It's the most wonderful time of the year - that time when the dysfunction of the Buffalo Bills becomes apparent (again) to the masses as the team misses the playoffs (again).
Throughout the 2015 season, Bills beat reporters have hinted at friction between general manager Doug Whaley and the Bills' coaching staff, which really took off with the team's trade of Matt Cassel early in the season. Today, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com blew the doors open on that with a report that includes the following:
- Whaley wants the Bills to fire Greg Roman "and others"
- That isn't expected to happen, because Terry Pegula is a fan of Roman's
- Whaley is upset that the coaches can't properly utilize Sammy Watkins
- This upsets Whaley because he knows he needs the Watkins trade to pan out for him
- Whaley's relationship with Rex Ryan has not developed as expected this year
- Whaley butted heads with Doug Marrone's coaching staff, too
- Pegula may have let Whaley go had he been able to hire Bill Polian last winter
Of course, this is all stuff we've either heard before - or pieced together ourselves - so La Canfora's piece is less a report, and more a metaphorical picking of the scab. But if there's any truth to any of this - and there is ample reason to believe there is - everything could be coming to a head within just a few weeks.
It also seems pretty obvious that there is a person, or are people, within the Bills organization that would like to see Whaley fired, given how often things like this have been leaked to reporters this season. But then, there has been plenty of anti-Ryan rhetoric this season, as well, which also picked up the pace this morning.
Fun time to be a Bills fan.