Former Indianapolis Colts general manager and current ESPN NFL analyst and commentator Bill Polian has rejected an offer from the Buffalo Bills and will remain in TV next season.
Bills owner Terry Pegula reached out to Polian about leading the team's front office. Despite further discussions, Polian ultimately decided to stay in his current position.
The decision comes just a day after head coach Doug Marrone opted out of his contract after just two seasons of a four-year deal, leaving a head coaching vacancy in Buffalo. To add to Buffalo's problems, starting quarterback Kyle Orton retired, leaving the Bills with a big hole at the position. Without a first-round pick this year, it's likely that the Bills will not be able to find an immediate replacement.
Marrone and Orton's decisions may have played a role in Polian's reluctance to join the organization.
"Then, the quarterback goes away and the coach disappears," Polian said, according to ESPN. "So the job, from my perspective, changed. It went from a mentoring and advising role, which would have been fun, to a real heavy lift - hire a new coach, hire a stave, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
"The bottom line is the job description changed pretty dramatically and the most important thing is that it would have required a really long commitment to a new coach, who deserved a long commitment that I wasn't prepared to make. And that wouldn't have been fair to the organization or to whomever their new coach was. The coach is going to want to know that you're going to be there for a reasonably long time."
Polian, 72, had previously helped construct a Bills team that went to four Super Bowls. He has won the NFL Executive of the Year Award six times in his career.
