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However, the prevailing thought is that the Bills will draft a QB to bring in with their two veterans on the roster. During the season, Buddy Nix stated that Fitzpatrick “was not the answer” and basically said that he wanted the Bills to draft a new QB. Nix isn’t the guy calling the shots anymore even if he wasn’t fired as GM, but he does have a point. Neither Fitzpatrick nor Jackson is the answer, and Whaley did say that the QBs in this class could be developed. I have a feeling the Bills will select a QB with potential that they like the most if they are available after the first round.

Ryan Fitzpatrick‘s job is still not safe, as the Buffalo News writes. Russ Brandon declined to commit on Fitzpatrick’s future with the team, and he is due a $3 million roster bonus next month, as Tim Graham notes. Fitzpatrick would be cheaper to release than keep, but Brandon said that it’s Marrone’s and Nix’s decision to make. He also added that the Bills and Fitzpatrick have not yet spoken about restructuring his hefty contract.

Brandon also said, via Graham, that the Bills will only use the franchise tag as a “last resort” this offseason. Brandon called the franchise tag “an asset”, but  told Graham that it can destroy a team’s salary cap situation. Jairus Byrd is the Bills headlining free agent, and the Bills will do everything they can to lock up perhaps the NFL’s best free safety. If they can’t get a long term deal done, then the relatively cheap $6.8 million franchise tag associated with Byrd will be an option for Buffalo.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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Brandon and the Bills want to utilize advance metrics more often in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes, and it will be interesting to see if they are justified in their decision to hire Marrone over other candidates. They were taking a close look at Ken Whisenhunt, Ray Horton, and Lovie Smith, and I think they could have easily landed one of those three. Smith also had interest in the Bills, so the fact that the Bills chose Marrone over him means that they are taking a risk and have a slim margin for error. They can’t make a poor decision in hiring a head coach and cause this team to take another step backwards.

Marrone has plenty of NFL experience, and he was the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator under Sean Payton before leaving to coach the Orange. I don’t think you can’t give him too much success for leading the Saints offense with the innovative Payton at the helm (and Drew Brees at QB), but you can give Marrone plenty of credit for turning around Syracuse and making them a bowl-winning program in two years after winning just 2-3 games the previous four seasons.

Even so, Marrone holds an 11-17 conference record and a mediocre 25-25 career record as the coach of the Orange. I still think he needed to boost his resume before being considered a legitimate head coach, but it seems like the Bills feel like he already is a legitimate head man for an NFL franchise.

He is from around the area and won’t be moving too far to his new NFL home, and he also has plenty of experience as a coordinator to ease the transition. However, I feel like the Bills had better options. Fans will go into Marrone’s tenure optimistic that the Bills truly do have a new mindset, but maybe the Bills tried too hard to bring in change by hiring a coach from the college ranks. Again, I think they should have went with a more safe option like Smith or Whisenhunt.

There is one thing that points to Marrone being a successful hire for the Bills, and that is the fact that he has versatility coaching on offense (AFC East ties after coaching the New York Jets offensive line earlier in the 2000s) as well as recommendations from the Saints HC-GM pair and the legendary Bill Parcells. But it’s all about actions before words in Buffalo, and Marrone will have to prove that he is different from his predecessors. Otherwise, the Bills will be back where they started once again.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

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Smith and Whisenhunt are the best two recently fired head coaches back on the market, and the Bills have set their sites pretty high. Bills fans will on close watch for future interviews, and Smith would be a big hire for the Bills. He also has high interest in the Bills opening, which means the Bills can’t afford to screw this up if they view him as the best man available.

Most people, including me, believe that Smith is the best prospective head coach out on the market, so we’ll see if the interview this coming weekend brings good fortune for the Bills organization.

Former Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton is also a huge name on the market, and the Bills have interviewed him as well as Syracuse Orange coach Doug Marrone. However, Marrone’s college resume isn’t quite developed (career 25-25 record). That record is misleading since he took over a horrible team and transformed the Orange into two-time bowl winners, but Marrone still needs to build his resume and is clearly not the Bills best option here.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.