BillsVet

Your posts really make me laugh. According to you, no one is ever at fault while this team struggles to remain relevant in the NFL. It's fine to blame TD for 01-05 and perhaps 06. But from 07 forward, the failures of this franchise should be squarely on Levy, Brandon, and Ralph. No excuses. Two years is plenty of time to rebuild a franchise. With UFA and good drafts there are several teams who've made it happen. Some will disagree, but the franchise is no better now than it was when Marv took over. Ask Tom Dimitroff and Mike Smith how long it took him to rebuild. Ask Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano. Ask Ozzie Newsome and John Harbaugh. They've all turned around teams rather quickly. And while they're doing that, Buffalo is stuck in the muddle with the accelerator barely pressed. So go ahead and make exceptions for everyone. We're still waiting for a season we can be proud of.

To this day I don't believe the Giants were truly serious about drafting McCargo. They had Alford and Robbins already. I didn't see them addressing their DT depth with a first round pick. Instead, NYG selected Mathias Kiwanuka to replace Strahan who they figured would retire imminently. The Giants don't miss all that often on 1st rounders. McCargo's athleticism was probably the item they loved, but the front office was delighted so much that they ignored or didn't know about his lack of motivation. And they discounted the fact that McCargo played close to Mario Williams and Manny Lawson, two other first rounders. The Colts were desperate for help at DT, because they run the same defense. I think it was ironic that McCargo was returned so quickly under the guise of a "failed physical." McCargo has little value to anything but T2/C2 teams. And if he couldn't play in Buffalo, I don't see anyone picking him up. He is a bust and will struggle to make any roster with his poor work ethic.

Obama what is your plan? Who do you intend to target in UFA and the draft?

I'll get destroyed for saying it, but I don't think Levy was a great coach. He was a good coach, and obviously wanted back in three years ago. During his career, he had a fine OC in Marchibroda for several years, and had Polian acquiring players for him through 92-93. Marv just needed to manage the personalities, but from a talent perspective, he had a whole lot. On his blog, Tim Graham made a point that Belichick's 3 SB winning teams will probably have only one HOFer (Brady) while Buffalo's four non-winners will have at least 3 when Bruce Smith is elected. Sure, it's different eras in comparing before and after the cap, but you have a hard time winning SB's without HOF talent. Marv is in the HOF, but if that's the case, shouldn't Dan Reeves and Bud Grant be in as welll. Both had lots of talent, made 4 SB's, and lost them all.

I continue to believe next season will make the final year of TD seem tame. Going 7-9 three straight seasons, retaining the HC, watching the Cards in the SB, and having a game in Toronto have created an unfriendly atmosphere for Bills fans. I hope it doesn't deteriorate into bedlam, but the team is in poor shape, and arguably at the same point as when Marv inherited TD's mess. Maybe DJ was the coach the Bills needed in 06, but he's not the guy to get them into the playoffs. Buffalo needs a tactician, not necessarily a loud person, but someone with quiet confidence who can push when he has to. DJ's stoic demeanor isn't working with this team anymore. Going 2-8 down the stretch demonstrates this.

I really don't think some people realize how thin the margin of error is in a NFL front office. No one should demand perfection, but you've got to make the right personnel move in a smaller market more frequently than Marv did. Whiffing on McCargo and signing Tripplett, Royal, Fowler, P. Price, Dockery, and Walker to excessive contracts are too many failures over the course of two seasons. And ultimately, hiring DJ was the biggest failure. You are spot-on about Marv's principle error being that he trusted the front office to act like Polian's version did years ago. Unfortunately, when you have a thin margin due to financial restrictions and hire a joke of a HC, it's going to be hard to succeed.

One thing I'll say for Marv: he was guilted into taking the GM job after TD failed. I really think at that point Ralph had run out of options. And so he turned to a man who was part of the team's recent glory days, if 15+ years ago counts for recent. Marv wasn't suited for the GM job, either in mind or in experience. And when it mattered, poor decisions were made all too frequently. He's a bright guy, but wasn't all that savvy when it came to crunch time. Marv was not a successful GM. He tried to build consensus with inferior front office characters. He could not duplicate Polian because the guys behind the scenes aren't there anymore. I'm talking about Butler, AJ Smith, Dwight Adams, et al. In their sted were John Guy, Tom Modrak, and a certain HC who should be no more than a DB coach.

They'll begin raising the hype about this team. And hopefully fans begin tuning them out, because it's going to be a long season with clueless Dick running the show.

I'd say the thing that would force RW to get rid of DJ is when 40k show up for games and season ticket sales slip below 35k. The only thing, and I firmly believe this now more than ever, is that RW will make decisions based on financials. I'm really trying to be hard to be optimistic that RW isn't a human example of Charles Montgomery Burns.

What about Chuck Dickerson? Where is the research from Chris Brown beyond a Raiders assistant. We could have a guy who has SB experience. Again, just kidding.

He could easily have said he wanted to be closer to family, but chose to make the statement he did about the offense. Frankly, the writing is on the wall this season for Buffalo's coaching staff. It's win or else, which is what should have happened after this past season. Besides, Kollar gets to coach Mario Williams and Amobi Okoye next year. I'd take that any day over an aging Stroud and Schobel. That's not to say the latter aren't good anymore, but Houston has more talent on the DL.

For every action there is a reaction. And signing Kelsay to the deal he received made it necessary to pay Schobel. Oh sure there was no requirement, but had Buffalo slammed the door in Schobel's face (BTW way he was a Pro Bowler at that point) it would have caused huge issues. The Bills front office has no savvy. They don't see the curveball until it's in the catcher's glove. They're always reacting instead of taking action and they should have known that signing Kelsay would mean a new deal for Schobel, but they didn't. 74M dollars later, they had their DE's. Except both will be over 30 next season, with one just bad and the other coming back from a fairly serious injury which could take away his speed. The folly of Marv and Dick is that they're smart. I'm sure with their degrees they've got a lot of book smarts. But when it comes to street smarts and knowing the landscape and anticipating problems, they're horrible. They proved it in FA and Draft 06, and again in FA 07. Only the 07 first three picks can save them. Signing Dockery and Walker without thinking it would effect Peters was plain bad management. Those 49ers teams of the early eighties got good and players wanted to get paid. The players are still the same. But good front offices know their decisions will have consequences. Once again, the book smarts didn't come in handy.

Isn't Chuck Dickerson available? He's got a history with the team. Just kidding.

I think it's funny that fans are hoping RW spends money in UFA. Going back to 2007, RW spent big on Dockery and Walker because he was so far beneath the cap to being UFA. SOo much so, that he had approximately 20M to spend heading into the regular season. And now we're 22M+ under the cap going into 08. I can see some cuts, but when the Bills start 09, they'll be near the salary floor. But don't worry, they'll be putting a few extra dollars into the marketing department.

Fine post Raimus. Apparently the big picture is lost on some fans (predictably) but the problem remains. And it's that the attitude on this team is all wrong to create a winner. This belief that players must love their coach is contrasted in so many eras, both now and yesteryear. I can't recall an coach adored by his team who was a winner. Bill Walsh, Chuck Noll, Vince Lombardi, Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, Mike Ditka, and Bill Cowher weren't "loved." There's 19 titles worth of coaches, yet the players respected their them AND played hard. And there's a huge difference. Besides, all of those guys had/have an eye for talent which DJ obviously doesn't have. I just finished reading, "The Genius" which details the 10 seasons Bill Walsh coached the 49ers. After concluding, I couldn't believe the things that were said about Walsh, but if there was one universal element in his relation to players it was a respect for the coaches. Few if any players loved Walsh, but they respected him. It was only after their careers concluded that it became a love.

No one can rationally indict the front office for failing to sign a CFL star. That's plain rididculous. The point remains that the bills have severely hindered their ability to catch up with the successful teams in the league by failing to hire a GM. Nevermind the HC, it's impossible to win without someone who has a personnel background guiding the football side of the house. The GM adopts of vision of where he wants the team to go, and gathers the players and coaches to make it happen. TD didn't seem to have a vision, but went year to year. OTOH, Buffalo doesn't even have that right now. They're too busy trying to market a fading product. Now is not the time to promote those not trained in managing football teams. Russ Brandon is a fine marketing guy, but he'll never be included among the Polian's, Reese's, Colbert's, Pioli's, and Parcells' of the NFL. You may like missing the playoffs nine straight seasons and not having a GM. I for one realize we're the only team in the league who can make that claim.

If he's a rush OLB, I'm not upset we didn't get him. Jauron isn't switching to a 3-4, which is something he probably doesn't favor. That's not my issue here. Instead, I'm choosing to look at the bigger picture. A poster made the assertion that trying is good enough, which is why the Bills are looking straight at 10 consecutive seasons without the playoffs. Philly's played in five more title games than Buffalo has appeared in the playoffs this decade. The point is clear: Some fans are content with the current state of the team and have become comfortable with mediocrity. If people stepped back and looked at how successful teams operate (PIT, NE, NYG, SD, BAL, et al) they'd see a trend of having a strong GM with a personnel background combined with a coach who brings a winning attitude. The Buffalo Bills have neither, and rather are counting on a marketing guy to lead them forward with a coach who is universally recognized as poor.

Obama's cousin in Kenya.

The poster you're referring to seems to think it's good enough to get close, as long as there's an effort. There are still plenty of people who see through this minor league front office to know that they'll try to a certain degree, but consistently fail. And it's not because they lost a CFL star, which isn't a big deal. It's that the Bills are no longer as competitive as they used to be. Russ Brandon is a marketing whiz. Anyone who can sell 56,000+ season tickets for this franchise has to be. But there's no evidence he's a shrewd personnel executive, in which he has no on the job experience. None. He's never been a scout, never was a director of college scouting or pro personnel, and never before 2008, had anything to do with the draft. This organization is run like a Mickey Mouse outfit, and there are still fans who think it's normal. It's not, but here's hoping they find some gold nuggets to make up for the coach and front office.

Kevin Colbert, their GM. He's the guy who hired Mike Tomlin and has been putting the pieces together since 2000. Pittsburgh's always done a pretty good job of evaluating talent and finding players. When Buffalo finds a GM, perhaps then they'll be able to do what Colbert's been doing this decade.

You forgot we let Tim Benhard go in UFA go in UFA to Baltimore. And perhaps if we'd have taken Seamus Tweed over Hardy, we'd be much better in the passing game.

I think it bears reviewing who the Bills provided on offense in 08 as opposed to 07. Essentially, Buffalo did nothing player wise on offense. James Hardy, a rookie and raw WR was the only significant addition. To make matters worse, a rookie OC who no less than 3 other franchises didn't think was capable of being an OC was promoted to the position. Talk about a problem waiting to happen. If you think Edwards was going to be successful with an inept rookie OC and no new weapons off of that 07 season, you're crazy. I'd really like to know why Edwards consistently failed against 3-4 defenses. Some of that is his fault, some parts youth in the league, with a lot of it a lack of preparation by this coaching staff.

This is the dirty little secret. RW will not pay big dollars for much of anything anymore. He's required by the current CBA to spend above the salary floor, but on coaches and front office executives he just doesn't have to. No doubt people like Wade, Polian, AJ Smith, and a host of others have been telling people around the league how bad it is to work for Ralph. It's little wonder that Ralph went back in time to get Levy out of retirement for the GM gig. I don't think anyone else was willing to do it. And when Levy went looking for a coach after Mularkey "resigned" DJ was happy to oblige him for less than the going rate for a HC. He was too desperate to ask for more. Organizationally, this franchise is a complete mess. They've been buying time for three years now on the back of the marketing folks.

You're trying too hard to prove your "insider" status. That alone indicates how unreliable you are and no one with legit contacts posts as much as you have in this thread alone. We don't care where your paycheck comes from, nor the car you drive. But when you come onto this board an make claims backed up by nothing you should expect to get questioned. You've certainly livened things up on Championship Sunday, but your credibility is zero.

You're missing the point entirely. The Bills have been bad to mediocre for nine seasons and all the while have depended on spin to attract fans. At some point, spin will not be enough to convince fans this team is headed in the right direction. Eventually, people or organizations that cannot deliver the goods and rely on hype are revealed as empty. Buffalo has miscalculated that its fans will return no matter what in 2009. Regardless, the Toronto experiment, poor showing in 08, and retention of DJ will not soon be forgotten spin or no spin. Any reasonable fan should ask for results after 3 rebuilding seasons. This question was partially answered when DJ was retained, despite losing 8 of 10 and blowing a 5-1 start. That tells me all I need to know, in that the team relies on PR to get fans, not actual results anymore.