Matt linked to a Buffalo News interview with Buffalo Bills Assistant GM Doug Whaley earlier this morning, and I wanted to highlight the most intriguing part of that article here: Whaley has been instructed by GM Buddy Nix to learn more about the salary cap this off-season.

"... this off-season Buddy has talked to me and said this is something I have to brush up on, especially with the new collective bargaining agreement," Whaley told Mark Gaughan. "I knew the generalities of the old CBA. I've got to see what the new tweaks of the new one are."

This tidbit comes at a time when Whaley is not only considered Nix's successor in Buffalo, but in an NFL era where men with a background on the business side of football are getting more consideration for GM openings.

Whaley, 39, won't have much further to climb up the totem pole in Buffalo for the foreseeable future. Not only is Nix, 72, still entrenched as the GM, but the team appears set on the business side of the operation with CEO Russ Brandon and Senior Vice President of Football Administration Jim Overdorf running the show. Nix, however, appears to be keenly interested in making sure that Whaley is developing professionally, and admitted to reporters earlier this year that he's an up-and-comer in this business.