Terry Pegula,Doug Whaley

Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, left, and general manager Doug Whaley, right, walk to the field before an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert)

(Bill Wippert)

Orchard Park, N.Y. -- The dust has settled for the Buffalo Bills.

Rex Ryan is out, general manager Doug Whaley is safe and Sean McDermott has been hired as the team's next head coach. Now the Bills forge ahead into an offseason with plenty of question marks surrounding a roster that won just seven games in 2016 and has just one winning season in four with Whaley as general manager.

Still, Whaley is the one entrusted with turning things around. Few general managers in the NFL have come under as much scrutiny as Whaley in recent weeks. His end-of-season press conference drew negative attention nationally, as did his handling of quarterback Tyrod Taylor and interim coach Anthony Lynn. It's worth noting, however, that Bills owner Terry Pegula is still firmly behind Whaley as the Bills' general manager. He made that known in an interview with WGR 550 on Friday.

"That's grossly unfair what he's going through," Pegula said. "I made a comment in the newspaper article that if we fail at press conferences but start winning, who cares? Doug does a good job. I like him, and he works hard and he's a smart guy."

Pegula was referring to an interview with The Buffalo News, in which he was asked why Whaley was the man to lead the coaching search.

"Because he's our GM," Pegula said. "The GM, whether it be hockey, football, baseball, whatever, their job is not to win a press conference. It's to build a team and win championships. If I have a GM and people think his press conferences are a disaster every year, but we start winning, who cares? Let the media say what they want to say. I know there's a guy in New England who gets criticized a lot, but he wins. It's not all about winning the news conference."

Whaley's problems, however, extend beyond press conferences. He's built a top-heavy roster that's been buoyed by free agents, not his own draft picks. He still hasn't identified a franchise quarterback, and the team has taken a step back in each of the last two seasons. He's also been the subject of reported friction with the team's last two head coaches.

Pegula is right that nobody will care about press conferences if the Bills start winning. They aren't winning right now, though, and haven't for a long time. Four years of that has been under Whaley's control. He's been involved dating back to 2010. Whaley has been short on answers, credibility and on-field results.

By the sounds of it, though, Whaley isn't under any more pressure than usual to win. He and the Pegulas get along, something Terry pointed out when debunking the notion that the franchise is dysfunctional. Pegula said the dysfunction "doesn't exist."

Even if that's true, to suggest the criticism of Whaley is "grossly unfair" is misguided at best. Continually giving him a free pass while asking fans to continue to fill the stadium is grossly unfair. A general manager facing heat from fans and media for failing to produce a winner in four seasons as a general manager sounds like something that comes with the territory in professional sports.