Few Thoughts

[DGreg]

OK, the Bills are actually being money smart this year. I think they plan to go with the draft, value based free agents and go from there. Doug Marrone IS calling the shots. No he is not in charge of the Bills, but make no mistake he has a huge influence. I absolutely would be PISSESD if the Bills would over spend just to sign a few guys. I would rather save cap space, fill the team with drafted players, free agents at a bargain and undrafted players. No big moves until we get a QB. Mark my work if we are able to get our QB in the draft then you will see the bills more active.

[jamze132]

Meh, I think a lot of it is also incompetence. They probably WANT to be frugal and are doing it because no one wants to play for an inept team in yet another rebuild.

[Buddo]

I've seen it said elsewhere, that they actually were in contact with 6 FAs early on. 4 of them signed on their first visit to other teams, one signed on his 2nd visit, and we signed Lawson.
They may not have been as inactive as it appears. Just unsuccessful.
No doubt the lack of success threw a spanner into the owrks, somewhat, but there are still plenty of decent guys out there, who could be upgrades.
At this point, we are now more capable of competing salary wise, as we have more cap space from cutting Fitz.
While I'm sure they never intended to be 'big players' in FA, I'm sure they would have wanted to have at least another hole or two plugged by now.
From the perspective of not being seen to be doing anything much, I rather suspect that the prank call has made things a lot tighter than you might ordinarily expect.
Having said that, I don't think our new HC is a guy who wants people to know what he's up to, generally. The combine quote about 'information gathering, not information giving' in respect of his former college players, was a sign to me that we are going to expect a lot more close lipped dealling going on in the future.

[Don't Panic]

Meh, I think a lot of it is also incompetence.

Easy to conclude that, no doubt. I'm not ready to dismiss Whaley and Marrone as incompetent though, and I have to assume they have a huge role in the decision making here. Here's the bottom line - calling them idiots, praising this as patient... none of it can be confirmed until we see the plan play itself out. So long as we find a couple more starter quality free agents and have a good draft we'll be on track.

[YardRat]

I don't have a problem with a plan that emphasizes value free agents and the draft, I didn't expect them to make any kind of splash anyway. I do, however, have an issue if 'the plan' is to scavange FA off the scrap heap because 'we're too busy' doing other things. Still a lot of guys out there that could improve this roster, so we'll see how it shakes out.

[Buddo]

I don't have a problem with a plan that emphasizes value free agents and the draft, I didn't expect them to make any kind of splash anyway. I do, however, have an issue if 'the plan' is to scavange FA off the scrap heap because 'we're too busy' doing other things. Still a lot of guys out there that could improve this roster, so we'll see how it shakes out.

See my post above. They apparently have been trying, but unsuccessfully. Where the fault lies for that lack of success, is another matter, and it could be a number of things, not least of which would be the 'bottom feeder' perception of the franchise.
Vets have aspirations, and it's easy to see how we would be a tough sell in that respect.
From here onward, we should be somewhat better placed, as we now have more $ available, and so should be better able to sweeten deals.
There's no doubt we still do have to get holes addressed however, and moves have to be made to do so.

[YardRat]

See my post above. They apparently have been trying, but unsuccessfully. Where the fault lies for that lack of success, is another matter, and it could be a number of things, not least of which would be the 'bottom feeder' perception of the franchise.
Vets have aspirations, and it's easy to see how we would be a tough sell in that respect.
From here onward, we should be somewhat better placed, as we now have more $ available, and so should be better able to sweeten deals.
There's no doubt we still do have to get holes addressed however, and moves have to be made to do so.

I did read your post, and although nobody can confirm or deny I think it's reasonable to assume that the scenario may have played out in that fashion.