The Bills hope to have a battle between veteran Geoff Hangartner and up-and-comer Eric Wood for the starting center position before the new season. When Hangartner went down with a sprained knee late last season, two-year veteran Eric Wood shifted over from his right-guard spot to start the final four games at center. "We think Eric Wood was the best center in the draft coming out," Bills general manager Buddy Nix said earlier this year. "Obviously he wasn't (fully) healthy. But when he gets healthy, there's a good chance that's where he'll be. We'll just see. We'll play the best ones." The Bills are enamored with the physicality of Wood, who fought his way back in 2010 from a severe leg fracture. They also treasure Hangartner's intelligent play -- he scored 47 out of 50 on the Wonderlic before the 2005 NFL Draft.

Jeffrey Gundlach, a bond fund manager in Los Angeles, told the Wall Street Journal that he's looking to put a group together that would bid on the Bills when the franchise is put up for sale. "I'm trying to put a group together to buy it," Gundlach told the Journal. "Now, I'm thinking about thinking about it." Gundlach was brought up in Buffalo and he would want to keep the franchise in Northern New York.

The Bills opened up informal workouts on Monday with 35 players in attendance, including quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and running back Fred Jackson. In addition to the group of players, there will a number of undrafted free agents present as well. It was the first of five daily workouts the Bills have organized while they join the rest of their locked-out colleagues waiting for the NFL labor dispute to be resolved.

Bills rookie defensive tackle Michael Jasper has lost 73 pounds since leaving Middle Tennessee State after his sophomore year to transfer to Bethel. Jasper is down to 375 pounds -- still big, even by NFL standards, but nowhere near the 448 pounds he carried not so long ago. "(Bills regional scout) Matt Hand made a deal with me initially, saying they wanted me under 400 pounds," Jasper told the Tennessean. "After the draft, I talked with coach (Chan) Gailey, and he said just to keep working hard and keep the weight off." Buffalo drafted Jasper in the seventh round.

Bills rookie defensive lineman Marcell Dareus hopes to get a chance to make the Panthers and Broncos pay for passing on him during last month's NFL Draft. Dareus was drafted by Buffalo with the third overall pick, but he felt he was a good fit for both Carolina (1st) and Denver (2nd). "If I ever get a chance to play Carolina I'm going to make them pay for passing up on me," Dareus told Michael Irvin during an interview on WQAM. "Denver I'll get a chance to play them in the regular season and I'm going to make it hell for them every time I play against them." Dareus didn't stop there. "My sole focus was for me not to give you a reason to not pick me and you still don't?" he said. "Okay, I understand you have needs somewhere else, but if you need somebody to control your front and be a commander across the front and not let anything happen? I work my butt off to do that, and you pass me up still? Okay, I've got something for you."

Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson says all NFL players are enjoying the current lockout. Reggie Bush made headlines when he posted Twitter comments about the lockout in a positive light. "That's blown way out of proportion," Johnson said. "There is not one NFL player who hasn't enjoyed (time off during) the lockout. I'm just being straight up honest. I don't think he should have to apologize for that. That's terrible to even have to apologize for saying that. I'm having a good time during this lockout enjoying my family more and (getting new opportunities)." Johnson's perspective is that players are wired to want to play, and everything will change once the lockout has ended. "Everybody in the NFL has that mode where they feel that when they wake up in the morning, they want to be playing football," he explained. "We're professionals, we play football for a living. Everybody has that mode. But why not enjoy your time off? Once the lockout is over, everyone will be focused for what they have to do for their teams."

The Bills have promoted Doug Whaley to director of player personnel as part of a front-office restructuring that began following last weekend's NFL draft. Buffalo's assistant general manager will now oversee both college and pro personnel departments, in a move announced by general manager Buddy Nix on Friday. Whaley is in his second year with Buffalo, and previously headed the team's pro personnel department.

Donte Whitner has no difficulty dealing with the love-hate relationship he's developed with Bills fans on Twitter for much of this offseason. And it hasn't hardened the soft spot the safety still has for Buffalo no matter what Bills GM Buddy Nix has to say. For someone unsure of what the future holds, Whitner is working out in Miami anxiously waiting for the labor dispute to end while making sure to keep every one of his options open, according to an ESPN.com report on Thursday.

Bills general manager Buddy Nix has all but ruled out the likelihood of the team re-signing safety Donte Whitner. Nix told WEDG-Radio that he doesn't believe Whitner wants to return to the team, and that means "he probably won't." Whitner was Buffalo's 2006 first-round draft pick and completed his five-year contract last season.

The Bills have fired Tom Modrak as their chief scout. Buffalo general manager Buddy Nix said Modrak was "relieved of his duties" in a move that comes as part of the team's plan to reorganize its personnel department. "We have begun that process and made a decision to head in a different direction," Nix said in a statement released by the team. "We thank Tom for his 10 years of dedication to our organization and wish him the best in his future endeavors." Modrak held the title of vice president of college scouting, and had been with the Bills since 2001.