In a press conference announcing new coaching hires on Monday, Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey confirmed that the team will be operating out of a base 4-3 defense under new coordinator Dave Wannstedt.
Gailey would go no further than that, stating that the team - like every NFL teams these days - will continue to employ even and odd fronts. He added further confirmation that the base defense would be a 4-3, however, when he told reporters that Kelvin Sheppard would man the middle of that front.
This move is surprising only in the sense that GM Buddy Nix and Gailey made the switch to the 3-4 defense just two years ago; that project appears to have been officially scrapped. It's completely unsurprising - i.e. totally expected - in that Wannstedt has never coordinated a defense other than the 4-3, and in that the Bills didn't really have ideal 3-4 personnel anyway, even after two years' worth of attempts to change that.
What will the Bills' depth chart look like making the switch to the 4-3? This is a good place to start those discussions.