The 2017 NFL Draft is over, so it's time for front offices around the league to sit back and relax as they watch their draftees and free agent acquisitions take their talents to the actual field. If anyone has earned a brief break, it's general managers and scouts, who just wrapped up another grueling draft season.
For one team, though, it sounds like the chaos is just beginning. The Buffalo Bills seem to be subscribing to Bill Belichick's "No days off" motto -- and not in a good way.
On Saturday night, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reported that "a major shake-up" of the Bills front office is "very possible, if not probable." According to La Canfora, the Bills' scouts and personnel men were told to assemble in the office Sunday morning, when a change could be coming at general manager.
The eyeballs emoji was made for these tweets:
Continue to hear a major shake-up of Bills front office is very possible if not probable. Panthers assistant GM Brandon Beane top candidate
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) April 30, 2017
Bills scouts and personnel men told to be in the office in the AM where new of GM change could be revealed according to sources
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) April 30, 2017
The Panthers' connection makes sense because Sean McDermott is fresh off a six-year stint as their defensive coordinator. But the timing is definitely strange given that the draft just ended and current GM Doug Whaley was likely involved in the draft process.
Then again, I suppose it does beat firing Whaley on the eve of the draft and rolling into the draft without a GM (shout-out to Washington). The obvious timing would've been firing Whaley when they fired Rex Ryan, and hiring a new general manager before they hired McDermott as their new coach -- you know, the way normal teams do things.
For what it's worth, this isn't the first time we're hearing about this. Here's what La Canfora wrote back in March:
And I continue to hear that new Bills coach Sean McDermott has growing cache with ownership and that team could be bringing in vice presidents and/or personnel figures with ties to the coach in the near future.
Panthers director of player personnel is someone particularly well thought of who could end up in Buffalo after the draft in one capacity or another. There are already rumblings that the marriage of McDermott and Bills Gm Doug Whaley likely isn't built to last.
You gotta give it to Buffalo: Even after dumping the always-vocal Rex, they've still managed to remain the talk of the offseason. Per usual, that's not a good thing.
Keep it locked here for all the news on the Bills' front-office situation as it develops.
