Have to congratulate our division rivals on holding people accountable for their bad decisions: Bills fire GM Doug Whaley one day after NFL draft ends Tom Pelissero , USA TODAY SportsPublished 8:45 a.m. ET April 30, 2017 | Updated 20 hours ago The Buffalo Bills wasted little time continuing their franchise makeover once the NFL draft was complete. The team announced early Sunday morning it has fired general manager Doug Whaley, whose future had been highly uncertain since new coach Sean McDermott's arrival in January. "After a thorough review of our football operations over the past several months, Kim and I informed Doug this morning that we will be moving in a new direction," Bills owner Terry Pegula said. "We have enjoyed working with Doug. He is a good person and we want to thank him for his work and commitment to our football team. This was my decision. It was not an easy decision but I believe it’s the right one for the future of the Buffalo Bills. Our search for a new general manager will begin immediately.” Pegula confirmed at a news conference that the Bills also fired their entire college and pro scouting staffs. Whaley had been GM since 2013. The Bills extended his contract last year, but went 7-9 last season and fired coach Rex Ryan after Week 16. McDermott was granted significant power when came over from the Carolina Panthers. In the past four months, there have been changes at many levels of the organization, from player engagement to media relations to the team chaplain to now the scouting department. Panthers assistant GM Brandon Beane is one logical candidate for the Bills job.
I'm curious about the timing. Do you think it was because they weren't happy with their draft, or do you think that they had decided this a month or so ago, but was too late to make the change right before the draft?
By all accounts it was a good draft, but it was McDermott running the draft room, so who needs a GM and a scouting staff under those circumstances anyways?
Thanks. I hadn't heard that it was McDermott running the draft room. If that was the case, I wonder why they didn't just go ahead and fire Whaley and maybe even the scouts earlier.
I saw a lot of tweets from Buffalo sources that McDermott was running this draft anyway, so the writing was on the wall.
they aren't going to pick up Watkins' 5th year option either. Now I know Samantha Watkins struggles with staying healthy but this seems like another terrible decision for Buffalo. Just watch - she (Watkins) will have big year in 2017, she'll leave in FA now. Or they'll have to drop the franchise tag and overpay. Not a bright move
The end of the year for scouts and personnel departments is after the draft. You don't want the people who did the leg work and preparation on all the prospects to then share that information with other clubs and people before the draft.
It's is absolutely a bright move. The issue is not his play, its medical. He his coming off his 2nd foot surgery in as many years for the same injury. No one knows how he'll respond or if this is a career threatening issue. I would imagine he will be fine, but the smart thing to do before giving him a bunch of guaranteed money would be to see how the year plays out first. If he has problems and can't play, easy decision. If everything works out to be fine, you sign him to a long term contract or franchise tag him. The tag number financially is very similar to the option number anyway. It would not be smart to pick up an option and guarantee money to a player who may not medically be able to play.
Yeah exactly. That and they did all the work already, so all the big boards and scouting reports are prepared already. It's too late to make a change and overhaul your entire scouting department three months before the draft. As others had said, it was obviously McDermott making the decisions. A friend of a friend worked for the Bills as an intern in some fashion. And said although Watkins has had some serious injuries he wouldn't even give it a go if he had a hang nail. Would rather protect himself than try to play hurt (different than playing injured of course).
I'm not surprised, although he does play hurt a lot. But he's not mature (yet) and certainly isn't ready to be any sort of leader. My biggest gripe since he's been here has been that the bills never signed a veteran receiver to help him learn the game, how to be a professional, learn how to prepare himself on and off the field, etc. Once he was drafted he was immediately the best receiver in the room and everyone was young. There have been plenty of veteran receivers at the end of their careers that were available the last few years who could've helped in those areas.
