At least the Buffalo Bills didn’t finish in last place in the AFC East. That’s pretty much the only significant takeaway from the team’s season-ending press conference on Monday.
General manager Doug Whaley indicated as much during the presser:
GM Doug Whaley on the ’15 Bills: “It wasn’t a disaster season.” Start printing the t-shirts.
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) January 4, 2016
An 8-8 season for a team that has not made the playoffs since 1999 can’t be considered a success. Attempting to spin is as something other than a “disaster” is absolutely absurd.
That shouldn’t be the ultimate goal, and to even bring it up after another non-playoff season isn’t a good look. “Hey look, at least we aren’t the Cleveland Browns.”
Buffalo headed into the 2015 season with high expectations. It hired a high-profile head coach and boasted what many considered one of the most talent-laden defenses in the entire NFL.
What followed was a frustrating mix of mediocrity and inconsistency.
Talent-wise, the Bills are among the best non-playoff teams in the NFL. Failing to finish above .500 could potentially be considered a disaster depending on the benchmark you had set for the Bills heading into the year.
More so than that one soundbite, Whaley did get into specifics as it relates to the team’s off-season plans:
GM Whaley: "Our free agency period will be spent signing our own guys. That's a credit to our scouting staff."
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 4, 2016
Retaining your core guys is great. That’s the way the best teams in the NFL have been built over the years.
The issue here is mediocrity. It’s not like Buffalo is going to be re-signing players that led it to 13 wins and an AFC East title.
Is the status quo acceptable in terms of the team’s roster make up? That’s the question fans should be asking themselves.
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