BillsVet

While working for SD from 01-08, Nix worked out of his home in Tennessee and did not interface with other team personnel with day to day operations. A GM needs to manage all personnel, both pro and college along with overseeing the cap, negotiating contracts, hiring the HC, and managing other numerous day to day operations. Nix didn't do a lot of that. It also appears as though he doesn't have the authority to fire people like Modrak, Guy, and Overdorf who need to go.

Buffalo has not have earned the benefit of the doubt in their management and personnel decisions since forever. No, next season isn't over, but odds are that the Bills will be in total rebuild mode with a new HC. I'd ask the casual uninformed homer fans which moves the Bills have made that earn them a level of trust and respect from the fan base.

Who are the stars of this team after four seasons of Levy/Jauron/Brandon? Evans, Schobel, and ???? Both of those guys were drafted by Tom Donahoe 9 and 6 years ago. The other players, Levitre, Wood, McKelvin, and Maybin are either playing positions easy to replace (Guard) or still aren't proven NFL players. Is it any coincidence that none of the team's first rounders from 06-08 aren't really difference makers? Only Posluszny from the 2nd and 3rd rounds from 06-08 can be considered an NFL starter for the long term. They have nothing proven successful at QB, nothing at OT (Butler's been injured each of his seasons), their best defender may retire, and their LB's beside Poz and Mitchell are UFL caliber. Next season will be a total rebuild.

So would I. That agent isn't worth anything unless he demands at least 5M per season and sticks it to Buffalo. The Bills are seriously in huge trouble and must immediately move more quickly and perhaps in a different direction that they'd like. Still, based on their collective response during the fake ring ceremony, the Nix hiring PC, and not admitting DJ's new contract I'm not betting their reaction is enough to mitigate the latest report.

The Bills will be in "save face" mode really soon. They can't afford such bad PR anymore and must answer. If Frazier is willing to take the job, they can't run the risk of having another guy decline their interview request. Cue Berchtold and Chris Brown for a CYA leak or news story. Smithers, where are you?

Marv Levy would turn this organization down if offered the HC job.

There are several examples of UDFA RB's being successful in the NFL. Jackson, Willie Parker, Priest Holmes, and others are just a few. There aren't nearly the amount who go from UDFA or PS to being a top NFL LT. No, I don't want to write him off, but it's much easier to find a RB than it is a LT. The probability he'll lock down either side for the long haul is not as great as people think. I trust GB's front office a whole lot more than I do Buffalo's.

I really hope so with Nix. My primary concern is how much latitude he'll have to manage the team. Right now, they've kept the same people in the front office, and I sense much of the bad drafts from 06-08 are somewhat blamed on DJ. At the same time, it's apparent that they need another rebuilding. How long is BN going to be around for to see that through?

Green Bay did not balk when Buffalo came calling. They allowed him out the door, in contrast to their reaction when Buffalo raided their PS for Brian Brohm. In the latter instance, at least GB offered a 2 year contract. Look, each team in the NFL has a reputation for how they handle personnel. I believe GB is pretty good, and simply letting a first year guy walk away is extremely telling. He may be decent, but from what I saw at the games this year, he's another project type guy (along with Bell) who isn't/wasn't ready to be a full time starter.

Anyone who thinks Jamon Meredith is an up and coming talent should remember this: GB surrendered 50 sacks this season and he wasn't good enough to make their active roster. The Packers were particularly bad at OT, with two thirty somethings Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher.

Given that all NFL franchises require a great deal of personnel, there is ample opportunity for information to get out even though teams hate this. And universally declaring that no one knows the degree of an owner's meddling in order to deflect any opinion critical of said owner is a short sighted argument.

You've resorted to suggesting there are two owner options: 1. Owner closely oversees everything and makes all decisions or.. 2. Owner abdicates responsibility to someone in his stead. Reasonable fans should expect an owner to fall somewhere in the middle and delegate day to day responsibility to football people to make key football decisions. I should think the owner will be part of the decision to hire a GM, not signing a big name future HOF WR for one year. Nor should the owner be the absolute authority to who becomes the HC. The reason Buffalo consistently fails is because the owner will not admit he's incapable of making good football decisions. Take that as a "bash Ralph" opinion, but history demonstrates RW rarely gets it right. And when he does, he ends up firing that guy who is the best GM in the past 25 years of the NFL.

Someone could attempt to dispute those reports, but TD and John Butler said RW was frequently wanting information. I don't think we realize the degree to which he meddles. Snyder gets press because it's DC, but RW may be worse. This is the same guy who re-signed OJ before the season opener in 76 and didn't tell anyone until a night or two before the game. Well put. I don't think it's any coincidence that more hands-off owners are the successful ones. While they're all rich, their business acumen doesn't translate into professional football and the smart ones know it. They'll delegate day to day stuff to a football man who has the authority to hire, fire, and make the moves necessary to win. I think of guys like Irsay, Blank, Kraft, Spanos, Mara/Tisch, Lurie, and Biscotti.

I'm dismissive because solid NFL coaches don't come from the CFL. Sure, someone will mention Levy and Bud Grant, but that was more than a generation ago. I'm also not one to live in absolutes, as in he was the reason for the success of those teams/players or he was an impediment. Still, some people are capable of only going so far. Schonert was a QB coach, not a coordinator. Trestman seems like a guy who topped out as a coordinator. And last I heard, he preferred being a HC in the CFL than a coordinator or position coach in the NFL.

BNH, it's too late for that. Many fans here have advocated hiring a consultant last month to help the team transition into a new regime. Unfortunately, nothing has really changed. Smithers was not going to hire anyone he didn't know, and probably sold RW on that same idea. And that's why no consultant was ever considered. Smithers actually thinks he can do it himself. If they were serious about revamping their entire operation, it would have started with a league wide search for a GM, not a team-wide one. I think Smithers has become RW's chief football adviser, but the old man cannot see he's being led down a dark path.

But, but, it was positive! Meredith is NFL garbage, along with Jonathan "I got beat 3x by 35 year old Jason Taylor" Scott. Demetrius Bell was a project player who had no business starting. I think at least 20% of their roster to complete the season was made up of street free agents, UDFA's, and low round (5th or later) draft picks. No wonder they had no depth.

RW could fire Brandon and give Cowher 25% of the team and it wouldn't be enough. The Buffalo Bills organization is where careers go to die. Why would BC take the chance of going somewhere in which his boss is a little marketing boy who reports to a 91 year old owner that ultimately makes the decisions.

I love it how whenever a position coach or coordinator works with talented players, that they're credited with said players success. Like Trestman working with Jerry Rice in Oakland. The guy is in Canada for a reason. He's not going to be Bud Grant 2.0 and come to the NFL and produce winners because he just isn't good enough. Everyone talks about Levy, but for goodness sakes Marv had a ton of talent to work with after moving into the NFL with Buffalo. Trestman in Buffalo would be worse than Tom Cable in Oakland or David Shula in Cincinnati.

A 3-4 NT in Leslie Frazier's C2? Why not? Smithers needs to start worrying about selling tickets for the 2010 season soon.

Next year will be a full on rebuild for the entire roster. New coaches bring new schemes, and they'll look for new players more than an incumbent HC would. Darryl Talley was upset with the effort during the season, and we can be sure whatever poor guy takes over the team will see that. The team needed a complete engine overhaul and all we got was a kicking of the tires and a new air freshener. This is a team that can't rebuild because that would be making a plan for the future. And with the team going up for sale, new long term contracts are something they won't do.

Negativity about a team that's missed the playoffs 10 years running? How about one that hasn't won a post-season contest in 14 seasons? Or, how about not knowing where the team is when the 91 year old owner is not around? Nope, no reason to be anything but positive. Man, that's must take a lot of alcohol.

Their marketing department is aloof. Management doesn't help the cause by making strange decisions, like cancelling a ring ceremony without even telling their HOF RB who happens to have a 2 hour show Monday's on WGR. Couple that with the lack of information on the DJ extension in late 2008, retaining DJ in December 08, or firing the coaching staff and trying to say they weren't fired but free to look for work. Even when people attempt to speak with RW, he's closely guarded by the likes of Scott Berchtold, VP of Communications. It's a sad thing when they're afraid of what their owner might say.

That seems to be the topic no one wants to address. The Minnesota Vikings are fighting a protracted war with the state about publicly funding a new stadium, given their lease running out at the Metrodome after the 2011 season. So far the state has balked, forcing the team to threaten to move. OTOH, Buffalo hasn't made any noise about a new stadium, nor insisted on public money for any renovations. No one from the Bills or any government has discussed what happens after the lease expires after the 2012 season. I don't think there's a plan, nor will there be. Everything depends on Ralph at this point.

How will the Browns maintain continuity now? They don't know what they've done. All joking aside, there's a reason why Buffalo chooses to remain in house with their GM and does not shed the dead weight on the payroll. And it's got nothing to do with football.