He's been Buffalo's general manager for less than two years, but Doug Whaley is quickly establishing himself as a personnel boss who is ready to do anything to improve the quality of his football team's roster. And though Whaley has a philosophical belief that the draft is the best way to build a roster, making trades has been a popular tactic of the personnel boss when it has come to making player upgrades.
Over the past league year no other team in the NFL has made more trades than Whaley and the Bills. Both the Bills and Philadelphia Eagles have swung eight total trades from March 2014 to March 2015, with two of those trades taking place between the two clubs.
Whaley, when made aware of his heavy wheeling and dealing, chalked it up to the simple principle of trying to make the team better through every possible avenue.
"It shows you how we are committed to do whatever is possible to get this team where it needs to be," Whaley told Buffalobills.com. "If we think this deal is good for us and the other team thinks it's good for them then we have no problem making it."
The trade that made the most headlines in 2014 was the Bills' bold move up from pick number nine in round one of the 2014 NFL draft to pick four to pick Sammy Watkins. Buffalo parted with their pick at nine along with their 2015 first-round pick and 2015 fourth-round pick to move up five spots.
The Bills landed the top player on their board, and Watkins was productive as a rookie posting almost a 1,000-yard receiving season (982) while leading the team in receiving yards, receiving average and receiving touchdowns. Whaley said it then and believes it now, it was a calculated risk that they were willing to take and he still feels it was well worth it.
Buffalo would make four more trades before the draft was over last spring, moving back in round two and round five to get extra picks from St. Louis and Tampa Bay.
They also made a pair of player trades dealing Stevie Johnson to San Francisco and acquiring Bryce Brown from the Eagles, which came with the seventh-round pick that landed them Seantrel Henderson.
Bills fans might be lamenting the fact that the team doesn't have a first-round pick this year, but it hasn't prevented Whaley from improving the roster.
"Everyone is worried that we have no first-round pick," said Whaley. "There are other ways to acquire players and we're going to explore every avenue out there to acquire players to make us better."
Whaley didn't set out to make trades the primary means of improving the quality of his roster, but if an opportunity presents itself he's shown he won't hesitate.
"The major factor is just getting good, quality players that can help us win," he said. "We want to mold a winner and to be a winner you've got to get good players."
From Pitt to Philly and on to Buffalo. RB LeSean McCoy's career is captured in these photos.
While at Pitt, McCoy started 22 of 25 career games, racking up 2,816 rushing yards on 584 carries (4.8 avg.) with 35 TDs. Also notched 65 receptions for 549 yards and one TD.
Finished his Pitt career ranked 4th in school history with 2,816 rushing yards.
McCoy was a unanimous Freshman All-American in 2007 after breaking the Big East freshman record with 1,328 rushing yards. He also broke Tony Dorsett's school freshman record with 14 rushing TDs.
McCoy earned second-team All-America honors in 2008 after rushing for 1,488 yards and 21 TDs, which was second in school annals behind Dorsett's 22 in 1976.
Had an arm span of 31 3/4 inches and a hand span of 8 7/8 inches at the combine, with a 4.5-second 40-yard dash.
McCoy's 637 rushing yards was the highest total ever for an Eagles rookie and his 945 yards from scrimmage ranked second
McCoy's 5.2-yard rushing average in 2010 ranked second in the NFL and was first in Eagles history among players with at least 200 carries…Led the Eagles and all NFL RBs with a career-high 78 catches.
Fisnished his second season running for 1,080 yards and seven scores on 207 carries to go along with 592 receiving yards and two scores on 78 catches.
Set a franchise record in 2011 and led the NFL with 17 rushing and 20 total touchdowns, joining RB Steve Van Buren (1945, 1947) as the only Eagles ever to lead the league in those categories.
2012: Missed four games due to injury but still accumulated 1,213 scrimmage yards (840 rushing, 373 receiving)…Scored a career-high three receiving touchdowns.
A first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection in 2013, McCoy led the NFL in rushing yards (1,607), scrimmage yards (2,146) and rushes of 10+ yards (47). Became first Eagle to lead the NFL in rushing and scrimmage yards since RB Steve Van Buren did so in 1947
2013: Broke RB Brian Westbrook's franchise record (2,104 in 2007) of yards from scrimmage with 2,146 total yards
McCoy set the Eagles franchise rush record in 2013, gaining 217 yards on 29 carries with a pair of touchdowns against the Detroit Lions (12/8) in a massive snowstorm.
Earned his third career Pro Bowl selection in 2014 by ranking third in the NFL with 1,319 rushing yards and second in the league with 312 attempts.
Before signing in Buffalo, McCoy had played in 90 career games, starting 76, racking up 6,792 yards on 1,461 carries with 44 touchdowns ... added 2,282 yards and 10 TDs through 300 receptions ... Earned Pro Bowl honors in 2011, 2013 and 2014 in addition to first team All-Pro honors in 2013.
LeSean "Shady" McCoy is the son of Daphne and Ron McCoy…Has one son, LeSean, Jr....has an older brother, LeRon, who played in the NFL and a younger brother, Chris Henderson, played defensive tackle for Milford Academy.
Acquired in a trade by Buffalo in exchange for LB Kiko Alonso, McCoy signed in Buffalo on March 10, 2015.
Never was that more apparent than last week when Buffalo was approached by Philadelphia to see if they were interested in adding a running back the quality of LeSean McCoy. When first contacted by the Eagles, Whaley was listening.
"They reached out after the combine and got the ball rolling there," said Whaley. "They asked about some situations to see if we'd have an interest. We gave them a counterproposal and it was to their liking. It wasn't a lengthy trade process. We reached an agreement pretty much in one day, and said when the league year begins we'll make it official."
Not long after that move, Whaley brokered a deal with Minnesota GM Rick Spielman to acquire Matt Cassel and a draft choice in exchange for a pair of draft choices. Instead of settling for what was set to be on the free agent market, Buffalo addressed their veteran quarterback need by drawing up a deal to acquire one via trade.
"If you look at his resume he's been a backup, but he's also been a starter and he's won in this league and he's performed well," said Whaley. "So in talking with the offensive staff and Rex Ryan we thought this guy could come in and compete for a starting role."
Fast earning a reputation as a wheeler dealer, Whaley understands why he has that label.
"I guess people will see that I'm not afraid to do a deal if it makes sense for us," he said. "Hopefully those other GMs will be willing to give me a call if they have a deal they think we'd be interested in."
Given Whaley's willingness to pull the trigger, other NFL GM's are more likely to call Buffalo to make an offer or gauge interest in a trade scenario. For the Bills that's a benefit.
"Those are first call opportunities," Whaley said. "A lot of times if you're the first call and they like the deal and we like the deal we get the first crack at it. That's why I think it's beneficial to have that reputation."
The Bills have been active around the free agency window in 2015, securing players by extension, new contract or trade.
The Bills addressed the contract situations of three exclusive rights free agents on March 5. Buffalo tendered DT Corbin Bryant, WR Justin Brown and WR Chris Hogan.
It went right up to the 11th hour, but a day before the free agent market opened free agent DE Jerry Hughes re-signed with the Bills agreeing to a new multi-year contract. The pass rusher flew to Buffalo on Sunday after contract negotiations made significant progress between the two sides over the weekend.
Buffalo signed kickoff specialist Jordan Gay to a multi-year extension on March 9. Last season, Gay's first with the Bills, he finished ninth in the league in touchback percentage with a success rate of 60.5 percent, improving the team's touchback rate almost 20 percent from 2013 (41.5%) when Buffalo ranked 24th in the league.
The Bills announced on March 10 that Cassel and an undisclosed draft choice had been acquired from the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for undisclosed draft choices. Cassel comes to Buffalo after spending the past two seasons in Minnesota, playing in 12 games for the Vikings while completing 194-of-325 pass attempts for 2,232 yards, 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Buffalo finalized a player-for-player trade that landed McCoy in Buffalo and sent LB Kiko Alonso to the Eagles on March 10. "I think for every athlete, getting traded comes with a feeling of anger," McCoy said. "I was definitely angry about the trade. I was there for six years. But then to see how much the Bills showed that they wanted me with the contract extending me here. You want to play for a franchise like that."
A power running game needs a fullback so Buffalo didn't waste any time bringing Minnesota free agent Jerome Felton into the fold. "It was first class all the way and they let me know their intentions from the get-go," said Felton. "There was a lot of excitement around it and I know I'm wanted here and I feel good about it and I'm just ready to be a Buffalo Bill."
The Bills made no secret that they would have to add two quarterbacks to the roster. Just three days into free agency Buffalo completed the mission. After acquiring veteran Matt Cassel in a trade with Minnesota, the Bills signed free agent QB Tyrod Taylor on March 12.
Buffalo formally announced that they have signed veteran defensive tackle Kyle Williams to a contract extension on March 13. The 31-year old is coming off his fourth Pro Bowl season in which he racked up 41 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 15 quarterback hits and eight tackles for loss. Williams has tallied 34.5 sacks in his career—the most by any defensive tackle in Bills team history.
A special teams coverage ace for the Bills the past two seasons, led the Bills in special teams tackles in 2013 and 2014.
Wynn, 27, who was originally signed as a free agent by the Bills last April, re-signed in Buffalo on March 14. He appeared in 11 games for Buffalo in 2014 logging 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks and five quarterback hits.
It's been a very busy first week of free agency for the Bills, but the pace has not slowed at all. Buffalo added another free agent for their offense in the second week signing WR Percy Harvin.
Clay has started 47-of-58 games that he has played in his four-year career for the Dolphins, catching 161 passes for 1,809 yards and 14 touchdowns.
