Doug Whaley has been the general manager of the Buffalo Bills since May of 2013, meaning that his team just finished its third regular season under his watch. But as Whaley has only had direct authority over personnel moves for two full offseason cycles - Buddy Nix signed and drafted players in 2013 - so we're calling this an approval poll for Whaley's second full year on the job.
Last week, Whaley signed a multi-year contract extension with the Bills that is reportedly going to keep him in Buffalo for as long as he and head coach Rex Ryan can keep their heads above water. Buffalo finished 8-8 in their first year together, following a 9-7 campaign in 2014 with Doug Marrone at head coach, and Whaley and Ryan are expected to orchestrate a few personnel maneuvers this offseason to help adapt to Ryan's defensive scheme.
When we ran an approval poll for Ryan last week, it was the first one we'd run for any Bills authority figure in about a year. These have always been useful tools to take the proverbial temperature of the fan base, and we were a bit surprised when Ryan pulled in a 53 percent disapproval rating out of 7,200-plus voters. It made us wonder: are Bills fans equally down in the dumps about the general manager, too?