Buddy Nix Approval Poll: August 2011

On the fence about Buddy Nix, but when I heard the Bills had approximately $26M left to spend, and the fact that we lost on a handful of players that would have helped us out, I went with disprove. Though I do approve of the signing Nix has made, with the money still left over he should have made more moves. Hopefully though, he will spend the remaining money on re-signing some core players like Stevie and Kyle.

He got us a decent backup QB which we sorely needed. He got all the rookies signed and into camp quickly. He went out and grabbed Brad Smith which was a sick move. Got a deal done with Drayton Florence to keep him around. Got Nick Barnett signed which IMO totally cancels out losing Poz and missing out on Burnett.

He missed out on a couple of guys, I definitely would have liked to see him snag Clabo or Colon, but you can’t win em all. Overall though, what he’s done that is good for our team totally outweighs anything bad.

We’re winning 9 games this year. Buddy’s getting us out of the gutter. One more season of improvement and one more offseason of moves and the Bills will be a team to fear.

While I do approve of the moves he has made, there needs to be more. I was really upset to see that they were unsuccessful in addressing the offensive line with “proven” talent. With the weapons we have (and have gained) on offense, this team should be dangerous. But, it won’t happen if there are no running lanes, time for plays to develop, constant pressure on Fitz, etc.

While I understand “building through the draft” and going with youth, building for the long-term…you need talented veterans to (1) make your team respectable, (2) help develop rookies, (3) establish proven talent in positions.

Also, I have a tough time giving Buddy a lot of credit for Dareus. It was the no brainer choice at three. I think any GM looking at anything less than a stellar DL would have made that choice.

But – I hope this season changes my mind about Buddy. GO BILLS!

I see the plan. I see the similarities to the rebuilds in SD and Indy. I see the roster as improved. I see the overall feeling and attitude of the team as improved. I like the players a lot more than I did under Levy and Jauron. I am truly optimistic for the first time in years about this team.

I don’t approve of everything, obviously. I would have wanted to get at least an established veteran RT to come in and compete with Pears for the job. I would have loved to grab a TE, even if Chan doesn’t see a need for one in his offense. And I would have loved to pick up six or seven LBers, because I think it’s the weakest position on our team. However, this is year 2 of a 5 year rebuild, and I realize that Nix will not go overpay for FAs and will build through the draft, and I’m fine with that. I have no problem with that philosophy, and am patient. Until he does something drastically stupid, I’ll probably continue to approve.

I honestly think that Buddy is working a plan to make us competitive on a consistent basis for the long haul and not trying to placate an anxious media or fan base. I know Buddy is going to take a lot of flack for what many believe to be inactivity based on “cheapness” during this past free agency period but if you really look at it, there are far more Langston Walker/Derrick Dockery/Scott Mitchell/Emmit Smith (remember his time with the Cardinals?)/Andre Rison free agency failures at great expense than there are “home runs”. Trying to upgrade is one thing, but spending foolishly for spending’s sake is disastrous to a team that is truly rebuilding, not plugging in a few final pieces to make a Super Bowl run. Time will ultimately tell, and yes, we need o-line help and a QB of the future(perhaps) but I think it’s kinda silly to expect to obtain everything immediately on a team that MUST BE REBUILT ENTIRELY thanks to many years of terrible front office decision decision.

I don’t see how one can vote disapprove on Nix,due to him not getting some of the FA’s available. Offer is made and the player says.." Ummm,me in Buffalo?..No thanks!"…Not Nix’s fault.

Hit the approval button all but once(1 not sure-kelsay) on the new gm & coach as I appreciate football people w/a plan being in charge again,, however..

Unless there is an underlining factor (injury, team chemistry, other) that you did not sign your most productive player(which you claimed to be the top priority)- 150 tackles (SOLO) w/another 50 assists, that = 200 buddy; at the most important position on D, which also happens to be the weakest position, playing behind a poor line; when the player is about to enter his prime(accumulate rising stars in year 3-5, not discard buddy)- its just a very bad sign for success.

Thats 3 buddy- 1) Saddling the coach w/a broken #5 & disgruntled #23 to start yr 1 was bad 2) Kelsay extension/raise was the 2nd (whats his position & there are no coverage responsibilities right?) 3)Letting your most productive player on D walk entering his prime w/out a equal or improved replacement is crazy.

I’m done. Wait, SS needs to be addressed and how many OT’s are available that would give us an upgrade which you keep talking about??

hopefully it translates to being more competitive, our biggest problem last year was the opposing QB having all day to pick us apart, htis year we may actually look like we can run a 3-4

Like some of the moves, but lack of attention to our O-line, not upgrading the TE position, SS is a huge question mark in my opinion. The addition of Brad Smith was a nice luxury item, Thigpen is a huge upgrade over Brohm, loved this years draft, not so much last years philosophy of small school talent. Do like how Nix isn’t mortgaging the future by over paying players. Guess I’m on the fence.

If this 70% rating holds, it’ll be a massive 22% drop since the last poll. We shall call it the Paul Posluszny Effect.

much disappointed since the last poll. I had to go not sure. I am sure they did what they did for reasons I cant understand, that is why i went unsure instead of disapprove.

Mark Gaughan said it best this morning. Would you rather have spent $42M and have Paul Posluszny or spent $42M and have Florence, Smith, and Barnett? That’s what they did. Sure Clabo would have been a great upgrade, too, but he obviously wanted to stay in Atlanta and we have no idea what terms were discussed.

I voted disapprove, but it’s for the same reasons I’ve always disapproved and it has nothing to do with the latest FA period. I’ve got no problems with how free agency went.

I disapprove because of the Spiller pick. The Merriman and Kelsay contracts were bad ideas, IMO.

My real problem is that I don’t see what the long term plan is. To me, it looks like the team is just trying to do as well as they can short term while believing that drafting well will alone take care of the long term. I don’t like the way that the team is transferring over to the 3-4. It seems like the emphasis is on run stopping and not pass rushing, which is a big problem to me. I like that Gailey wants to throw the ball around and attack out of the spread, but after two offseasons, all this team has done for a long term QB is Levi Brown. I’m also concerned about how Nix and his big mauling OL that he wants to build will mesh with the shotgun and the way the NFL is headed with pass heavy attacks and with teams using the blitz and aggressively trying to acquire pass rushers.

Truly not happy he doesn’t seem more concerned with getting RT sorted out, and the TE issue. Sure, some good things may have happened, but I think they need to pay for talent that can help them win and create a buzz for future free agents.

Oh and as cool as Brad Smith is (he is a cool dude) I would hope he doesn’t become the headline signing this summer.

I have been overly critical of the front office at one Bills drive, but think that overall Nix is trying to do the best he can to a point. I don’t think that you are going to get good players to come in here without overpaying a little bit. Buffalo has got to be a hard sale. This team and it’s front office has been in disarray for over a decade. I do feel that this team is close to becoming a contender, and “overspending” on a couple of players could make the team significantly better. Yes they missed out on Clabo, I doubt he was ever serious about coming here unless Nix et al. threw stupid money at him. Is Clabo really that good? Poz. just not worth 7.5 mil. It is too bad they lost out on Burnett, but once again, Miami or Buffalo, if the price is the same where are you going? I doubt Babin had Buffalo high on his priority list, but would have been nice to have at the right price. Thigpen makes sense, just as much as Vince Young to Philly makes sense. Thigpen has very similar skill sets to Fitzpatrick and can function in a Gailey offense. Brad Smith, not sold on yet, but time will tell. Barnett will be a steal if he stays healthy and goes a long way in helping shore up the linebackers. I’ll take a healthy Barnett any day over Poz.
I am more concerned that with some of the good players still left out there that Buffalo has not made any further moves for. I would think that spending a little to bring in a couple of upgrades could mean 3 or 4 more wins this year and maybe even a playoff push in the next couple of years.
I have no idea what the cap hit would be to let Maybin and some other busts go, but cut the ties and bring in a couple of players that can make a difference. Not much left for Tackles at this point, but still an obvious need with no true starter or depth there. A good TE would be nice as would another strong ILB. As I look at he remaining players available, please tell me that some of them are not an upgrade over what the Bills have right now. There must be an OLB that could be had that would be an upgrade over Maybin.
I give Buddy Nix credit to a point for doing what he is doing with a few questions, like Spiller as your number one last year. There were more needs last year than now and Spiller was a luxury pick. I am not saying he may be good, he has a lot to prove, but could other needs been addressed at that time? Let’s hope Marriman and Barnett can stay healthy as they will make a big difference, but if they don’t it will be another long season.

Too many FA failures. He simply was unable to get the deals done (circumstances not withstanding).

•Lost out on the following free agent targets: ILB Paul Posluszny (story), OT Tyson Clabo, OT Willie Colon, DE Jason Babin and ILB Kevin Burnett (story).

I’d like to see a couple more solid FA signings (OL, LB) but on the whole, I still think this team is headed in the right direciton.

The more I think about it the more I think if they WERE able to get Clabo or another above-average tackle, this would have been a fantastic offseason. They’d have made major additions to both lines, areas that are of the utmost importance to football teams and which last season were major issues. Well, they didn’t. That’s my only problem with what Nix has done since the draft. Despite that, I still approve.

Isn’t it possible that Erik Pears IS the answer at RT? Chan says so, even ’though that might just be stating the company line. Jury is still out.

The Vikings released LT Bryant McKinnie (you know, the LT we should have drafted instead of Mike Williams) because he was out of shape at camp.

Hes in the twilight of his career but is big and strong enough and experienced enough to man the right side (in my humble opinion).

Would votes in this poll shift towards more approval or disapproval if we kicked the tired on ole McKinnie??

Some people have said they don’t see the plan. I see the plan. It isn’t how I would do it, but the plan is there none the less. Only time will tell if the plan will result in wins. Some people are upset about the players we have signed/not signed in free agency. I think Nix has signed the players he could. There is no way Manning, Clabo, Free, Poz etc. were going to sign here. Nothing Nix can do about it. Nix says we must build through the draft because that is what we HAVE to do to climb out of the basement. Once we show the league we can be competitive, then some of these top tier FAs might sign with the Bills.

http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/788289-offseason-report-cards-for-all-32-nfl-teams/page/5

Still upset with Lynch trade value for lack of working the phone to ALL teams. Very Upset! but bright spots we will see this year with his draftees.

The Brad Smith move was smart given the new 3rd qb roster rule

Nick Barnett is a solid replacement for Poz at a much cheaper salary (potential upgrade)

Shawne Merriman is turning heads at camp, could be the pass rusher we need

Top FAs aren’t going to a 4-12 team unless theyre severely overpaid so I’m not holding missing on Clabo and Colon against him

Biggest negative for me is the 2010 draft class mostly Spiller, however I’m optimistic that he’ll have a good season this year and justify Nixs pick.

I am to tired after reading all that to say much else.