ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Doug Whaley was promoted to take over as Buffalo Bills general manager, making the teams near top-to-bottom off-season overhaul complete. The much-anticipated decision to elevate Whaley from his position as assistant GM was announced Thursday, three days after Buddy Nix stepped down as GM. The 40-year-old Whaley has spent the past three years being groomed for the job. After working in various scouting capacities with the Bills, Whaleys influence grew this off-season. He had input in hiring coach Doug Marrone in January, and in the teams decision to select Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel in the first round of the draft last month. In becoming the Bills 12th GM and fifth in 12 years, Whaleys challenge now becomes turning around a franchise that has not finished with a winning record since 2004, and has not made the playoffs in 13 years -- the NFLs longest active drought. "Were not going to run from (the past), but what were going to do is look forward," Whaley said. "We are very proud of what weve got as a team, as a coaching staff and as an organization. And were just looking to go onward and upward." And he wasnt afraid of using the word "championship." "Our main goal is to give the fans of the Buffalo Bills a team that consistently competes for championships," Whaley said. Though it was unclear when Nix would step down, the Bills began laying the groundwork for the transition in February by signing Whaley to a long-term contract extension. "Doug has every quality you look for in a leader," team president Russ Brandon said. "Were committed to one common goal and that is one focus, a laser focus, and that is winning. Period. Nothing else matters to either one of us. Winning is what its all about." Among Whaleys first priorities will be negotiating to sign star safety Jairus Byrd. Though the Bills secured Byrds rights by placing a franchise tag on him this off-season, the player has yet to sign his contract. Byrd is instead holding out in a bid to secure a long-term deal. "Hes a good player. We want to keep him, and were going to negotiate with him," Whaley said. "Hopefully, everything will be where we need it to be, when we need it to be." Hes also preparing to open talks in a bid to re-sign centre Eric Wood, who is entering the final year of his contract. Whaley, who is black, snaps an NFL trend this off-season during which no minorities were hired to fill eight coaching and seven general manager vacancies. He becomes the Bills first black GM and the leagues sixth. From Pittsburgh, he spent 12 seasons working in various capacities as a scout with the Steelers. Whaley played both linebacker and safety at Pitt and broke into the NFL in 1995 as a Steelers pro personnel assistant. He then spent three years as a scout with the Seattle Seahawks, before returning to Pittsburgh. Hes leaning heavily on his experiences with the Steelers, one of the NFLs most stable and competitive franchises. "My formative years in this business were being part of the Steelers, and the one thing that the Steeler organization is all about is championships," Whaley said. "They dont accept losing. They set the standard of winning and competing for championships. And I think if we instil that here, well be in the right direction." Whaleys promotion comes at a time when the Bills are essentially starting from scratch in rebuilding what Brandon described as having a "tarnished" reputation. Brandon began the transition immediately after the season ended, when he was elevated by team owner Ralph Wilson to his new position and awarded full control of the entire organization. Brandons first moves were firing Chan Gailey and then hiring Doug Marrone less than a week later. The next step in the transformation becomes Whaley. "Its all about what we do moving forward. And with Doug at the helm as our general manager and coach Marrone, we feel very good about our future," Brandon said. "I can stand up here and talk about it all day, but it comes down to results and proving it." Whaley will be responsible for the roster and also formulating the Bills draft strategy. Jim Overdorf, senior vice-president of football administration, will continue in his role as the teams chief negotiator and salary-cap manager, who answers directly to Brandon. The Bills are a very young team. They have only nine players on the roster who have been with the team since before the 2010 season. In drafting Manuel, the Bills hope to have addressed a quarterback position thats been unsettled since Hall of Fame standout Jim Kelly retired following the 1996 season. Whaleys first moves as GM was adding to his staff. He hired Jim Monos as director of player personnel and Kelvin Fisher as director of college scouting. Monos spent the past eight years working as an area scout with the New Orleans Saints. Fisher joins the Bills after spending the previous 13 seasons in various capacities as a scout with the Steelers. Cheap Jerseys UK . He was 27. The Qatari club El Jaish provided no details about the death but said Benitez did not complain about his health Sunday. The team is awaiting a medical report. El Jaish played Qatar Sports in the Sheik Jassim Cup, a warmup tournament for the upcoming season. Cheap NFL Jerseys . -- For one night, Nick Calathes provided a big reason to believe the Memphis Grizzlies might be able to withstand the loss of Mike Conley on a short-term basis. http://www.cheapnfljerseysonline.co... . LOUIS -- Another big swing from Casey McGehee kept the Milwaukee Brewers rolling and dealt another blow to their closest pursuers in the NL Central. [url=http://www.cheapnfljerseysonline.co.uk/]Cheap Jerseys . Hes mostly gotten used to the travel and the crammed schedule and physical play. One thing, though, has been hard to handle.La Quinta, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Erik Compton, Bill Haas, Justin Thomas and Michael Putnam all finished Saturdays third round at 17-under-par 199 and they will head into the final round of the Humana Challenge with a 1-shot lead. Compton, who has never won on the PGA Tour, carded a 5-under 67 in the second round, while Haas, a five-time winner and the 2010 champion at this event, shot a 3-under 69. Both Compton and Haas played on the Jack Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West Saturday. A rookie seeking his first career win on tour, Thomas finished with a 4-under 68 on the Arnold Palmer Private Course. First-round leader Putnam, who has also never won on the PGA Tour, shot a 3-under 69 at La Quinta Country Club Over the first three rounds, players alternated between playing the Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus Private Courses at PGA West along with La Quinta Country Club. Sundays final round will be contested on the Palmer Course. Second-round leader Matt Kuchar (71) held the lead throughout most of the day, but a few errant shots down the stretch on the Palmer Course dropped him back into a tie for fifth at 16-under 200. Also playing on the Palmer Course, Ryan Palmer carded a 4-under 68 and he is tied with Kuchar, Steve Wheatcroft (68) and Scott Pinckney (69) at minus-16. Wheatcroft played the Nicklaus Course, while Pinckney was on the Palmer Course Saturday. Defending champion Patrick Reed, playing the Palmer Course, finished with a 5- under 67 and he is tied for ninth with six others at 14-under 202. Compton, who has won once on the Web.com Tour and three times on the PGA Tour Canada, had a rather quiet front nine before exploding on the back side. The 35-year-old started off by wrapping eight pars around one birdie on No. 3 and he made the turn at 1-under for the day. Compton then mounted a charge on the back nine starting with a birdie on No. 10. After a trio of pars from 11, Compton finished strong with three gains over his final five holes on 14, 16 and 17 to put him at 17-under. Its an exciting day tomorrow because I will be a little bit in the mix, but it doesnt change my strategy, said Compton. You still have to hit fairways and greens and execute and make putts. Sometimes its hard when you expect to shoot 5- or 6-under par. You just kind of have to let the round develop and I did a good job of that today. The round developed on the back nine. Haas was flawless on the front nine as well with two birdies on four and eight. Heading to the back nine, Haas tripped to his lone bogey of the day on No. 11 before rattling off back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13. He closed out his round with five straight pars to graab a share of the third-round lead.dddddddddddd Thomas rolled in gains on two, four and six before making his first bogey on the par-4 seventh. After two pars on eight and nine, Thomas made another bogey on 10, dropping him to 1-under for the day. That did not discourage Thomas, however, as he finished strong. A birdie on 11 got him going back in the right direction. Following four straight pars from 12, Thomas poured in gains on 16 and 18. I just need to take tomorrow as just another round of golf and just try to go have some fun, Thomas said. Hopefully will drive it a little better and just see how many birdies I can make. Putnam continued his strong play this week as he made two birdies on one and five. After making the turn at 2-under, Putnam made the turn and sandwiched a bogey on 12 between two birdies on 11 and 13. Putnam coasted to the finish with five straight pars from 14 to join the other three at 17-under. It appeared as if Kuchar would head to the final day with a multiple-shot lead, but he struggled down the stretch, which saw him drop behind the leaders by one. It was smooth sailing early for Kuchar with birdies on two and six. As he made the turn to the back nine, Kuchar made two more birdies on 11 and 14, which put him two clear at 19-under. A bogey on 15 dropped Kuchars lead back to one. Then on the par-3 17th, Kuchars tee shot hit rocks on the right and his ball bounced all the way across the green and into the water, leading to another bogey and squaring him up with the others at minus-17. On the par-5 18th, Kuchars second shot also found water on the left. He chipped on and two-putted for bogey, making it three dropped shots over his final four holes. I guess the beauty about golf is we play four rounds and you got one more chance at it tomorrow, said Kuchar. Im playing pretty good. Im pleased with the way Im playing ... Bummer to bogey the last two. Certainly not what I wanted, but I got another day ahead of me. NOTES: Haas last victory came at the 2013 AT&T National ... Putnam was the 2013 Web.com Tour Player of the Year ... Thomas earned his lone Web.com Tour win at last years Nationwide Childrens Hospital Championship, which was part of the Final Series ... Prior to the par-5 18th Saturday, Kuchar had either birdied or eagled every par-5 this week ... Two-time champion Phil Mickelson, making his first appearance since withdrawing from the BMW Championship last season, shot a 4-under 68 and he is tied for 34th at 11-under 205 ... Ryan Moore withdrew prior to the third round due to a neck injury ... 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