Bills GM Doug Whaley Doesn’t Know Why Rex Ryan Was Fired

The Buffalo Bills decided to fire Rex Ryan, but they retained GM Doug Whaley, who is trying to tell us that he had no role in Ryan’s firing.

It can be confusing to keep track of all of the decision makers in the Buffalo Bills building. There’s owners Kim and Terry Pegula, president Russ Brandon, general manager Doug Whaley, and whichever puppet happens to be the head coach.

That last part may not be fair, but with the way the Bills have treated Rex Ryan ever since his prompt ousting before the close of the regular season, it’s fair to wonder how much power a head coach can have in Buffalo.

Given all that we’re hearing, there’s apparent dysfunction in Buffalo, but nothing is more indicative of that than what Whaley—again, the GM—had to say on Monday:

So we’re supposed to believe that Whaley, the GM of the organization, didn’t even think about the firing of his head coach? That he had no idea what was happening? That he had absolutely no part of it? Whaley’s decision to play dumb is baffling, but what is even more baffling is entertaining the idea that he isn’t lying to us.

The media in the press conference did not let Whaley off the hook, ridiculing him for his comments by sending him this barb.

First of all, anybody would have recommended Anthony Lynn as the interim head coach. The Bills fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan so Lynn, who was promoted to offensive coordinator after Greg Roman’s firing, was the only choice. In other words, nobody needed to recommend anything.

Secondly, if Whaley doesn’t have any say in head coaching decisions, what influence does he have in the organization? Clearly, he isn’t a puppet like Ray Farmer drafting players at Jimmy Haslam’s behest, unless if the decision to trade up for Sammy Watkins wasn’t his own.

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In all of this chaos, remember that this is the same Bills organization that fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman after losing, 37-31, to the New York Jets in Week 2 (because that was totally the offense’s fault). Worse yet, Roman’s firing reportedly came from the Pegulas, and that type of influence and meddling from owners is troublesome. In that same piece, concern from the Pegulas about Tyrod Taylor is noted, which is all the more interesting given the Bills sudden unwillingness to retain their best quarterback in a long time.