out large contract extensions to non-rookie players who have yet to prove themselves on a consistent basis. And guess what: Jim Overdorf was behind both contract negotiations. Glad to know he's heading up the "football operations" department and has a job for life Perhaps, but if he truly didn't love the QB, as you allege, why wasn't one drafted in April? Why weren't there any worthy competitors in camp? His actions (or lack thereof) speak for themselves.

There's no backtracking needed. What you fail to understand is that it's not that he was "overpaid" per se, it was the length and meaning of such a commitment. The organization's decision to give him a lucrative long-term deal is a clear indication that the front office (led by Nix AND Whaley) felt that QB was no longer an area of need. And it showed in the way they drafted, passing on numerous QB prospects in favor of backup caliber players at other positions. That alone should get a front office fired. Throw in the numerous other questionable roster decisions this front office made, both on draft day and in free agency, it's amazing that this fan base is lauding the status quo. #GoBills

Spot on. But... stop being so petulant

I hope Whaley is the answer, and he very well may be. The only difference is that I am not willing to disassociate him from the team's performance or the roster-building moves that have been made since he took on a high-ranking front office role. Love the Bills just like you do though

^ My sentiments exactly.

Maybe you're right that the roster is better. As you point out, there were so many holes when he joined and quite frankly it's hard not to be marginally better in certain areas of the team. The operative question is this: after 3 drafts and 3 free agency periods, has Nix done enough to warrant this so-called continuity? I don't think he has. His failure to find a franchise QB (or let a long try), coupled with a number of questionable picks in rounds 2-4, along with a defensive unit that ranks among the worst-performing in franchise history in spite of $150 million in free agency expenditures and a bevy of draft picks, yields a singular conclusion: he needs to go. He wasn't all bad, no. Not at all. He did a few good things. But "not bad" or "he did a few things" is simply not good enough in this league, nor should it be tolerated by this fan base, let alone ownership. The world isn't black and white and I in no way claim that Buddy Nix is devoid of anything good. I'm simply stating that he has not done enough to warrant staying the course. And thank you Buddy for those contributions. You helped set the right tone and identified a few solid contributors for this franchise. Are you a championship caliber GM? No, and it's not even close. It'd be great if you could stay on as a scout though! +1

How does Nix inspire confidence? While it's a positive step in the right direction that Ralph is no longer meddling, I find it hard to believe that the 94 year old Wilson was responsible for the terrible roster decisions made in the past 3 years. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that it's unfair to characterize it as such. Nix, Gailey and Whaley were responsible. Yet Nix and Whaley remain atop the personnel department? Only in Buffalo would such blatant ineptitude fly.

^ another fan who gets it.

I am not. I am simply suggesting that we not settle for "solid" or "good enough."

http://espn.go.com/n...sh-josh-freeman If only the Bills' leadership had a winning mentality akin to this. Instead, unsuccessful seasons are met with promotions and mediocrity is sold to the public as progress. "Do I think Josh Freeman is going to win Super Bowls in this league? ... I do ... I hope that happens," Schiano told reporters. "But at the end of the day, I have to evaluate everything before I can say, 'Boom, that's what we're doing' ... The one thing I do believe in is competition at every spot, including the quarterback, so I want to have as many good football players on our team as we can at every single position. I like Josh Freeman. But I don't want to get ahead of my skis here and really evaluate every single thing about what's best for this organization," Schiano said.

TD actually built a top 3 defense. While he failed to land a solid head coach, his fresh approach did the team a lot of good. I don't claim to know much about Caldwell or Roman from the 49ers. All I know is that I'd trust Russ Brandon to interview them and determine the right fit. Let's plug someone out of a successful organization and let him give this thing a shot. The Colts did this with Ryan Grigson, hiring him away from Philadelphia. The Rams did this with Les Snead, hiring him away from Atlanta. The Browns are about to do this, as are the Jags, Cardinals and Chargers. Perhaps Whaley truly is a great personnel man and bears no responsibility for the abysmal front office decisions these past 3 years. I find that hard to believe, but I certainly hope I'm wrong. Whaley doesn't suck by any means. I just think the Bills and their loyal fans deserve better than someone who "doesn't suck." Looks like I'm in the minority Best player available. Have no problem with that pick, as it's one of the very few Buddy Nix picks that have materialized.

Nix was undoubtedly the lead, but Whaley was undoubtedly part of it. When well-run organizations have similar results that of the Bills, they clean house. The Bills, on the other hand, make small cosmetic changes and their fans continue to fill the seats. And that's why the playoff drought has reached record levels. If fans like you are ok with this, more power to you. I think you deserve better.