Buffalo Bills: Split Visions Coming From Front Office, Coaching Staff
By Erik Smeal
The offseason is still in the beginning stages, but it is already shaping up to be one of the more intriguing in recent years for the Buffalo Bills.
A brand new coaching staff, a $30 million QB decision, rumors swirling, 20 plus free agents and limited cap room all combine to make this offseason crucial to the future direction of the Buffalo Bills organization.
The latest reports revolve around the decision on the future of Tyrod Taylor. Reports suggest there is a divide among the front office management and coaching staff in regards to picking up the option on Taylor’s contract. It seems the front office wants to move on from Taylor and the coaching staff see Taylor as the best option at quarterback right now.
Certain names have been mentioned in these reports (Russ Brandon, Doug Whaley, Jim Overdoorf) as people that want to move on from Taylor. It has also been reported the Bills would like to restructure Taylor’s contract to make it more cap-friendly. Personally, I am on the fence about Taylor, but I think the coaching staff should be given free reign to make their own decisions.
Bringing in a new coaching staff won’t make much of a difference if they are being handcuffed by the front office. Especially when the front office has been under scrutiny for years.
Russ Brandon
After being told Russ Brandon is no longer involved in football operations, his name is still surfacing on recent reports. Is it pure speculation? Or is Brandon still involved in football decisions?
There seems to be a pattern of division between the front office and coaching staff since the front office was put in place. This pattern goes back to Doug Marrone and the questions that surrounded his sudden departure. While I believe everyone in the Buffalo Bills organization has the same goal, I question if certain people in the front office are up to their respective tasks.
Several questionable decisions have been made over the last several years in regards to roster moves, contracts and management. If Russ Brandon’s area of expertise is marketing, should he be making football decisions? It has been suggested he had a key role in the hiring of Rex Ryan, which turned out to be a failure. That is just the most recent of questionable decisions tied to Brandon, who seems to be the common denominator in place during the majority of the Bills’ playoff drought.
Related Story: Bill Polian Compares Sean McDermott to Marv Levy
Doug Whaley
Doug Whaley has also been under more scrutiny lately. Did Whaley make the jump to General Manager too soon? Who is handling the contracts that has led to the state of the cap situation? Recent drafts have produced several players with injury or character concerns. Several key starters will become free agents soon and the Buffalo Bills have limited cap space to retain them.
Several other players with some of the same injury or character concerns are tying up a majority of the salary cap. Whaley has gone on record saying he believes the Bills are “close” to being a playoff team. Shortly after that, Whaley said it could take some time to get there.
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In my opinion, Whaley and Brandon have had their chance to produce results. Those results are a team that has hovered around .500 for several years, including sub par drafts, risky gambles that have yet to pay off and several lucrative contract signings that have yet to live up to expectations.
Someone in the front office needs to answer for those mistakes instead of continuous coaching changes — or else things may never change.
The Bills can’t afford another power struggle between front office and coaching staff. Now these could just be rumors and I hope they are, but I still believe there needs to be changes made for the future of this franchise.
For now, the Bills should provide Coach McDermott with full confidence and every resource he needs to put his vision together on the field. There has been nothing but praise for McDermott and his staff, so the Bills management should let them do their job with full backing.
With the split views coming from the front office and coaching staff, the Buffalo Bills will risk a smooth decision at the quarterback position. It seems the more time passes, the tougher the decision gets.
Let’s take a deeper look into the QB situation and what went wrong with it.