Front Office Shift

The Buffalo Bills today replaced former general manager Marv Levy. Sort of.

The general consensus was that owner Ralph Wilson doesn't want to get burned again they way former GM Tom Donahoe burned him a few years ago. Which means Wilson isn't going to give anyone sole power over personnel decisions.

And that's exactly what happened today.

The Bills promoted from within. Russ Brandon has been named Chief Operating Officer (overseeing the team's day-to-day operations), John Guy has been promoted to Vice President of Pro Personnel and Tom Modrak has been promoted to Vice President of College Scouting. This new triumvirate of sorts will undoubtedly consult with Wilson regarding pretty much every decision.

“It has been my experience over the years that our greatest opportunity for success comes when we promote from within our own organization,” said Wilson. “So, I have decided that the responsibilities of the general manager’s position will be handled from within and we will not to go outside the organization.”

With the draft soon approaching, it's good to have some stability at One Bills Drive in the form of an announcement like this.

The Hand of Ralph

By Chris

On the homefront, ESPN is reporting that Dick Jaruon is going to name Trent Edwards the starting quarterback for McGahee Bowl I on Sunday.

While it's not fair to Losman to take his job away because he was hurt, everyone has to remember that the NFL is not about fairness. It's about taking advantage of your every opportunity. So far this season, Edwards has taken the bull by the horns and has made the offense watchable.

And the kid can only get better, right? Right?

Now there's no way this was all Jauron's decision. Or even all Marv. This order came straight from the top.

Ralph Wilson has always liked Trent Edwards. He found his way into the locker room after the Jets' game (Edwards' first win) and made himself available to the media, gushing over the kid.

Yeah, he said that the "quarterback controversy" would be left in the hands of the coaching staff. But if you believe that, then you're the person who still hopes for a quarter under your pillow the morning after you lose a tooth. It's Ralph's money and his pen stroke that signs the checks.

Do you really think he wants to pay Losman a big money contract to keep him in Buffalo when his contract expires after next season? Me neither.

Ralph will go the cheap route and hedge his bets with the young guy he fancies that isn't due for a big contract for another couple years.

Personally, I want to see as much of Edwards as possible. I could care less about Losman, really. Let the kid develop and show us what he's capable of. Losman's development was hindered by Kelly Holcomb and Mike "Ralph Bucky" Mularkey's mismanagement of the whole situation.

Let's do this one right.

Say It Ain't So, Marv!

by Ryan


A text message from Marv Levy just gave me some heartbreaking news: first cuts were today.

I thought I had another day to relish the glory that is dead roster weight, but Marv had to pull the rug out early.

While the release says the most surprising move was cutting Morgan, I was shocked to see D.J Fitzpatrick go. First of all, who cuts a K/P combo like that? Sure, he couldn't put a kickoff or punt past the 15, but he can do both half decently. I think that makes up for it.

Besides, he had the best tackle of the game on Friday. Why not retain him for his ability to make shoestring tackles to save touchdowns? Forget keeping him for special teams, put him at corner and let him loose. The way preseason has looked we are going to need a lot of shoestring tackles to keep the score under 40 this year.

This is a serious blow to me personally. D.J was the first person I could call "Fitzy" since our write in friend Rory straddled the puck in Game 7 of the ECF against the 'Canes. I'm not about to call my punter "Mormy" anytime soon, and Rian Lindell's parents already screwed his first name up enough.

Just a depressing day in sports for us all.

Oh, and Michael Vick yaddayaddayaddaoveranalyzetress regurgitatemurderprisonrapejokeetcetera.

Glad we have that covered.

Leadership

by Ryan

Bill Walsh died.

I know this is old news in the blogosphere, but it is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Now I know how great a coach Walsh was, but that has been said by people more qualified than I many times over. What really got me thinking this past week was this story.

That article brought me to a shocking revelation: Marv Levy is old. He's so old that he gave a head coach that just died in old age his first college coaching job. The numbers are there, plain and simple, and we have an 82 year old General Manager. It's not so shocking when it is stated in black and white, but realizing what that number means by comparison takes me aback. While Brett Farve is busy tinkering with iPods in order to look cool, our GM is thinking back on former understudies who have died recently.

To be honest, that scares the crap out of me. Like most of you out there, the Bills are my team, and their future is very important to me. Remembering that our owner is just as eldery as our GM, and the fact that there is no succession plan in place God Forbid something happens and, well, it's not fun in my head for a bit.

My fantasy draft was last night. That also has gotten me to thinking about things. Drafting for an imaginary team in an imaginary league has me realize that the Bills are not my team, I just root for them. I am a fan of the Bills just as much as a girlfriend or wife is a fan of your fantasy team. Sure, they may get upset when you lose, but for the most part they have no idea what is going on inside your head. We as fans have no way of knowing anything about One Bills Drive other than what we are told, just like a confused girlfriend being explained your league's scoring system.

There is an interesting contrast between a real football team and your fantasy team. In fantasy football, you are in complete control of your own squad, a team that no one but you cares about. Let's be honest, no one cares why I drafted RB strength first and settled for Vince Young as my QB because it's just my team and nothing more.

However, in the NFL we have absolutely no control over anything, and care more than we'd like to. I couldn't pay strangers to listen to my draft recap, but if I could have Marv Levy explain his thought process on draft day to me I'd take notes, record, and hire a professional cameraman to capture every second of it. Heck, I'd take his advice on how to cut my grass or make decent mac and cheese if he took the time.

I've read Marv's biography, traveled to Canton, Ohio to see him inducted into the Hall of Fame, and watched four full quarters of preseason football just to hear him ramble on the local broadcast. Yeah, it's a bit crazy, but I'm not the only one. Because it's Marv Levy.

And he's 82. Yet somehow, I trust him. I trust Darcy, too. I couldn't explain to you why, but maybe that's exactly the reason. Regardless of age, regardless of the past, you have to trust who's in charge of your team. Life is not Fantasy Football, and to be a fan you have to give up the reigns and have faith.

Well, no, not always. But in the doldrums of August, with a fresh, crisp season on the horizon, you have to delegate yourself to the backseat and trust where you will be taken.

Hopefully it's going to be a long, pleseant ride.

Darwin, we hardly knew you

By Chris

He never put on a uniform for us. He never played a down for us. He never even practiced for us. He didn't want anything to do with us; he just wanted his money and that's why Darwin Walker has been added to the Buffalo Sports List of Public Enemies. Without even taking a snap for the Bills, Walker has joined the likes of McGahee, Mularkey, Rob Johnson, Slava Kozlov, Doug Gilmour and Dominik Hasek as former Buffalo sports figures that have their own line of voodoo dolls for fans to play with.

Walker never wanted to be a Bill, at least not for what he was being paid. He wanted a raise for not proving anything and was willing to hold out until he got what he wanted. And now he's the Chicago Bears' problem, where he should fit right in replacing Tank Johnson for the first half of the season. The Bills would have been compensated with a 6th round pick from the Eagles, who would also get him back, if Walker didn't report to camp by August 5th. It didn't look like he was going to, so the Bills flipped him to Chicago for a 5th rounder.

It's still not a fantastic trade by any means, essentially a 5th for Takeo Spikes and Kelly Holcomb, but what can we do but continue to trust Marv and the front office? This may be the first "bad" deal they have made, but then again, they moved two players out who they didn't have in their plans, neither right now nor in the future. The Bills are bringing in who they want and who they feel will succeed here, and while we still don't know if it'll work, getting a likeable, competitive team to root for is better than the sad, mentally weak Bills we've had to deal with over the last 6 years.

With Walker gone, it opens the door for John McCargo, last year's second first round pick, to play a much larger role. Allen Wilson's piece in The Buffalo News today, obviously written prior to the trade, does a nice job analyzing McCargo's role on the defensive line as well as the expectations placed on him.

So what are we looking at? Quite simply, the Bills traded a guy who wanted nothing to do with the team in the first place and got a higher draft pick for him than they would have if they had done nothing at all. In that regard, maybe this isn't that "bad" of a trade after all. In Marv we trust....