The Buffalo Bills decided to retain general manager Doug Whaley this offseason after they fired head coach Rex Ryan, whom the GM was responsible for hiring. However, there could still be an expiration date on Whaley’s time with the team.
Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News published a column on Saturday in which he said that Whaley is destined to be fired as Bills GM and might as well resign. Sullivan outlined all the ways which Whaley has lost power within the organization.
For example, the team retained quarterback Tyrod Taylor when it looked like they were going to let him go, and they got rid of many of Whaley’s favorites. They also are not really letting Whaley speak with the media or represent the club. He won’t even be speaking at a pre-draft luncheon, which used to be the GM’s turf.
Instead, much of the personnel control Whaley used to have apparently belongs to new head coach Sean McDermott, who likely accepted the job under those conditions.
Many of these issues seem to mirror what happened between Washington and Scot McCloughan before he was eventually fired. As soon as a team stops letting a GM represent the team to the media, you know they’ve lost a lot of power.
