Michael Silver spent the draft in the Bills' war room. Here is his excellent article.

[Nextmanup]

What I have always loved about BB from the beginning is how he very clearly had a master plan, built over a period of years.

 

He had a good idea how to turn a joke of an irrelevant franchise into a steady solid contender, with deliberate, well planned phases. 

 

I remember when they started getting rid of players--even with big names like Marcell Dareus--who didn't really want to be in Buffalo or just didn't get with the program.  

 

That was when I thought "this guy has a plan...let's just see where it goes."
 

 

[Turbo44]

This is one of the best articles I've read - wonder how this site got all the insider info that hasn't gone out before??

 

[DrDawkinstein]

Quote

“We’re in a different phase than when I got here, but the core philosophy doesn’t change. You still have to draft, develop and re-sign. People say, ‘Now you change (and go for broke).’ No — that’s not a lasting formula. Yes, we can compete for a Super Bowl now. But we want to have a sustainable model. We’re trying to make a steady run. We don’t want to put it all on 2022 and then be bad in ’23. We have to build a team with the next few years in mind, not just this year.”

 

It's good for him to say this, and yes that should be the general philosophy. But it worries me if he really believes it and isnt willing to make the big move to get us over the top.

 

Sure, we want to be a perennial winner, but a Super Bowl victory followed by a 9-8 year then a climb back to 12-5, is much better for Beane and McD's job security than going 13-4 and losing in the playoffs for the next 4 years.

 

IMO, if you are this close, you absolutely risk mortgaging a year or two of our future in order to bring home the Lombardi. Rams did it multiple ways last year, and it paid off.

 

[cle23]

3 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

It's good for him to say this, and yes that should be the general philosophy. But it worries me if he really believes it and isnt willing to make the big move to get us over the top.

 

Sure, we want to be a perennial winner, but a Super Bowl victory followed by a 9-8 year then a climb back to 12-5, is much better for Beane and McD's job security than going 13-4 and losing in the playoffs for the next 4 years.

 

IMO, if you are this close, you absolutely risk mortgaging a year or two of our future in order to bring home the Lombardi. Rams did it multiple ways last year, and it paid off.

 

 

The issue is if you do go all in and don't win, and then you still have a bad year after that.  The "all in" strategy works occasionally, but it also falls on its face a whole lot more than not.  Basically like anything else, it needs to be "all in" within reason.

[HappyDays]

15 minutes ago, nkreed said:

Interesting confirmation that Breece Hall would have been the pick had Elam not been available.

 

McDermott and Beane have sure made it a point to let other teams think they really want a RB at the bottom of the 1st round. I can't wait to see what speedy running back we're heavily rumored to want next year. They'll only be able to carry on that con for so long though. Eventually other teams will realize they can't bank on the Bills drafting a RB in the 1st round.

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by HappyDays

[Logic]

7 minutes ago, Turbo44 said:

This is one of the best articles I've read - wonder how this site got all the insider info that hasn't gone out before??

 

Silver is a long time veteran journalist. Well respected. A pro’s pro. He somehow got Beane to open the vault!

[Buffalo Junction]

5 minutes ago, cle23 said:

 

The issue is if you do go all in and don't win, and then you still have a bad year after that.  The "all in" strategy works occasionally, but it also falls on its face a whole lot more than not.  Basically like anything else, it needs to be "all in" within reason.

And it needs the blessing of the owners if you want to maintain job security if it fails. 

[BillsFan4]

6 minutes ago, Logic said:

Silver is a long time veteran journalist. Well respected. A pro’s pro. He somehow got Beane to open the vault!

I think quite a bit of that info came from Joe Schoen as well.

[stevewin]

Great article

 

-  Raisinets, really?

- I guess it's been reported before but another confirmation Josh and Mayfield were their two 

- This article should be required reading for all the people in the draft threads constantly having fits "They should have traded up/down!!!!!" - you need a partner to make a trade and it isn't easy.  Also req'd reading for the "He would have been there X picks later!!!!!" crowd (Cue the wailing in the Josh Allen draft thread there was no neeed to move up)

- Interesting tidbit about the Tyrod trade - says they could have gotten more from Denver - dealt to Cleveland in part for some goodwill for future move.  Can you imagine how pissed Beane must have been at Dorsey for screwing him over after working out tentative terms to deal for the 4th

- "“Once the dust settled,” he said, “I turned around and someone said, ‘Jesus Christ, Joe!’ I had a grey suit on, and there were pools of water on both sides. My wife, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time, was gathered with some other people’s family members in the cafeteria, and I didn’t even go out and see her for awhile. I thought, ‘I better just stay in here and hydrate.’"  

- 

 

[Success]

That was such a cool read. Thanks for posting.

 

Obviously, we have a great one in Beane.  I can't think of any other GM in the league who I would trust more at this point.  

 

But the thing that I get really stoked about is the long-term vision. We see so many GM's go all in and create a "win now" pressure on their organizations because of poor long-term planning.  Beane doesn't just want to win the next 2-3 years - he wants to keep this team in contention for as long as Allen is QB, and even beyond.

 

We have some really fun years ahead.

 

[billieve420]

Interesting to read that Beane had Mayfield as his # 2 QB in that draft.

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, Coach Tuesday said:

How do we feel about the fact that he likes Raisinettes?

 

I'm fine with that. But contemporary country? Fire his @$$!

 

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

1 hour ago, Captain Hindsight said:

I want to know what the Broncos offered for Tyrod 

 

Well..they missed out on Tyrod....then they passed at drafting Allen...

[WhoTom]

40 minutes ago, stevewin said:

Interesting tidbit about the Tyrod trade - says they could have gotten more from Denver - dealt to Cleveland in part for some goodwill for future move.  Can you imagine how pissed Beane must have been at Dorsey for screwing him over after working out tentative terms to deal for the 4th

 

Quote

He and Dorsey, now a senior personnel executive for the Detroit Lions, have since smoothed things over.

 

Beane got the last laugh ... twice! He got Josh anyway, and Dorsey now works for the Lions!

 

 

[jkeerie]

51 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

McDermott and Beane have sure made it a point to let other teams think they really want a RB at the bottom of the 1st round. I can't wait to see what speedy running back we're heavily rumored to want next year. They'll only be able to carry on that con for so long though. Eventually other teams will realize they can't bank on the Bills drafting a RB in the 1st round.

 

Beane can't figure out where anyone got that idea.  Nothing ever came from the Bills intimating that.  He believed everyone knew that they were taking CB.  That's why he traded up to insure he got Elam.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

I thought the Zack Moss stuff (about his injury last year) was really interesting too.

Yeah, that came out of the blue.  Beane said Moss is not at all out of the #2 running back picture, that he had difficulty throughout the year coming back from his ankle injury.  That's a wow!   As a rookie, Moss sometimes looked like he might take Singletary's job.   

 

They could have a three-way battle for playing time.   

56 minutes ago, Logic said:

Silver is a long time veteran journalist. Well respected. A pro’s pro. He somehow got Beane to open the vault!

Beane clearly trusted him.   There's a lot of detail in there.   

 

I wouldn't be surprised if along the way Beane told Silver that some things he heard needed to stay out of the article.  

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, davefan66 said:

Find it interesting the Bears didn’t get an idea who the Bills were taking with the 5th rounder.  Kinda thought trades were not made unless they knew who was being targeted.  

 

I guess it would apply to a few slot trade, not 20.  Then again, maybe Chicago thought Shakir was more a late 5th rounder.

Actually the opposite - the two teams typically never discuss the player being targeted

[chris heff]

“Big Baller Beam”? Really 

 

Great article, I have been wondering since first game last year what was going on with Moss.

[MrEpsYtown]

Ok so with the Breece Hall tidbit, if Elam was gone and we took Breece, in the second the corners available when we picked were Cam Taylor-Britt and Martin Emerson. So would you rather have:

 

Elam and Cook 

or 

Hall and Taylor-Britt/Emerson

 

I would take Elam and Cook all day every day. JMO. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by MrEpsYtown

[DrDawkinstein]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

Silver is a long time veteran journalist. Well respected. A pro’s pro. He somehow got Beane to open the vault!

 

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

I think quite a bit of that info came from Joe Schoen as well.

 

Yeah, Schoen is with a new team and doesnt have to stay so tight-lipped about the Bills anymore. Makes sense.