Future Of Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix Remains Uncertain

The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Chan Gailey and his entire coaching staff earlier this morning, but the job status of GM Buddy Nix remains murky heading into Monday evening.

Tim Graham (The Buffalo News) and Adam Benigni (WGRZ) are reporting that team CEO Russ Brandon met with owner Ralph Wilson this evening at Wilson's home in Detroit. Graham speculated that Nix's absence from that meeting could spell doom for the third-year GM, but later pointed out that there's "little hard evidence" on the topic coming from his sources. The Bills have since confirmed that Brandon was in Detroit meeting with Wilson one-on-one, and that he has since returned to Orchard Park.

What the team ultimately does with Nix will have a ripple effect on the team's search for a new head coach. Two separate reports indicate that the team will interview Arizona Cardinals assistant coaches Ray Horton (defensive coordinator) and Russ Grimm (assistant head coach, offensive line), but coaches of that caliber and repute are rarely hired before a GM. Those reports, at least for now, seem premature. It should be noted, however, that both coaches have ties to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where Nix's chief understudy, Doug Whaley, worked before coming to Buffalo.

Unless the Bills pursue a big-name head coach - and given their very public pursuit of Mike Shanahan in 2010, that's not at all out of the question - the team will likely wait until a decision has been made on Nix and the front office before setting up any coaching interviews. Given the timetable of today's events, we could know what direction the team is going sometime tomorrow or Wednesday.