WGR

‘As far as the Bills are concerned, if you were around back then, it probably reminded you of 1988 when you could tell the Bills had put together a special team. There was an AFC East championship and a trip to the AFC Championship Game. Even though 1989 was a step back, your gut instincts proved to be correct by what happened in the early 1990s.’

‘”I just think the stability of the quarterback in the division is Josh Allen, and if I was Josh Allen and the Bills, I wouldn’t necessarily be worried about the AFC East. I’d just be worried about the AFC. I think that’s how big the difference is in teams right now.”‘

‘The Bills are trying to contend for a Super Bowl right now, and don’t want to wait a couple more years for a tight end to develop. That’s why free agency may be the route they have to go this offseason to try and get better at the position.’

‘If the Bills want to run the ball more effectively, and we know they do, finding a mix of five men up-front that can have more success in the run game would be important. This Bills team struggled to run the ball all that effectively this season.’

‘T.J. Yeldon will be a free agent. He’s actually the exact type of running back they need going forward, but someone who’s younger and more dynamic.’

‘Trubisky gives the Bills one big upgrade over Barkley – mobility.’

‘The biggest question at the quarterback position facing the Bills this offseason is whether or not to pay Josh Allen now, or wait another year.’

‘”We’ll have to be very sharp on each move. Every dime we spend we have to make sure we spend it wisely. And then the onus is on us to have a really strong draft. Our personnel department knows that, I know that, and we can’t fail there.”‘

‘”It was a learning experience all along, and as the stakes were raised, the stress-level was raised. Hopefully Josh Allen doesn’t get it, hopefully [Stefon] Diggs. Any of these guys that really could impact what we do an offense or defense or whatever. You’re praying to the good Lord that the guys can avoid it.”’

‘”Next year is a new year,” Beane said. “Nothing we did will matter when we start this offseason or start [training] camp. Every team is built up of new players, so we’ll have to hit the reset button. We’ve got a lot of work to do to try and get this thing going and build a team that can earn its way back to where we were, and hopefully further.”‘

‘”It’s just not one answer that solves that problem. We all have to, starting with me, continue to ask ourselves the hard questions of the what ifs, and the whys and the hows. We, as a staff, have to get better and improve. We have to improve our roster. We have to improve our operation in what we do.”‘

‘It comes down to two things: Cap space and other, more important needs.’

‘The disappointing part was the performance of the Bills offense and the coaching.’

‘I don’t think most of us got to a place where we thought about the season ending, and what it would look like, and what it would feel like. Especially not the way it did – with a team that just didn’t look the same as what we’ve seen most of the season. A team that seemingly coached not to lose instead of being aggressive to give them more of a chance to win. A team that couldn’t execute on offense at nearly the same level they had for most of the season. An MVP-caliber quarterback who looked uncomfortable at times, and wide receivers who couldn’t get open like they have for most of the last 18 games.’

‘But, in the end, they came up just a bit short against a team where there’s little to no margin for error.’