Are the Bills really in "Win Now" mode?

[Beef Jerky]

The good thing about "Win Now" mode is it can be postponed till the next year

[ALF]

Until they have the best front office and scouting staff it will be tough to go far in the playoffs.

[Deranged Rhino]

To me it means not thinking at all about anything but the next/current season. For example, give up whatever future draft picks you have to in order to get players you think can give you a winning season now. Also commonly referred to as mortgaging the future. It is shortsighted by it's very definition and stupid. But desperate coaches and front office people might fall into this hole if they figure their jobs may be on the line.

 

I don't get the feeling the Bills are in this mode despite some recent decisions the past few seasons.

Well said.

[YoloinOhio]

To me it means not thinking at all about anything but the next/current season. For example, give up whatever future draft picks you have to in order to get players you think can give you a winning season now. Also commonly referred to as mortgaging the future. It is shortsighted by it's very definition and stupid. But desperate coaches and front office people might fall into this hole if they figure their jobs may be on the line.

 

I don't get the feeling the Bills are in this mode despite some recent decisions the past few seasons.

that is kind of where I am at. Trading up to get what they felt was an immediate true #1 WR who was 20 years old at the time was as much about trying to develop their young QB at the time as it was building the team for the future. There hasn't been a WR available like that in the draft since. That's just an example of a decision that while I think could have been construed at the time as short-term thinking because they gave two extra picks the following year, it has a few different layers to it. Edited May 21, 2016 by YoloinOhio

[eball]

They are in whatever mode they want to be in.

 

If they suck, Russ can stand at the podium and say whatever the !@#$ he wants and people will buy it hook line and sinker. It's what makes fans great but at a point it becomes a bit pathetic in my opinion.

I am not familiar with these fans of whom you speak.

[Wayne Cubed]

To me it means not thinking at all about anything but the next/current season. For example, give up whatever future draft picks you have to in order to get players you think can give you a winning season now. Also commonly referred to as mortgaging the future. It is shortsighted by it's very definition and stupid. But desperate coaches and front office people might fall into this hole if they figure their jobs may be on the line.

 

I don't get the feeling the Bills are in this mode despite some recent decisions the past few seasons.

But aren't teams like Green Bay and New England in win-now mode? They don't mortgage the future for picks but they certainly aren't going to tear down the team and do a rebuild. They aren desperate. Not when they have a "franchise" QB. But they know and expect to win every year.

[Punching Bag]

They are in whatever mode they want to be in.

 

If they suck, Russ can stand at the podium and say whatever the !@#$ he wants and people will buy it hook line and sinker. It's what makes fans great but at a point it becomes a bit pathetic in my opinion.

Ok we agree .. you are pathetic.

[Rubes]

But aren't teams like Green Bay and New England in win-now mode? They don't mortgage the future for picks but they certainly aren't going to tear down the team and do a rebuild. They aren desperate. Not when they have a "franchise" QB. But they know and expect to win every year.

Point taken, but it does mean that those teams may choose to address their weaknesses with more immediacy than perhaps otherwise, such as targeting more expensive free agents rather than developing draft picks.

[Punching Bag]

I'm telling beer ball...

 

He knows you are pathetic. you put it in writing but he knew anyways.

[OldTimer1960]

I don't think you see the money thrown around at middling stars like McCoy and Clay if the Bills didn't think they were a few bounces from making a run.

I would not call McCoy a middling star - he is really legit (when healthy).

 

I think Clay is one of the better TEs in the game, but not the game changer that Gronkowski is when he is healthy.

 

I don't really understand this kind of criticism. Teams only have a few ways to acquire talent: draft, trade and Free Agency. If you are going to play in FA, then you are going to pay top dollar (at least for the premiere players available).

 

Clay is here to give the QB a good safe option and to make plays after the catch. I am not sure why he wasn't as productive as we expected last year, but some of it might be Taylor's propensity to run rather than dump the ball off to his TE or RB when the play is breaking down. It might also be that Taylor wasn't comfortable throwing the kinds of routes that Clay runs. Taylor hasn't yet shown that he likes to throw down the middle of the field - and that is where many TEs make their living.

[FireChan]

I would not call McCoy a middling star - he is really legit (when healthy).

 

I think Clay is one of the better TEs in the game, but not the game changer that Gronkowski is when he is healthy.

 

I don't really understand this kind of criticism. Teams only have a few ways to acquire talent: draft, trade and Free Agency. If you are going to play in FA, then you are going to pay top dollar (at least for the premiere players available).

 

Clay is here to give the QB a good safe option and to make plays after the catch. I am not sure why he wasn't as productive as we expected last year, but some of it might be Taylor's propensity to run rather than dump the ball off to his TE or RB when the play is breaking down. It might also be that Taylor wasn't comfortable throwing the kinds of routes that Clay runs. Taylor hasn't yet shown that he likes to throw down the middle of the field - and that is where many TEs make their living.

I'm not even really criticizing them in this case.

 

My point is that a team like the Rams and other bottom feeders would look at an FA like Clay and say, "we can get a top 10 TE for top 3 money, is that going to be worth it?" And they would decide, "no," because they have holes elsewhere and having all that money tied up in 1 player won't be the last push they need to make a postseason run.

 

Whereas a team like the Bills may be saying, "we already have a pretty good gaggle of talent with a few holes and we feel we are a playmaker or two away. What is better for us for the next 2-3 years, signing 2 middling FA's competing for jobs or overpaying for a good player?" And in their mind, overpaying for Clay is worth it.

 

See the difference?

Edited May 21, 2016 by FireChan

[thurst44]

I don't think you see the money thrown around at middling stars like McCoy and Clay if the Bills didn't think they were a few bounces from making a run.

Oh, come now. McCoy was hardly a "middling star." Compare his stats to Hall of Famers at comparable ages and he stacks up well. He is currently 8th on the active yards list and only two players in the top 25 -- Alfred Morris at 18 and Doug Martin at 22 -- are younger (and this is counting last year's somewhat off season). When we traded for him, he was a top 5, probably top 3, back in his prime (on average, RBs have their best season at age 27). Middling star...yeesh!

[mannc]

Oh, come now. McCoy was hardly a "middling star." Compare his stats to Hall of Famers at comparable ages and he stacks up well. He is currently 8th on the active yards list and only two players in the top 25 -- Alfred Morris at 18 and Doug Martin at 22 -- are younger (and this is counting last year's somewhat off season). When we traded for him, he was a top 5, probably top 3, back in his prime (on average, RBs have their best season at age 27). Middling star...yeesh!

"Middling star" is being kind given McCoy's production the past two seasons, especially when you look at his YPC. He is on the downslope of a good career. There is not another team in the league that would have given him the contract Whaley did last year. And he's not a great person either, FWIW.

[Deranged Rhino]

"Middling star" is being kind given McCoy's production the past two seasons, especially when you look at his YPC. He is on the downslope of a good career. There is not another team in the league that would have given him the contract Whaley did last year. And he's not a great person either, FWIW.

The claim no other team would offer him that kind of contract is not based on anything but your opinion.

[FireChan]

The claim no other team would offer him that kind of contract is not based on anything but your opinion.

But...so is the converse.

[Deranged Rhino]

But...so is the converse.

Not true. Plenty of people in the league feel McCoy is a top tier back based on any number of sources. Top teir backs get paid, even if the position has become devalued.

[Bill from NYC]

I don't think you see the money thrown around at middling stars like McCoy and Clay if the Bills didn't think they were a few bounces from making a run.

Yes, and throw in the fact (whether fans like it or not isn't the issue) that Whaley trades away draft selections and it does appear that they are in fact trying to "win now."

 

Imo it makes what is happening with this team that much more pathetic.

[FireChan]

Not true. Plenty of people in the league feel McCoy is a top tier back based on any number of sources. Top teir backs get paid, even if the position has become devalued.

Are you telling me that you're backing it up with just other folks' opinions? And they invalidate other opinions? What.

[Bill from NYC]

Win now in the sense that we have a team with talent now and we shouldn't waste it. Absolutely not win now or else for Whaley and probably not for Rexy.

How's it working out so far?

[CodeMonkey]

But aren't teams like Green Bay and New England in win-now mode? They don't mortgage the future for picks but they certainly aren't going to tear down the team and do a rebuild. They aren desperate. Not when they have a "franchise" QB. But they know and expect to win every year.

What you are referring to I think is a team with a winning history. They are used to winning, and to making decisions that allow them to continue to win both now and years from now. A win now mentality has the stink of desperation to it that forces teams to gamble their future in a generally reckless manner. That's the difference I think.