It appears the drip, drip, drip of leaks to the media may be the first significant culture change happening in Buffalo. One of the most vexing issues facing the Bills this offseason was to identify the source of leaks to certain members of the media, especially during the last few weeks of the season.

It became a serious problem for players starting around mid-December when information was repeatedly coming out right before the start of games on Sunday stating that previous coach Rex Ryan was about to be fired. Some players like fullback Jerome Felton found the rumors disturbing and talked about how it led to more unwanted distractions.

General manager Doug Whaley addressed the issue of media leaks during his end of the season press conference on Jan. 2.

“That’s not something that I subscribe to (leaks),” said Whaley. “I don’t think that our organization wants to be someone that has reports coming out of their own building. We can’t confirm that the reports are coming from our building, maybe you guys can and please do confirm it with me. But that’s not the modus operandi that we subscribe to and we’re going to investigate it and try to shut it down as quickly as possible.”

Leaks like this one from CBSSports.com’s Jason LaCanfora started appearing as early as Dec. 11, and the timing of posting them one hour prior to the start of games was part of what irritated Felton.

“Literally the last weeks before every single game, it was, ‘Yeah, Rex might get fired after this game,’” Felton said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “That’s tough and frustrating.”

Apparently Whaley and the team were serious about fixing the problem because since coach Sean McDermott was hired there’s been a noticeable lack of information leaking ahead of official statements made by the team. For example, there was very little advanced notice by any media outlet when offensive coordinator Rick Dennison was hired on Jan 19.

Dennison’s hire was not reported by anyone in the media more than a couple hours in advance of the official team statement, and LaCanfora even got the hire completely wrong.

For now, the plumber may have finished his work on the leaky pipes at One Bills Drive. It will be interesting to see which members of the media will be given access from sources moving forward. Those most critical of management and ownership in the past might find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to getting the scoop on a breaking story.