Buddy Nix on WGR550 this morning....

[cmjoyce113]

I want him to say:

 

1. The owner has made it clear to him that the goal is going to be to reverse the decade plus record of failure to make the playoffs (I have heard no acknowldement whatsoever of the dismal record of the past decade and a commitment from the owner to take business risks in order to gain sportsman achievements .

 

2. I would like to here a statement of expectation they have of all players that they must reach down as deep as the can to sacrifice to achieve victory.

 

3. I would like to hear that the front office realizes as leaders of this team that they cannot expect to succeed in getting the individual players to make a special effort and take risks necessary to succeed UNLESS the front office is also willing to take risks.

 

There needs to be some reflection in how Nix sells the product that the FO and Mr. Ralph are going to lead by example and take business risks in the hope of achieving sportsman goals.

 

I do not think this is unreasonable for Nix to say UNLESS Mr. Ralph is actually more committed to being a good businessman than he is committed to being a good sportsman.

 

 

Are you one of the guys that bashed the risk they are taking on Merriman or are you ok with that one?

[Haven Moses]

Sounded to me like Buddy is laying in the weeds for more cap casulties.

[yungmack]

Yeah, Buddy's old and cranky, Ralph's cheap, yadda yadda yadda. Did it occur to any of the Negative Nellies around here that, um, Buddy's in the middle of the free agency periodand maybe, just maybe, doesn't think it makes a whole lot of sense to reveal all the juicy insider details of his thinking for the edification of GMs and agents?

[Albany,n.y.]

you forgot the botched lynch trade. and the failure to attain a franchise quarterback

So I take it you're not going to be one of the people greeting Tyler Thigpen as he makes his way from the airport to the Ralph.

[PromoTheRobot]

Are you one of the guys that bashed the risk they are taking on Merriman or are you ok with that one?

That's right. They sure did. That's because the Bills can't do anything to make these jerks happy. If we signed Poz for 42/6 Nix is a fool for overspending on mediocrity. Take a chance on Merriman and he's dumpster diving. If we sign anyone then someone better was available. Same broken record. No one is holding a gun to your head making you a Bills fan. There are 31 other amazing teams to cheer for.

 

PTR

[trolls_r_us]

Except for bringing in Wannestedt(who is a 4-3 guy) this year as an assistant to the DC(who is a 3-4 guy), the assistants hired by Gailey were about uninspiring as possibly could be. Clearly a case where $$$ played a big role in compiling his staff.

 

The quality/prestige of the assistants is always LESS then the quality and prestige of the boss.

 

Gailey was a bargain bin hire who nobody else wanted. Why would top assistants come to work for him when they would have greater cache around the league than their boss?

[Ramius]

This is a ridiculous question. It's obvious now that Bills wanted to keep Poz, but couldn't negotiate with him during the lockout. They also didn't have an exclusive negotiating period after the lockout ended. From all accounts, Bills were set to pay a high market rate to retain Poz, indicating that they thought he would still be a key player for htem. He elected to go south for a better 4-3 opportunity.

 

That kind of ties what Nix can say about the rest of the roster. What do you expect him to say, "Now that Poz is gone, the rest of the LBs suck?"

 

Logically thinking (i know, its not a popular option at both 1 and 2 bills drive), it would seem if the Bills had 7 mil earmarked for Poz, they'd use that same 7 mil to find a replacement, say someone like Barrett Ruud from Tampa.

 

But i've got a feeling that the Bills had no, or are not willing to spend on a contingency plan for both Poz and Florence leaving.

[JPS]

So where does the Kelsay signing fit into this philosophy?

Kelsay fits the 4-3 D end part of the hybrid defense perfectly. He never asked to be tried at OLB and he never bitched about trying to play OLB for the 1st time in his life at the highest level of football. Yeah, he sucked. But did he ever throw his coaching staff or other players under the bus? Most players today are all about themselves and would have.

 

Like it or not, Kelsay is a professional and he's a guy you want your younger players to model. You can argue that his production doesn't justify his salary on this team, but what do you care? He's either good to have around or not. At DE, he's worth having around.

[Beerstm]

NOTHING will change until Wilson, Overdorf & Littman are no longer associated with the Bills. There is no commitment to winning when looking at the front office, the coaching staff or the players.

 

 

So true. Why does this schock people. This is how the team has run the past ten years. Nothing will change until it has too. Until then, Enjoy the Bills. We know that this team will probably be a .500 team this season. There will be some exciting football and who knows.... they may shock the world.

[Metal Man]

That's right. They sure did. That's because the Bills can't do anything to make these jerks happy. If we signed Poz for 42/6 Nix is a fool for overspending on mediocrity. Take a chance on Merriman and he's dumpster diving. If we sign anyone then someone better was available. Same broken record. No one is holding a gun to your head making you a Bills fan. There are 31 other amazing teams to cheer for.

 

PTR

 

I agree with everything you said here but isn't the senseless complaining and idiotic circular logic part of what makes message boards entertaining?

)

[John from Riverside]

OK....I listened to the interview

 

Whats his face GUIDED Buddy into saying that he would look for someone already on the roster.....even after Nix said if someone came available that could help the team they would look at them.

 

POZ DID NOT WANT TO PLAY IN A 3-4.....if that is the case we were better off with him leaving....it means Poz needs an extra down linemen in front of him in order to be effective. To me its as simple as that.

 

 

IF THAT IS THE CASE then why would we want to offer him a monster contact.

[LABills08]

Listen. Poz at 7 million for 6 years (I think this was the deal, correct me if I'm wrong) is a lot of money. According to my googling, that would have placed him as the highest, or one of the highest paid Bills. Is he worth that much? Maybe to some teams, but on a team that is working to build a 3-4 defense? It just didn't make sense to give him that kind of cash and play him in a 3-4. Also, to be honest, I don't want Poz on my roster for 6 years! He isn't durable, he's tiny (for a ILB) and he has taken a lot of shots over the past couple seasons having to take down many untouched RB bolting at him full speed.

 

Now, if come Fri or next week the Bills haven't added a LB, I will be right back on the Ralph Wilson sucks train. In fact, I never got off that train. But this seems to be a smart decision.

[dancing_joker]

This is a ridiculous question. It's obvious now that Bills wanted to keep Poz, but couldn't negotiate with him during the lockout. They also didn't have an exclusive negotiating period after the lockout ended. From all accounts, Bills were set to pay a high market rate to retain Poz, indicating that they thought he would still be a key player for htem. He elected to go south for a better 4-3 opportunity.

 

That kind of ties what Nix can say about the rest of the roster. What do you expect him to say, "Now that Poz is gone, the rest of the LBs suck?"

 

I want him to say they'll look at other available free agents to replace Poz. The only obvious thing after the fact is they wanted a real NFL-caliber starting ILB on their team. If they felt so good about their existing ILBs, they would never have went after Poz in the first place.

 

It seems the Bills would either spend $40 mil on their own guy, or just shove it under the mattress. There is no middle ground. I hope they have plans to snatch an ILB who gets cut on Thursday.

[Mark Long Beach]

Listen. Poz at 7 million for 6 years (I think this was the deal, correct me if I'm wrong) is a lot of money. According to my googling, that would have placed him as the highest, or one of the highest paid Bills. Is he worth that much? Maybe to some teams, but on a team that is working to build a 3-4 defense? It just didn't make sense to give him that kind of cash and play him in a 3-4. Also, to be honest, I don't want Poz on my roster for 6 years! He isn't durable, he's tiny (for a ILB) and he has taken a lot of shots over the past couple seasons having to take down many untouched RB bolting at him full speed.

 

Now, if come Fri or next week the Bills haven't added a LB, I will be right back on the Ralph Wilson sucks train. In fact, I never got off that train. But this seems to be a smart decision.

 

 

We offered the same amount that he took in Jacksonville. A too high, too long contract for him IMO. He didn't take our offer but it shows pretty clearly we were willing to overpay for him because we thought he was a solid player.

 

No need to break out the pitchforks because we lost Poz. He's not the lynchpin of our defense. As someone else said, we lost with him, we can lose without him. Not having him makes our defense a little weaker, but not massively so. Not $42 million over 6 years worse.

[jester43]

Yeah, Buddy's old and cranky, Ralph's cheap, yadda yadda yadda. Did it occur to any of the Negative Nellies around here that, um, Buddy's in the middle of the free agency periodand maybe, just maybe, doesn't think it makes a whole lot of sense to reveal all the juicy insider details of his thinking for the edification of GMs and agents?

haha...yeah that's what's going on!

 

that might make sense on another team, but around here when you assume the obvious (buddy's a lackey and ralph's committed to smallball and the fans can eat ****) you're almost always right.

[tombstone56]

the thing people arent considering is this is a crappy year for fa lbs .... poz wants to play mlb in 4-3 ,,but replacing him this year isnnt so simple i exspect a stop gap lb for this year ,,next years draft has the best ilb prospects in ten years that where i think there mindset is..

[LabattBlue]

Kelsay fits the 4-3 D end part of the hybrid defense perfectly. He never asked to be tried at OLB and he never bitched about trying to play OLB for the 1st time in his life at the highest level of football. Yeah, he sucked. But did he ever throw his coaching staff or other players under the bus? Most players today are all about themselves and would have.

 

Like it or not, Kelsay is a professional and he's a guy you want your younger players to model. You can argue that his production doesn't justify his salary on this team, but what do you care? He's either good to have around or not. At DE, he's worth having around.

In your previous post you said that the philosophy should be "pay your productive people". Now you turn around and say "what do you care if his production doesn't justify his salary". Make up your mind. :blink:

[billsfreak]

Never heard a more counterproductive interview...

 

When asked about Poz: It wasn't the money.

 

When asked about perception about Buffalo: Ignored the question about others, laughed, said he wouldn't consider that personally.

 

When asked about adding through FA: He feels people internally can step up to replace Poz.

 

I actually stopped listening cause the guy just sounded like he didn't care, and while I wouldn't expect him to go into his "plans" going forward...The interview itself was kind of infuriating.

 

It's on Wgr550.com if you wanna listen.

What do you expect? He is just another bottom of the barrel, dollar store front office that Ralphy hired. What is there internally to replace the best and most productive tackler on the team? He is nothing but Ralph's puppet, most likely with orders to not spend anymore money than necessary to get to the salary minimum. So they let Poz go, and they will give the money to someone who isn't half the player (like Merriman).

 

The quality/prestige of the assistants is always LESS then the quality and prestige of the boss.

 

Gailey was a bargain bin hire who nobody else wanted. Why would top assistants come to work for him when they would have greater cache around the league than their boss?

That is 100% correct! It has been a decade since Gailey's name was even mentioned in NFL circles. Ralph needed a coach and he went to see what ones were available in the local pawn shop for coaches and pulled him out of the recycle pile.

[K-9]

What do you expect? He is just another bottom of the barrel, dollar store front office that Ralphy hired. What is there internally to replace the best and most productive tackler on the team? He is nothing but Ralph's puppet, most likely with orders to not spend anymore money than necessary to get to the salary minimum. So they let Poz go, and they will give the money to someone who isn't half the player (like Merriman).

 

Not even you can be insinuating that the Merriman is getting Poz money.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[GG]

I want him to say they'll look at other available free agents to replace Poz. The only obvious thing after the fact is they wanted a real NFL-caliber starting ILB on their team. If they felt so good about their existing ILBs, they would never have went after Poz in the first place.

 

It seems the Bills would either spend $40 mil on their own guy, or just shove it under the mattress. There is no middle ground. I hope they have plans to snatch an ILB who gets cut on Thursday.

 

What benefit is it to Nix to publicly disclose Plan B? It's a very weak year for FA ILBs. Bills just lost out on their target. The last thing he should be doing is crying about it and giving more negotiating leverage to the remaining ILBs & their agents.