Terry Pegula delivered a unified organizational message regarding a variety of topics while talking with the media after day two of the owners' meetings on Tuesday.
Pegula dispelled recent reports that Sean McDermott and Doug Whaley aren't getting along and instead raved about how impressed he's been with the working relationship between the two.
"We just spent the afternoon working together, the three of us," Pegula said. "Those guys get along great. They've been making some key decisions and they work well together."
The Bills owner, who will enter his third full season owning the team in 2017, said that the 10th overall selection in April's draft will be a "group effort," but that everyone in the process trusts each other enough to have their opinions heard.
"Obviously when I say it's a group effort, it's just like everything else I think most businesses do in their life. If somebody feels more strongly about something than somebody else then maybe you lean in that direction," Pegula said.
Pegula also said that each of the team's moves in free agency were a joint effort, including the biggest decision of the offseason regarding Tyrod Taylor.
"That was Doug and Sean working very diligently, digging up every direction we could go and what not, and the decision was unanimous that we bring Tyrod back with the new contract," Pegula said. "We are all happy with that."
Pegula told reporters on Tuesday that McDermott would be the "one voice" for the organization and that he should ultimately be the one addressing the fans and the media.
"It's a lot simpler to have one spokesperson for the organization," Pegula said. "When we sat in our coaching interviews this last go-around, we talked to the all of the candidates, and one of the things we were interested in—and Doug was in those meetings—we wanted a coach who could be the face of our organization and could step into that role."
As with everybody in the organization, Pegula is tired of watching the playoffs at home. Although he stopped short of making any guarantees, Pegula assured Bills fans that he is just as hungry as the fan base is for success.
"I think the hardest part (of being an owner) has been our fans not having a winner," Pegula said. "It's very difficult, we're not happy with what we've been doing on the field. We need to get better, we need to work harder, and the whole organization is behind that philosophy. Work harder day-by-day, week-by-week, Sunday-by-Sunday. Just try to get better."
