Since 2000, Buffalo Bills fans haven't seen their favorite team make the playoffs. With so many years of failure, fans have had to watch numerous "rebuilds" and go through organizational change with the team. This year looks like another one of those rebuilds, with first year head coach Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane at help. The pair traded two of the Bills' best players in Ronald Darby and Sammy Watkins, and even Anquan Boldin, who was supposed to bolster the wide receiver corps, retired. With that in mind, let's take a look at the history of the Bills rebuilds.
2000 NFL Season
In the previous season, head coach Wade Phillips led the Bills to the playoffs, but Buffalo unfortunately lost in what is now known as "The Music City Miracle." In 2000, the Bills were riding high at 7-4, but proceeded to lose their next four games and finished the season 8-8, missing the playoffs. At the end of the year, general manager John Butler left to join the San Diego Chargers.
Quarterbacks Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson both played in several games, but it was Flutie who finished the year on a high note with a perfect passer rating, passing for 366 yards and three touchdowns. Many Bills fans still attribute the lack of a playoff appearance to the "Flutie curse," which took effect after the Bills failed to start Flutie in the playoff game and cut him at the conclusion of the 2000 season.
2001-2003 NFL Seasons: Gregg Williams
Greg Williams took over as head coach in 2001 and Tom Donahoe became the new general manager. The first year combination subsequently led the team to a terrible 3-13 record. Thankfully, Buffalo did manage to draft some future Pro Bowlers in 2001, including Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, and Travis Henry.
Other than that, there were no redeeming qualities to the 2001 season.
2002 was far better. The Bills managed to go 8-8 after trading their first round pick for Drew Bledsoe, who helped the Bills score the 6th most points in the AFC. Wide receiver Eric Moulds quickly became Bledsoe's favorite target, and had 1,292 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
Unfortunately, the Bills took a big step back by drafting offensive tackle Mike Williams with the 4th overall pick, who might be the biggest bust in NFL history.
In 2003, the Bills were expecting enough improvement to get back to the playoffs again. Unfortunately, the Bills would finish 6-10 and miss the playoffs. The season started off well, as Buffalo absolutely destroyed New England, 31-0.
Man, that was a long time ago. It's also the last time the Bills have ever beaten Tom Brady so easily. Buffalo ran out of steam in the 2003 season, and Greg Williams was let go at the end of the season, effectively starting yet another rebuilding process.
2004-2005 Season: Mike Mularkey
Shockingly, Buffalo finished the 2004 season at 9-7 under new head coach Mike Mularkey.
If they had won the final game against the third stringers of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bills would have made it to the playoffs. Instead, the Bills wasted the only winning season they had since 2000 (aside from 2014) on a 9-7 record with no playoff appearance. This year is also notable for the fact that Buffalo traded up into the first round to draft quarterback J.P. Losman, who never quite panned out the way the Bills wanted him to.
In 2005, the Bills released quarterback Drew Bledsoe so that J.P. Losman could step in as the full time starter. Losman struggled, and was eventually replaced by Kelly Holcomb, a huge disappointment to Bills fans who had watched the organization trade 2005's first round draft pick to acquire a bench player.
Buffalo finished the season at 5-11, and head coach Mike Mularkey decided to resign, expressing concerns over the direction of the organization.
2006-2009 Season: Dick Jauron
Jauron might be the least well liked Bills head coach in the last fifteen years, and for good reason. His frequent mismanagement of critical situations helped the Bills post three straight 7-9 records from 2006 to 2008. Jauron was finally fired in the middle of the 2009 season, and was replaced by interim head coach Perry Fewell. The Bills also hired Marv Levy as GM, and hoped he could build a roster that would finally get the team back to the playoffs.
In 2006, the Bills did manage to draft Kyle Williams, who has been with the Bills ever since and has been a staple of the defense since he was drafted.
Losman was better in 2006, but not good enough for the Bills to avoid drafting Trent Edwards in the third round of the 2007 draft. In that draft, the Bills also selected running back Marshawn Lynch and Paul Posluszny, both of whom made solid contributions to the team.
In 2008, Bills fans were happy after a 5-1 start to the season. An injury in week 5 left Trent Edwards damaged, and neither he nor the Bills were the same afterwards. Buffalo became one of the first teams in NFL history to miss the playoffs after a 4-0 start to the season. The 2008 draft is notable for seventh round selection Stevie Johnson, who the team may now want after Anquan Boldin's retirement. 2008 was also the first year for general manager Russ Brandon, who continued his role in 2009.
In 2009, the team underwent serious turmoil as Jauron was fired in the middle of the season. The only redeeming quality of 2009 was the draft, in which the Bills drafted current starting center Eric Wood, safety Jairus Byrd, and guard Andy Levitre. They would finish the year at 6-10, ready to start another rebuild.
2010-2012: Chan Gailey
In 2010, Buddy Nix took over as general manager and subsequently hired head coach Chan Gailey. The Bills started the year terribly, going 0-8 in the first eight weeks of the season. The team finished 4-12, but was given a pass for the "rebuild." The organization was not given a pass for drafting running back C.J. Spiller with the 9th overall pick, a ridiculous choice given the fact that the Bills already had Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch on the roster.
Bills fans got excited when Chan Gailey's squad started the season 3-0, including a wild win at home against the New England Patriots in 2011. The Bills would get to 5-2 behind Ryan Fitzpatrick before collapsing to a 6-10 record, missing the playoffs again. Part of the problem was a defense that let up too many points to everybody.
The problem was the same in 2012, as the Bills again stumbled to a 6-10 record, although they did manage to pick up cornerback Stephon Gilmore and tackle Cordy Glenn in the draft. Chan Gailey was fired at the end of his third season for failing to get Buffalo to the playoffs again.
2013-2014: Doug Marrone.
Doug Marrone might be the least creative playcaller in Bills history, but he did help Buffalo reach a winning record in 2014, something that Buffalo hadn't attained since 2004.
At the conclusion of the season, Marrone held out for a contract extension, which he didn't receive. Thanks to a strange clause in his contract, Marrone was still paid as if he were the head coach of Buffalo, while Rex Ryan took over in 2015.
In 2013, the Bills made the unfortunate mistake of drafting E.J. Manuel with their first round pick, and he certainly did not pan out as expected. Fortunately, Buffalo did manage to draft linebacker Kiko Alonso and wide receiver Robert Woods, both of whom were very productive players. The Bills would finish the 2013 season with a 6-10 record.
In 2014, Doug Whaley took over as the full time manager and made the very bold move to trade up and draft Sammy Watkins.
Now that Watkins is on the Rams, the move doesn't look so smart, and at the time, pundits criticized the Bills for giving up their future. Quarterback Kyle Orton nearly took the Bills to the playoffs behind an elite defense, but the Bills couldn't quite get there.
In the Rex Ryan era, that defense disappeared and now it looks like the Bills will have to start the rebuilding process all over again with Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane. But as Bills fans, we're used to it and can only hope this rebuild will be the one that finally succeeds.
