BillsVet

What definitive proof do you have that these moves are anything special? Both players were buried on GB's practice squad, with little chance of making their active roster. Too many fans talk about potential, which in this case are people remembering scouting reports from 1-2 years ago. They wouldn't be on practice squads if they were as good as some say they are.

He was being groomed for the position for the past few years. Jim Irsay should count his blessings that his treasurer gets along with BP and hasn't needed to fire him for hurtful words. After all, they've had 8 consecutive 10+ win seasons now.

I don't think anyone, let alone the front office, saw their two best starters going down to season ending injury. Still, their depth at OT going into the season was downright criminal. If you ask me, they've got one guy on that entire line who'll be a starter in the NFL two seasons from now: Andy Levitre. The rest are has-beens, or never will be's. I don't believe for a second that Meredith will amount to much, given GB's unwillingness to put him on their OT starved roster.

Maybe the Raiders might be willing to part with a high pick. That 2006 draft was a complete debacle, the result of untrained and incompetent talent evaluators who used to work for TD. Why Marv thought both they and DJ could find players is beyond me. Whitner, McCargo, Youboty, and Simpson. They found a good depth DT and talented but injury prone OL in round 5. That's all they got, outside of an undersized OLB, from that draft. Four bust or near-bust picks is part of the reason this team has no depth and is on their way to another sub-.500 season.

I've heard so many excuses why Whitner isn't an impact player. The bottom line is he doesn't have great instincts and remains frequently washed out in the box. It would not surprise me to see him cut after the season for lack of production and his salary, even if 2010 is uncapped.

Trent is finished because he elected to follow Dick Jauron, the only NFL HC he's known. Edwards seemed mentally weak and unable to see that his HC wasn't doing him any favors. Buffalo could realistically finish 4-12 or 5-11, which puts them in the 3-6 range of the draft. If they select Tebow, it'll be a wasted pick. There is a huge graveyard of college QB's with great ability for that level of competition that do not translate into the NFL. Tommie Frazier at Nebraska comes to mind. He won national titles and set several records about 15 years ago. But he never got much interest from the NFL.

Maybe Shanny needs a change of scenery, but I'd rather see the team sign a GM with personnel experience. That person can then find the coach. Perhaps they think only a big name will sell tickets, but people like Gettleman and others have been finding players for years. It's not the fancy move, but it'll cost a heckuva lot less.

It was a mystery why so many people thought Bell would be an instant starter despite never seeing NFL action prior to this season. At a minimum, he was a two year project that wouldn't pay off until at least 2010. But when the team was thin and needed someone to hype for fans to forget Peters, Bell was their man. If it's not acceptable to have a strong opinion about players or the front office, then what are any of us here for? You can go over every draft this team has had since 2005 and not find one star player. Bill-we've all made mistakes and bad predictions, myself included. But I agree that believing in untested players to suddenly be average to good NFL starters without the benefit of actually playing is absurd.

There will be more attractive options for guys like Shanahan, Cowher, and Holmgren should they decide to work again. They'll weigh their options and go where there's an opportunity to win more quickly because the Bills are a total rebuild. RW did paint himself into a corner by making so many bad decisions, yet now he's heading the search and asking the questions? And I'm sure Polian and AJ Smith have told people not to go to Buffalo unless they want a meddlesome owner in their back pocket. The HOF owner is the man who's put this team where it is now. He avoided making decisions for so long and not getting qualified people in that it has come to this: pure desperation.

Neither Wilson nor Brandon understand what they're looking for, especially RW. This is the same guy who we all know fired Polian, ran Smith and Butler out the door, then hired Donahoe. I won't even comment on Brandon, who has no experience in NFL personnel. Basically, a NFL franchise is counting on their 91 year old owner to make a good decision. I'm not optimistic.

Forgive me if people have chimed in on this, I've been in the southern tier hunting the past few days, but... Exactly who is searching for and interviewing all of these people the Bills are evidently interested in? This is not the type of thing left to chance, and certainly not something anyone at OBD is qualified to decide on. Meanwhile, RW is making waves by talking about how much money he's willing to throw at the problem he himself is responsible for. Does he know which person to interview, let alone what he needs? For my money, find a GM first and let that person hire the coach. IMO, Buffalo should first recruit a "consultant" like Ernie Accorsi or Charley Casserly to advise them on the process. Left to his own devices, RW could make another bad decision given how poor his track record has been this decade.

My thoughts exactly. It works in a dome, even TB, but not here although someone will say it did in Pittsburgh 30 years ago. Unfortunately, they had Joe Greene, Lambert, Ham, Blount, Greenwood, and several solid players. Dungy did win a SB, which is something no one can take away from him. But I never had the feeling he was quick on the sidelines and Manning was more the reason they were successful. That, and Bill Polian finding the players. Sound familiar?

I don't care much to discuss specific college QB's at this point, but this is going to be an item with any major front office person the team interviews. No one wants to fail, and trying to win in the NFL with the likes of Edwards and Fitzpatrick isn't a big selling card. It's probably one of the first things a guy like Shanahan is interested in talking about. No matter how good those guys are, they know rebuilding with what the Bills have now is tantamount to failure. As much as I would like to see a new LT or dominant DT, this team is going to need a QB. We'll see if it's Locker, Bradford, Clausen, LeFevour, Tebow, whomever. That's for another time.

I don't think DJ figured he'd be fired. NFL coaching is about survivability, and DJ had to have figured that after the bye week if he hadn't been cut loose, it wouldn't happen until the end of the season. Still, it's odd he was let go when he was. I suspect a combination of Bud Adams, the disruption of TO and Reed on the sidelines, Schobel's comments, and the general misery of the fan base contributed to this move.

Do you know how this organization operates? We're not the Cowgirls, but if there's revenue and it's not a stadium name, they go after it. Merchandising is big for this team, just look at what happened after TO signed. It's not beneath them to realize ST sales and jerseys weren't going to leap off the shelves. This just gives fan a little bit of "hope" and rekindles some positive thoughts that the owner MAY do something. I'm not saying this is the central reason, but it's out there and not far-fetched as a supporting reason for DJ's firing.

Tim Graham is on record as commenting this move may (or may not) have something to do with the approaching shopping season. For this franchise, it's not unreasonable to believe merchandise sales may have something to do with it. Crazy, but not out of the question. It struck me that Aaron Schobel opened up after the Titans game. I can't remember the last time he spoke about something on football, let alone organizational direction.

Rushing yards allowed per game 2006: 141 rypg 2007: 125 rypg 2008: 122 rypg 2009: 173 rypg I think a lot of that 08 showing had to do with playing weak opponents. I can't help but remember RW asking DJ and Marv at some meetings in early 07 if they'd be able to stop the run. Marv and Dick must have given him something, but they never could stop the run all that well.

The timing is certainly strange, but this is a unique year in the NFL. And as much as I don't give this team the benefit of the doubt, this may be a preemptive move to get someone in here who otherwise would be gobbled up by the big teams. I'm not going to get crazy, but a lame duck HC finishing the season is not good. We'd all have preferred the guy be fired during the bye week, but this team never does anything the conventional way. Of course, all of this goes out the window if the big names don't come here, and the HC ends up being a cheap-a** signing like Haslett, Fassel, or Marc Trestman. I'm still playing wait and see with RW and whomever he decides to hire and the structure in place. The fans are too astute to be fooled by more garbage people in the front like what they've got now.

As you previously and subtly mentioned, Pat Bowlen doesn't seem as sharp as he once was. And for any NFL HC, 14 seasons is a long time. Here, a change of scenery may be in Shanny's best interest. I won't work myself up believing he's coming to Buffalo. But it's important to remember that there are several teams (as always) working to get one of these guys into their organization. The Bills are attempting to get ahead of the pack, and to me their anticipation of the market is a great thing for a franchise generally a step behind everyone else. FWIW, Shanny's been toured select training camps this year trying to keep up to speed on developing trends. I know he visited NE, and perhaps PIT. Just saying.

My thoughts exactly for Gillbride, Haslett, and Trestman. None of those guys are wanted for HC jobs, and are coordinators at best. Even at that level, I'm not sure they'd do anything substantial with the weak roster here already.

CB and I have been sparring for some time now. I don't expect a poster on this board to show up and admit they were wrong. But.....I never had the feeling he had a purpose, aside from complaining that we dared complain the team wasn't on the right track. His optimistc view point was based on the non-religious version of hope. That sort of mentality doesn't work and never has. SIC, you're a long time poster on this board and I value your opinion. But CB was the type who ripped everyone for not agreeing with him without ever offering substance, just blind optimism. With him, there was rarely conversation, just derision. Now that things haven't gone well, he's retreated in the unknown.

Where's CB he been lately? There are a number of notable posters who aren't seen on TBD as the season has slid into the abyss. Frankly, there are people who know this team and their preferences and those who don't. I always looked forward to BADOL's posts, and it doesn't take more than that one to sum up what's wrong here. If that can be done in one thread. How DJ remained in a HC this long was the real issue. Now it's finding a real GM, coach, QB, et al. 2010 seems to be a rebuilding effort.

We don't know who is going to lead this search, but I'm not confident about any of their options. IMO, I don't think Brandon has much respect league-wide and without paying big money, will narrow the search. He hasn't worked a day in pro or amateur scouting, nothing and was handed a ceremonial position. Very astute marketer, but he's not someone I trust to handle the task of finding a GM. For my money, the Bills would need to roll the dice on a football guy as Wayne Huizenga hired in Bill Parcells. Someone who isn't going to be the day to day person, but possesses the vision for the franchise and hires a GM who matches his plan. Then, the GM finds the pro and amateur scouting directors. That football man needs to be entrusted with the entire direction of the football team without meddling from anyone.

I don't think the OP is saying "DJ sucked" but rather attempts to show that he had little to work with. Sure, that's fine, but this franchise relied heavily on DJ, at least from 06-08, for personnel guidance. Modrak and Guy were providing intel on players, but didn't make decisions. Brandon and Levy counted on DJ to make that roster. The end result featured a team which was small (resulting in more injuries) and not very talented with no game-breakers. Think about this for a moment: the Bills started two street free agents at LB this week: Draft and Scott. Which teams do that? Yes, it's strange the guy was let go today, being that it's Tuesday and after a bye. I won't argue that at all, but merely refrain from citing injuries on a team probably close to hand-picked (not incl. TO) by the former HC. RW just marches to the beat of a different drummer and he's 91.

It's amazing to me how people attempt to explain away failure. There's always another excuse, or reason for not reaching a desired objective. For Jauron, it was injuries, youth, you name it, fans had something ready. The man never had a decent offense in 9+ seasons of being a HC. He never won a playoff game and had 1 winning season. I'd argue that one miracle season he had was the result of those fourth quarters having so many breaks. All I can remember is Mike Brown returning turnovers for TD's.