Billy Zabka
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Posts posted by Billy Zabka
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How much of a difference money wise is the 5th round tender then a 2nd.
I believe it is 800K.
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Russ Brandon's only advice if any to Whaley before the draft should have been to make the team better. When your boss that hires you and can fire you tells you to make "bold moves" at the draft and you proceed to use potentially two top ten picks and a 4th to move up 5 spots for a WR that's interesting.
When at the press conference following Whaley says that this all goes to Russ Brandon and that there "wasn't really that much higher of a difference" between Watkins and the next WR's that catches my attention.
When Russ Brandon shows up at the press conference that is usually for the GM and scouting staff to talk draft and is constantly pulling the microphone away from Whaley to interject that shows me something.
When it comes out that Russ "who only sticks to the business side" is calling GM's to talk football and is negotiating trades with the Eagles I start to wonder.
When Tim Graham reports that Whaley is upset that he doesn't have full control over football moves such as free agency, personnel moves, and the training staff despite Brandon saying he has full and total control, I go hmmm.
Those are some of the reasons I think Russ meddles on the football side of things, if you guys need a smoking gun of Whaley coming right out and saying this it will never happen. You can get rehired in this league for many reasons but publically selling out your boss in the NFL is a death sentence. So believe what you want. One thing is for certain though and that is the Bills have a .382 winning % since Russ was promoted in 2006 to a high level position. He has been here for the entire 14 year playoff drought and sold home games to Toronto for cash so it's time for Russ to hit the road.
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PromoTheRobot, it's time to get your circuits checked out. After 22,000 posts of constantly defending OBD personnel and the moves they make despite being proven wrong going on 15 straight years, I think you are starting to malfunction and type gibberish. To paraphrase Steve Smith...Oil up son, oil up.
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Whaley has a grade of Incomplete. He has made a bunch of risky moves and this season will go along way in seeing if they were the right ones. If they pay off he deserves to stay, if not then he should go.
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There is a difference between overseeing things as "acting owner" and physically getting on the horn with other GM's to negotiate trades and talk draft scenarios. Combine that with dictating a "be bold" draft strategy where your GM trades two potential to 10 picks and a 4th to move up 5 spots for a WR and I would call that meddling.
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It's quite obvious to me that Russ Brandon meddles on the football side of things. I don't know how many CEO's of other NFL clubs "that just stick to the business side" are talking draft strategy, negotiating trades, calling other NFL GM's to see who they might be taking, and even appearing in Kevin Costner movies making trades.
I can't believe how many of you are clamoring for Brandon to stay. Since being promoted to a high level in 2006 the Bills have a .382 winning percentage. He has been here for the entire 14 year and counting playoff drought. He was the architect of giving away home games for cash which put the team at a competitive disadvantage.
With profit no longer being the #1 goal of the Buffalo Bills organization and the future of the Bills in Buffalo secure, it is time for Russ to hit the road with Jeffrey Littman.
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No more good homegrown talent should be dropped from this team before new ownership takes over. We have seen enough of it under previous regime.
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It's interesting to go back and look at the following pre-draft scouting report on E.J. Manuel written by two reporters who cover Florida State. Many, if not all of their concerns about EJ have come to fruition with the Bills. Bear in mind this piece was written by a couple of guys that like and cover FSU football,watched every snap multiple times and respect Manuel as a person and player... they are not, as much as I hate the term, "EJ haters" The link to the report follows. Enjoy.
http://www.tomahawknation.com/2013/4/25/4264734/nfl-draft-2013-ej-manuel-next-level-florida-state
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Never Give Up...two questions I'm dying to ask a legitimate insider...what really happened between Wilson and Polian and secondly way back when Reggie White became a free agent, why in the hell didn't Buffalo go after him!!!!???
Cheers!
Around that time Polian did reach an agreement with White's former teammate FA TE Keith Jackson, but the signing was nixed by Jeffrey Littman because "Mr Wilson says we have enough million dollar players on the roster already." This was just one of several "disagreements" between Polian and Littman that eventually lead to Polian's dismissal. How's that for inside info.
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By paying him the $1.1M bonus, they saved just $2.6M ($3.25M salary plus remaining $400K roster bonus minus $1.1M in paid bonuses). If saving money was the motivating factor, saving another $1.1M would have made far more sense, rather than paying it in exchange for a 4th round pick.
I think outright releasing Lee Evans would have created a huge backlash from Bills fans knowing they could have gotten something in return. Also if you believe the rumors, it was only after the Bills were closing in on a contract extension with Kyle Williams did Overdorf get word to cut salary and present Nix with a list of names to decide which to move.
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I can understand JW's frustration here. The man goes out of his way to shed some light from behind the scenes at OBD, to show fans that the GM still doesn't have total control over personnel and he gets hammered on here by some people for it. Whether they be paid OBD employees, shills, kool-aid drinkers or whatever who keep attacking him, it's rather pathetic. Good job JW keep up the good reporting.
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I respect both guys. But I've been saying that this wasn't a salary dump because they paid him $1.1M in bonuses before trading him. If they were so desperate to save money (and they only saved $2.6M by trading Evans, despite spending at least $30M in new money with the contracts/bonuses they've paid to newly signed/re-signed players), they would have traded him (or cut him) before paying him the bonus.
Cutting Evans saved the Bills 3.25 million this year and 4.75 million next year. You assume the Bills weren't trying to trade him before the roster bonus was due which may not be the case. Other teams aren't stupid and probably waited to make the Bills pay it or see if they released him before making offers.
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Are you of the educated opinion that the Lee Evans trade was dictated from above to Buddy Nix, and was not Nix's idea or wish? I believe that was the gist of your article on the Evans trade, but it has lead to much debate. Also, is it standard practice for an NFL team to have the man in charge of salary cap and contract negotiations handle a trade without the involvement of the GM? Thanks in advance.
Mike Gillisllee - Combine News
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
If Gillislee hits unrestricted free agency, he will be poached as their are just too many teams with a boatload of cap room. You'd figure Whaley learned his lesson with Hogan, but with his MC Hammer like cap skills he is forced to pinch pennies. Hopefully they lock him up soon or it's gonna be another key solid contributor lost over 800K.