It appears that the Buffalo Bills owners are not happy with their team following the 2017 NFL Draft. One day after the draft ended, the Bills announced that they have fired general manager Doug Whaley and the entire team's scouting staff. While the owners said they have been evaluating the decision since the 2016 NFL season ended, the move coming one day after the NFL Draft speaks volumes in the pessimism of the owners heading into the 2017 NFL season.
Buffalo Bills 2017 NFL Draft
Interestingly, the Buffalo Bills had a nice 2017 NFL Draft. The team only had six total picks this year, the fewest tied with the Atlanta Falcons, but they did well with them.
The team moved down and only had three picks on the first two days. Those picks included cornerback Tre'Davious White, wide receiver Zay Jones, and guard Dion Dawkins. All three of those players are capable of stepping in this season as starters and might all end up as really good NFL players. The Bills also drafted a quarterback in the fifth round in Nathan Peterman, someone who could be much more than a solid backup and could end up as the starter in the near future. The 2017 NFL Draft was a success making the firing of Doug Whaley seem like strange timing.
Bills say the reasons are private
There are reasons that the Buffalo Bills fired Doug Whaley at this time and that makes it sound like owners are not happy with the 2017 NFL Draft despite the high rankings.
However, don't expect anyone to say anything right now. The Bills simply said the reason they fired Whaley was private and they would keep those reasons private because Doug is a "good guy" and a "smart man." The reasoning will cause a lot of speculation, including the possibility that Whaley went against the owner's wishes in the NFL Draft.
However, those are only speculative guesses and unless Whaley speaks up or someone from within the organization reveals something, it is something fans won't learn. Whaley "put the whole thing together" and the owners claimed that "we have certain aspects we need to get a little better in."
Buffalo Bills woes
The timing makes it pretty clear that the reason the Buffalo Bills fired Doug Whaley had to do with the offseason moves and 2017 NFL Draft or the team would have fired him sooner.
Buffalo has not been to the NFL playoffs since 1999, and with 17 years of futility, the fans want change. Buffalo fired Rex Ryan in December and Whaley hired new head coach Sean McDermott. It is now up to McDermott to get his team ready to play in 2017 as the search for a new general manager is underway.
