Buffalo Bills: Who to watch outside the AFC East this season
By Daniel Hahn
Carolina Panthers
The Buffalo Bills have rebuilt their coaching staff and front office in the image of the Carolina Panthers. If you view the Panthers as a successful franchise, tean the Bills have a high percentage of being successful in your eyes.
If you view the Panthers as a poorly run team, then you may not like this version of the Buffalo Bills.
The Panthers feature a defensive minded coach and the Bills have a defensive minded coach. I would suspect a lot of the same front office principles employed in Carolina to carry over into Buffalo. Such as strict value charts for each position. The Panthers choose to make Josh Norman a free agent last year, even after giving him a franchise tag.
Simply put, he was asking more than what they predetermined a cornerback should make in a single year. They let him walk, even if he was one of their best players.
Taking a look at the Bills and how they were more than okay letting Stephon Gilmore walk, and refusing to pick up Sammy Watkins 5th year option, you can see elements of the same principles being employed.
Brandon Beane has stated that they want to build the roster through the draft and stick with high character players. This is a similar goal from Doug Whaley originally. Where Whaley failed, was that too many of his draft picks failed to re-sign and thus the chemistry never developed.
I am not a huge Panthers fan, but you should study their organization and team. This is the same program the Bills are trying to build. I will note that you shouldn’t expect to have the same quarterback as Carolina. To do that, the Panthers had to finish dead last.
Beane and McDermott have verballey expressed traits they seek in a franchise QB and those sound more like a Donovan McNabb than just a physical freak like Cam Newton.
With all the changes in Carolina, the Panthers must prove they can sustain their success. If they can’t, can the Bills expect to sustain success once some of their talented executives and young coaches move on to new ventures too?
Next: Brandon Beane putting together all-star scouting department
Who will you be watching when it’s not 1 pm on football Sundays? Leave your thoughts below!