Holmgren and Shanahan Bills update

Interesting stuff:

The Bills, in fact, are scheduled to meet with Shanahan this week. And they fully understand, to even have that conversation, they must be prepared to pay more than the $7 million Shanahan is due to earn in each of the next two years as part of the balance of his guaranteed contract with the Denver Broncos, who fired him as their coach after the 2008 season.

"You're probably talking about $50 million over five years and maybe even a piece of the team," said a source close to Shanahan. "And by all indications, (Bills owner Ralph) Wilson is ready to have that conversation."
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Holmgren has rejected an overture from the Bills as well, presumably because he has his eye on one or more other opportunities that would likely involve him taking only a front-office position.

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Getting good means allowing the new coach to spend money on players in free agency. With Shanahan, there is no limit to such spending. In fact, according to a source close to the Broncos, he spent his former employer into a $29 million salary-cap hole, which was a large part of the reason their owner, Pat Bowlen, decided to part ways with him. If a player didn't pan out, Shanahan would shrug and tell his personnel staff to merely search for a replacement, not giving a second thought to the wasted signing bonuses that continued to pile up.

Within the Broncos, Shanahan earned the nickname "Let's get another guy" because that was what he would always offer as a solution to whatever competitive problem the Broncos faced. And we haven't even addressed the additional cash Shanahan readily doled out to what had grown into one of the NFL's largest support staffs. Under Shanahan, the Broncos actually had a "team masseuse" on the payroll.