HEADLINES

Russ Brandon

AFC East Notes: Wallace, Caserio, Bills

December 28th, 2014 at 8:53pm CST by Rob DiRe

Dolphins‘ receiver Mike Wallace was benched during today’s game against the Jets for what was apparently an attitude problem, according to Albert Breer of NFL.com (via Twitter). Breer highlights this as a situation to watch going forward into the offseason.

Wallace is signed through 2017, with cap numbers of $12.1MM, $13.7MM, and $13.7MM the next three seasons. The team would only save $2.5MM by cutting him this offseason, according to OverTheCap.com.

Here are some other notes from around the AFC East:

  • The Patriots extended the contract of director of player personnel Nick Caserio earlier today, and one reason for this could be the opinion of head coach Bill Belichick, writes Phil Perry of CSNNE.com. “He contributes in a lot of different ways, and I’m glad I have him. I need him,” Belichick said. “He probably does more than any other person in his position in the league in terms of his amount of responsibility and the number of different things at the coaching and scouting level. He’s really a valuable guy that has great working knowledge of really everything that we do on the scouting end and the coaching end.”
  • Bills‘ CEO Russ Brandon and head coach Doug Marrone both confirmed that they do not have any scheduled meetings with new owners Terry and Kim Pegula, writes Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. “I’m sure at some point we’ll get into some more in-depth meetings,” Brandon said. “There’s nothing scheduled at this point. I talk to Terry all the time, and I have nothing on the books right now for any meetings.” Marrone confirmed that he had not been contacted regarding a meeting.
  • Marrone has three days after the end of the season to opt out of his contract with the Bills due to a change in ownership, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Florio does not believe Marrone will exercise this clause in his contract.
  • Bills‘ running back Fred Jackson earned an incentive of $150,000 in the team’s Week 17 victory over the Patriots, reports Rodak (via Twitter).

AFC East Notes: Bills, Pegulas, Brady, Jets

October 10th, 2014 at 5:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Terry Pegula and Kim Pegula met with Buffalo reporters today at their introductory press conference as Bills owners, and prior to the presser, the team also sent out a statement from the Pegulas with the caption “THE BILLS ARE HERE TO STAY!” (Twitter link). In both the statement and the press conference, the Pegulas expressed excitement about being able to keep the franchise in Buffalo and about being able to contribute to the legacy established by the late Ralph Wilson.

Here’s more on the Bills and the Pegulas, as well as a couple other AFC East items:

  • Terry Pegula has assumed a CEO role for the Bills, meaning Russ Brandon is simply the team’s president now, tweets Mike Rodak of ESPN.com.
  • Pegula indicated at today’s presser that he hadn’t had a chance to consider the Bills‘ football operations yet, while Brandon expressed support for the job done by GM Doug Whaley and head coach Doug Marrone. According to Tim Graham of the Buffalo News (Twitter link), both Whaley and Marrone are good bets to be around for the 2015 season unless the team totally falls apart this year, an observation echoed by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
  • Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com wonders if the cap space being carried by the Patriots this season – and presumably into next year – is an insurance policy that could allow the team to consider trading Tom Brady. While Curran can envision New England dealing its franchise quarterback at some point, he doubts that it’s in the team’s plans quite yet.
  • Veteran interior offensive lineman Mike Brewster, who was waived by the Jaguars during preseason cutdowns to 53 players, worked out for the Jets today, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com.

Bills CEO Denies Ownership Situation Affecting Football Decisions

May 27th, 2014 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

During 2014’s draft, only one NFL team traded away a future first-round pick in order to move up this year, as the Bills sent their 2015 first-rounder to Cleveland as part of a package to move up five spots to snag wideout Sammy Watkins. Buffalo is the also the only franchise known publicly to be available for purchase in the near future, with the sale process expected to begin soon. According to Judy Battista of NFL.com, a new owner is likely to be in place by the end of the year, with as many as eight groups viewed as potential bidders.

Given the uncertainty of the club’s ownership situation, and the fact that we’ve seen many new owners overhaul NFL front offices, many observers wanted to connect the dots on the Bills’ upcoming sale and their decision to mortgage their future to land an immediate playmaker. If Watkins helps the team improve right away, it could make GM Doug Whaley and CEO Russ Brandon look more appealing to new ownership. However, Brandon denies that possibility played a role in the Bills’ decision to move up for the standout receiver.

“It has nothing to do with the future,” Brandon said. “It is everything about the future is now. Doug Whaley and our player personnel department are empowered and have full autonomy to make football decisions. That was a football decision, and it wasn’t tied to the future of the organization. It is business as usual. We’re making football decisions, no matter what. … It has not one iota of an impact on who the future owner may be.”

While Brandon’s comments don’t come as a surprise – if the ownership situation played a role in the decision, he likely wouldn’t admit it – it’s still fair to read them at face value. It’s not as if drafting Watkins provides any guarantees for the Bills — even though the 20-year-old certainly has the talent to make an immediate impact, his ability to contribute will be directly linked to the performance of quarterback E.J. Manuel, and it’s possible the move could backfire, at least in the short term. In that case, Brandon and Whaley would be even more vulnerable when new ownership takes over, having made a risky decision that didn’t pan out.