Billy Zabka

EJ kindly spotted the Jags 20 points and the Bills scored a defensive TD that game, so technically EJ was good for a net of 4 points.

Again there is no comparison. EJ lost his start, Tyrod won his. EJ badly turned the ball over three times leading to 3 Jacksonville TD's. Tyrod did not turn the ball over. 2015 Jacksonville D was bad...2016 Jacksonville D was good. You are grasping at straws and looking foolish.

Your Jags comparison is weak. The Jags had the 6th ranked Defense last year after adding a ton of talent. Tyrod lead the Bills to 28 points, didn't turn the ball over and got the win by 7 points. Two years ago EJ went in against a Jags D that at the time was near the bottom of the league in most categories and gift wrapped 3 TD's to the Jags and lost the game. EJ is 0-5 in his last 5 starts and was awful in 4 of those blowing very winnable games. He has rightfully taken his place as a 3rd string camp arm and I wish him the best.

4 bad minutes of play in the Jax game? It was the worst stretch of quarterbacking I have ever seen in my life in which he gift wrapped 3 TD's to what was the worst D in the NFL at the time. I would say that played the biggest role in the Bills losing that game. In the Texans game, EJ was pretty brutal the entire game regardless of his crushing pick 6 to Watt. As far as Fitzpatrick looking like the second coming of Joe Montana that game, I don't know where you pulled that out of. He helped put up 16 offensive points, throwing for 1 TD 2 INTs and 268 yards. Maybe we have differing memories of Joe Montana. Quarterback is the most important position on the field and EJ's poor play heavily contributed to the Bills 0-5 record in his last 5 starts, 4 of which were very winnable games. There is no disputing this. You make yourself look foolish defending and excusing Manuel's horrendous play while at the same time harshly criticizing the current Bills starting QB who has played at a much higher level.

He's 0-5 in his last 5 starts including 4 dumpster fire performances that blew very winnable games. He is a bad backup.

EJ wasn't screwed by anyone, in fact he was very blessed. He made 1st round money when he had no business doing so. He also got more NFL starts and chances than he deserved because of having the likes of Tuel and Lewis as his only competition for a couple camps. EJ is 0-5 in his last 5 starts blowing 4 winnable games in the process with horrendous play. EJ has now gained his rightful place as a 3rd string camp arm and I wish him the best.

It's just not the total whiff on EJ that is the issue. It's Whaley's ego not letting him recognize his mistake and seeing him double down on Manuel with the Watkins trade, not bring in any reasonable competion for two years until Marrone blew a gasket and they signed Orton, nor draft another QB until Cardale Jones of last year in the 4th. It's Whaley reportedly pushing EJ down the throats of two seperate coaching stafss that clearly wanted nothing to do with him.

EJ Manuel came into this league as a mature 23 year old with 5 years at Florida State under a fantastic offensive staff with Jimbo Fisher in a pro style system. He should have been the furthest thing from a "raw project" and if that didn't send off alarm bells with Whaley then it's on him. From some leaked information from that draft, The Cowboys had a 4th Round grade on EJ while the Pats simply graded EJ as "athlete" to potentially be moved to another position. The Bills simply fell in love with his measurables and leadership/yes sir/no sir attitude and simply ignored his accuracy, throwing motion, pocket awareness, and slow progression issues that plagued him at Florida State but were masked against weak opponents. When FSU finally played a good D like Florida, you saw the real EJ. Just a horrendous 1st Round pick by Nix/Whaley that was compounded by Whaley's huge ego not being able to admit his mistake. To say that EJ was a great prospect ruined by bad coaching with the Bills is total BS. He was a failed pick and QB from the start.

John Murphy also said last summer when Tyrod signed his contract that he would take him over Matt Ryan. Murph has simply become a paid shill on his program and has lost any credibility.

If Whaley was going to match any offers, he simply should have tendered Groy and Gillislee for 800K more for the 2nd Round tender. I can almost guarantee that Groy will make more than that as well as any future offer to Gilislee. Slap the 2nd Round tender keep the other teams away and use the leverage to get a long term deal done.

Like Hogan no draft pick compensation as well. Mark my words, a team is coming Gillislee soon with a front loaded deal. At least we will get a 5th rounder on him.

Should have tendered Groy for 800K more. I thought Groy played great last year and offers flexibility to play C or G. With Eric Wood going on 31 years of age and off major surgery, it would have been smart to keep him.

Brutal signing for 49ers at that price. Highly injury prone one trick pony whose heart is in track and field. He may be a great guy, but i am glad he is off the Bills roster. That said the WR corp on the Bills is absolutely embarrassing at the moment and virtually guarantees Whaley going WR early on in draft.

Don't know what planet you live on. but the Bills cap situation the last couple years hasn't been the greatest for a team with no big expenditure at QB and no playoff success. Also love how you fault people for needing scapegoats and then blame Rex for all the team's problems in the very next sentence.

It's possible McDermott bitchslapped Whaley and Co. and Pegula sided with his new Coach in keeping Tyrod. Also possible that Tyrod reworking his deal changed things. Could be LaConfora jumped to conclusuions by the benching. Tough to say how things go down at OBD but I highly doubt Whaley is playing some high level chess match months in advance because i simply think he doesn't have it in him. The most likely scenario is that McDermott and Dennison really wanted to keep Tyrod Taylor and when he reworked his deal everyone was in agreement to keep him.

DW has built a top heavy roster with major holes at WR, CB, RT and possibly LB. Whaley has sold out the last few years by putting the Bills to the cap and trading up in drafts only to get to .500. His cap management is atrocious. His drafts have been mediocre at best, has trouble getting along with coaches, and lacks leadership and communication skills. Compared to Marv Levy and Russ Brandon, DW looks pretty good, but that is setting the bar low. Whaley is a good scout especially on the defensive side of the ball, but is simply overmatched as a GM. Pegula should have made a change when Rex was fired.

This is like when Russian State run media says Putin doesn't get enough credit.

In addition to running better, he throws better than EJ as well. Oh, and if you were actually serious...moves the offense better, scores more points, protects the ball better, throws on the run better, wins more. EJ does have a great hard count though.

I can't stress how disturbing it is for Doug Whaley to have a huge hand in drafting him in the 1st Round, use 2 1sts and a 4th on a WR with EJ as a starter, push him onto two separate coaching staffs causing huge friction, and then declared EJ an elite backup when all else failed. EJ is simply a low end backup/#3 emergency QB at best. I wish EJ luck, maybe he can back up Vince Young in Saskatchewan.

It's possible that with a 2nd round tender no other team would have tried to sign Gillislee, making it easier to sign him long term. With a 5th round tender, his agent may know that multiple teams will be bidding on him and driving up the price making it more difficult for the Bills to retain him. When you see the Bills pinching pennies for 800K at the risk of losing Gillislee only to see them drop a million bucks on a backup FB then I think it's worth discussing. If the Bills sign Gillislee then yes, this thread becomes useless, until then it's not.

I hope a long term deal is in the works, but I would think the leverage of the 2nd round tender for 800K more would have kept all other teams away. I don't know if a 5th round tender is going to deter anyone from taking a run at him. If nobody shows interest in Gillislee and Whaley saves 800K or they lock him up long term, I will happily eat crow, but i think he is going to garner significant interest.

The million dollars given to backup Fullback Mike Tolbert would have been much more wisely spent locking up Mike Gillislee. Either by giving him a 2nd round tender for 800K more or using it towards a long term deal with him. When unrestricted free agency settles down I believe Gillislee will be a prime candidate to be poached with a front loaded deal that the Bills would be far better off making sure that doesn't happen than throwing money a million of caproom on a FB2/RB3.

You didn't have to pay Hogan 4 million a year. A second round tender would have paid him a very reasonable 2.6 million or netted the Bills a 2nd round pick as compensation. It is very concerning to see Whaley not learn from past mistakes yet again. Gillislee played his role at an elite level rushing for 5.7 yards a carry in back to back years and being incredible in short yardage and goaline carries. To say that there is no reason Jonathan Williams can fill his role is highly questionable as in Williams' limited time last season he struggled in short yardage, averaged a paltry 3.5 yards a carry and lost 2 fumbles in only 27 carries, in addition to off the field problems with a DUI. I will be surprised if Shady is able to remain as healthy next year as he did this year past as history shows this is the time that RB's start to break down when they have this many carries. Gillislee also compliments Shady's weaknesses well. Gillislee is also an ideal fit for Dennison's one cut running scheme. Mark my words if the Bills let him hit free agency, Gillislee will be poached with a front loaded deal and Whaley will have lost his second solid contributor over 800K while he throws millions at stiffs like Harvin and Bush.

I agree, a 3 million dollarish a year front loaded deal will poach away Gillislee. It's amazing that Whaley is hesitant about throwing 800K more on good productive guys like Hogan and Gillislee for that 2nd round tender, but will piss away millions on stiffs like Percy Harvin and Reggie Bush.

Gillislee is good as gone if he hits free agency. Whaley can then use that money he saved towards signing Percy Harvin again.