BN: Doug Whaley Went Rogue Cutting Fred Jackson

[TakingItuptheChin]

He's 34 F'ng years old!!!!

Stop the nonsense.

All good things must come to an end.

Life happens.

34 must be really old to a 12 year old transvestite llike you. John Riggins was around 34 when he carried his Redskins team to win a Super Bowl.

[Oaf]

Also fair. But how many bad moves (and there absolutely have been as many good ones) does a man want to absorb?

It just seems like a mindless analytics decision through and through. It would positively shock me if a majority of the brain trust was in agreement on this move.

Rex has been pretty anti-Bryce. Can't imagine Whaley propping him over Jackson w/o Rex's take, I guess.

[HHURRICANE]

Did anyone actually read the article? It's hilarious. It might be the most speculative piece of journalism I have ever seen. Using Rex Ryan's press conference to validate some ficticous rift. Rex blinked twice when asked about Fred a secret sign he wanted to keep him.

A sucker born every minute. Whaley went "rogue" because he didn't want to pay a constantly hurt 34 year old running back 2 million dollars more that what the market was worth and he's trying to get some money in the till to pay a 25 year old super star that has a 10 year career ahead of him.

[JoeMama]

More to the story now...

http://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bill...d_jackson.html

@Fred22Jackson on GM Doug Whaley: "There’s only one person in that organization that I haven’t gotten honesty from, and that was him.”

Look, if this is a truth-telling contest, I'm taking Freddie's word for it.

Every. Time.

Dude's as high character as they come. I have no cause to doubt his veracity or his sincerity.

Doug Whaley on the other hand strikes me as a tale spinner, much like his serpentine protégé Russ Brandon.

[Meathead]

when this kind of stuff happens ѕhits always gonna get spun like somebody went soap opera bc the sheeple eat that kinda stuff up. in reality doug and the pegs and rexy are sitting there loling as how dumb the fans are

yes cutting the oldest rb in the nfl who already is having hammy problems this preseason is 'going rogue'. whats next, is cutting bryce brown going to be 'going commando'? is putting goodwin on ir gonna be 'going rambo'?. i suppose ordering a pizza sub for lunch is 'going goodfellas'. whaleys a baaaad dude man, he might 'go powerpuff girls' next

[Forward_Lateral]

Whaley is taking the heat for Rex.

[YardRat]

The only thing worse than the actual act of cutting Freddie is if it wasn't a decision supported by the entire organization.

As far as 'Whaley controls the 53, Rex gets them on Sundays', that's a piss-poor business model for professional sports. If they aren't working together this early, the relationship is screwed already.

The move makes zero sense from a football/competitive/talent standpoint...the only rationalization for it would be needing money...like right now...to re-sign Dareus.

[alohabillsfan]

Ok here is how it actually works! FJ was a revered player, by the community, fans and his teammates! The team is upset and someone has to take the heat! If your the owner do you want players and fans pissed at the head coach? No! You need someone to take that heat that isn't as detrimental to the locker room, enter the GM and the "leaks".!

[coastal]

sI have a theory. And it's nothing more than that; a THEORY. An interesting (and i think sensible) piece of speculation.

What if, this report is true and Whaley went rogue cutting F-Jax?

Now even if Rex wasn't 100% in love with keeping Jackson, you have to figure that he at least understood (better than anyone as the former Jets HC) how bad it would make him look if Fred was cut. That is to say, even if Rex could live with Fred or without Fred on the roster, when he took the job i can't imagine he thought the guy would be gone. And i'm sure he was fine with keeping him.

Whaley controls the 53. Rex controls the players that play.

Isn't it possible that Whaley really did go rogue here and create a PR disaster? A disaster that some have blamed Rex - the most powerful person in the organization right now, job descriptions aside - for making himself?

If Whaley really did do this as a use of his power as GM without the consent of all other parties. Then maybe the Tyrod announcement that same day wasn't a pre-planned piece of damage control. Maybe it was Rex saying to Whaley, "ok you want to make me look bad by cutting this legendary player, i'll trash your dumb first round QB and the QB you traded for by exercising my power (over who plays) and name Tyrod"

It's RAMPANT speculation on my part. But it makes some sense.

There have been a number of dubious leaks in the past associated with this organization. Doug Marone may be a POS, but he could just be a brash ass-hole that didn't like Whaley's decisions either.

It is at least possible.

And again... T-Pegs tried to replace Whaley with Bill Polian not even 6 months ago... It is at least a good possibility that not everyone is in agreement these days. The kumbaya T-Pegs era may have some fissures at the top ranks.

In any event. Assuming Rex and Whaley even have fundamental disagreements at this point, i can't imagine Rex would want to start off his "last chance" by instigating yet another GM/HC power struggle. He had enough of them in NY.

Absolutely.

[Topas]

With regard to the Whaley bashing.
We have the best roster outside of QB in about 20 years. And a lot of that has to do with Whaley.
Yes, QB is the most important position.
But first, it is better to have a good team outside of QB than to have a team that is no good at all, i.e. you need to add only one piece.
And second, maybe we have finally found the missing piece.

So while I am still sick with regard to the decision of cutting Freddie. But I nonetheless think Whaley does a good job overall. This is the best roster in years. This team won nine games despite Morone and this OC whose name I already forgot.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Sorry I'm on Whaley's AND Rex's side on this one. Anyone who thinks this is surprise or power struggle that Whaley sprang on Rex is pretty stupid in my opinion. The fact of the matter is that they tried to cut Fred back in the spring, before the draft. That should tell you the evaluation and planning of the personnel has been long done, like every NFL team should. Frankly I was less than pleased that an owner like Pegulas would come out and overrule football decisions over his football people (though from a business and marketing viewpoint, they may have a point).

I don't like organizations, especially top heads employ "yes" men only. Looks like Whaley is not a "yes" man while everyone thought since Pegulas intervened back in March so Jackson would be safe regardless. I could imagine that Whaley didn't back down from their initial assessment and analytics data, and questioned Jackson's eventual role should he be on the Bills roster -- likely inactive behind McCoy, Karlos, Boobie on game days; so he is essentially competing with Bryce as an injury insurance. Any NFL executives would choose Bryce in that case: about the same ability (different strength and weakness), 10 years younger, cheaper, and Jackson probably can't carry more than 12 carries a game any more.

It is exactly the opposite, keep giving old guys extensions (have to mention I was not exactly happy with McCoy's extension), one more year type of mentality that gets your organization into trouble. Again, I think Whaley, coming from Pittsburgh, has first-hand experience of managing a team with popular and aging star player. Who in the current Bills organization has dealt with those situations in detail before?

[HHURRICANE]

Love above thread!

[Turf]

Everyone's ignoring the consensus on whether Fred was 100% healed from his injury at 34 years old. I think that's what we're seeing behind the motivation here, and Ryan had earlier made statements that his injury was more severe than originally thought.

[Historian]

I'm kind of ambivalent.

On one hand, the guy was a warrior, with a heart that the combine cannot measure.

On the other hand, he's been pretty injury prone, and commands a hefty salary.

The thing about Fred was that he always came in and bailed us out when the "flavor of the month" fell on his face. (Spiller, Marshawn, et al)

I just hope McCoy is the real deal, because you just cut your insurance policy.

Just my two cents.

[DesertFox24]

Look I love Fred just as much as all of you and it sucks that he will potentially not be on the team for a potentially special season. That being said Whaley may have made the final decision but he let the Pegulas know, which Sal reported today. Whaley has control of the 53 and I am glad that he has the ability to make these kind of tough decisions.

The Pegulas are allowing him to do what he wants, but will hold him accountable or applaud him on his rosters moves. For the first time in our franchises history we have an owner(s) that will allow people to make the decisions they deem necessary but will hold them accountable if the fail and congratulate if they do well.

[Forward_Lateral]

I'm kind of ambivalent.

On one hand, the guy was a warrior, with a heart that the combine cannot measure.

On the other hand, he's been pretty injury prone, and commands a hefty salary.

The thing about Fred was that he always came in and bailed us out when the "flavor of the month" fell on his face. (Spiller, Marshawn, et al)

I just hope McCoy is the real deal, because you just cut your insurance policy.

Just my two cents.

A bit off topic, but how, if at all, pissed were you when they cut Thurman, Bruce and Andre?

[djjimkelly]

i am not pissed i love freddy but this move should been done a few years ago.

and the fact he had to have some parting shots is a low blow.

he should be happy the organization paid him for 8 years.

and i wont be thinking his 1 1000 yard season remotely deserves wall of fame . no pro bowls , no playoffs.

and in the end thankless for being given a chance. its a business and hes old

[cookie G]

I'm kind of ambivalent.

On one hand, the guy was a warrior, with a heart that the combine cannot measure.

On the other hand, he's been pretty injury prone, and commands a hefty salary.

The thing about Fred was that he always came in and bailed us out when the "flavor of the month" fell on his face. (Spiller, Marshawn, et al)

I just hope McCoy is the real deal, because you just cut your insurance policy.

Just my two cents.

I wouldn't say I'm ambivalent, its more of a recognition that these things happen in the NFL and pro sports in general. A Vince Wilfork leaves NE, an Emmitt Smith finishes his career with Zona, etc.

It makes a lot more sense to me that this was a personality clash with Whaley, or simply that he wasn't one of "Whaley's guys" than it was from a production standpoint. Anyone who wants to judge Jackson's production from the last year under Marrone-Hackett could probably judge OJ based on his production under John Rauch. The people who talk about a production level fall off are the same that have been saying it for years, so I take statements like that with a grain of salt.

But dumping guys that aren't a "GM's guy" or a "coach's Guy" happens in the NFL all the time. All you have to do is look at what Chip Kelly did in Philly to see it. Jackson, McCoy, Mathis, Maclin, Foles...all gone within 2 years. I think Dick Jauron lived by the motto, "he's not my type of player".

Why he wasn't one of Whaley's Guys, I have no idea. But to me at least, that seems to be the case.

[justasportsfan]

don't know if this has been posted ....


http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...ey-for-release

[Mike]

The real issue here isn't that Fred Jackson got cut, but how it was handled!

Cutting such a fan favorite was so mishandled that it's caused a PR disaster
.... And someone has to fall on the sword.

This Maked Fans See/Realize how Unfair Teams can be with their Best Players.