Why does Beane get a pass?

[Ethan in Cleveland]

1 hour ago, Fan in San Diego said:

Shakir, Kincaid, Knox, Cook, Allen, DIggs, Edmunds, Poyer, Tre White, Hyde, ... Thats why

Cmon man, Poyer and White were here before Beane got here

[Blackbeard]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

The Bills have won the 2nd most games in the league since 2020.

They've won four straight division titles.

The only possible reason to say he "deserves" criticism is because they haven't won a title. But if that's the case, then 31 GMs every single year deserve criticism.

Looking at moves in a vacuum for any GM across the league, you're going to see some moves that worked and some that didn't. No GM is immune to mistakes. But looking at the total output and production of a team gives you a sense of what kind of job the team's architect has done. The fact remains that only the Chiefs have won more games than the Bills since 2020, that they've won their division four years in a row, and that they are contenders year in and year out.

You want perfection? Go watch a Kurosawa film or listen to a Betthoven sonata. 

Beane is a very good GM.

P.S. Brandon Beane DOES receive criticism, and if you don't see it, then you're not looking in the right places. Go turn on ESPN, Fox Sports 1, or listen to any drive time football radio show, and you'll hear scores of criticism of Beane and his Bills. Heck, the buzziest phrase in football the past two season has been "the Bills window is closed".

If you're angry at Brandon Beane and want to criticize him, then just say that. Don't manufacture an immunity to criticism that he does not actually possess.

Top notch post.  Well said. 

[amprov56]

1 hour ago, Sharky7337 said:

Von miller contract

Dawson Knox contract

Stephen diggs contract

Defense line draft picks that never pan out

Defense tackle signings that are not good enough

No reliable pass rusher 

Wyatt Teller give away

Edmunds 

 

Just curious why he is so highly regarded when these issues have come to roost fully

Going to be a long five months!!! Please!!!

12 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Cmon man, Poyer and White were here before Beane got here

Again, I cant believe Im agreeing with Ethan!

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

Some of us did not like the 2022 offseason at the time and it has proven to be pretty much an unmitigated disaster:

 

Free Agent signings:

Jordan Phillips - $5m

Tim Settle - $9m

Daquan Jones - $14m

Von Miller - $120m

Roger Saffold - $6.25m

Ryan Bates - $17m

OJ Howard - $3.5m

Jameson Crowder - $2m

 

Extension:

Stefon Diggs - $96m

 

First round pick:

Kaiir Elam

 

 

I know he had some decent success with some of his later picks - Cook, Bernard, Benford - but it is by any standards a bit of a disaster of an offseason.

 

100%
 

This is what folks don’t get when they evaluate off-season of teams.

 

A bad off-season may not seem so bad to start. But it can compound and be felt even worse 2-3 years down the road.

 

Just like the Chiefs passing on Higgins for CEH. It was called by many as a bad move at the time, by others it was a luxury pick they could afford. 3 years later, Mahomes is posting his worst statistical season throwing to trash cans. 
 

You can trace all this stuff back. Building (or failing to build) and your strategy to do so matters so much more than folks give it credit for.

 

We have a useless, depleted DL now because our process building out the DL 2 years ago failed. 
 

We have a depleted WR group now, because we didn’t even try to build that room two years ago besides extending Diggs.

 

It always comes back. You can mess up here and there but sometimes teams don’t survive disaster on disaster in a zero sum league. 

[hondo in seattle]

1 hour ago, Sharky7337 said:

Von miller contract

Dawson Knox contract

Stephen diggs contract

Defense line draft picks that never pan out

Defense tackle signings that are not good enough

No reliable pass rusher 

Wyatt Teller give away

Edmunds 

 

Just curious why he is so highly regarded when these issues have come to roost fully

 

All GMs swing and miss sometimes.  All of them.

 

But I don't know if anyone is giving him a pass.  I don't see any Bills fans naming him "GM of the Century" or something like that. 

 

If you look at his whole body of work, you have to say he's an above-average GM.  I'm too lazy to look it up but I think we've won the 2nd most games of any team in the NFL since 2020.  Beane's doing better than most GMs.  

 

And, yet, we have no Lombardi's to show for all his work.  The mistakes you mention are part of the reason why.  I've been a Beane critic for years.  I don't think he's a bum by any means.  I do believe, however, that he needs to up his game for us to win a trophy.  

[Bockeye]

1 hour ago, Sharky7337 said:

Von miller contract

Dawson Knox contract

Stephen diggs contract

Defense line draft picks that never pan out

Defense tackle signings that are not good enough

No reliable pass rusher 

Wyatt Teller give away

Edmunds 

 

Just curious why he is so highly regarded when these issues have come to roost fully

Might as well throw in our scouting staff and coordinators too. The Bills scouts on D Line have been very bad. 
 

I’d assume the O-line coordinators told Beane Teller wasn’t going to be him. 

[amprov56]

32 minutes ago, Virgil said:

 

Von miller contract - Most were on board at the time, and he was living up to it until he got hurt.  No issues for me, just bad luck

Dawson Knox contract - I agree this was a bit high and a future contract.  No one knew Kincaid would be coming.  Knox restructured and gave money back.  No issues

Stephen diggs contract - No one had an issue at the time.  He fell off a cliff earlier than expected and no one thought he was going to push his way out.  

Defense line draft picks that never pan out - AJ just re-signed, Oliver got an extension.  Groot is getting picked up.  Are you just referring to Boogie?

Defense tackle signings that are not good enough - Um, Jones?

No reliable pass rusher - Until injuries, we had one of the best past rush in the league last year.  As people got healthy, the pass rush came back

Wyatt Teller give away - Seriously?  This has been addressed multiple times.

Edmunds - Did you want to pay him that much money as the Bears did?  If anything, Beane got a full 5 years out of him, a comp pick, and quietly upgraded with a replacement draft pick.  That's the life of the NFL sometimes

As always, great post!

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

The Bills have won the 2nd most games in the league since 2020.

They've won four straight division titles.

The only possible reason to say he "deserves" criticism is because they haven't won a title. But if that's the case, then 31 GMs every single year deserve criticism.

Looking at moves in a vacuum for any GM across the league, you're going to see some moves that worked and some that didn't. No GM is immune to mistakes. But looking at the total output and production of a team gives you a sense of what kind of job the team's architect has done. The fact remains that only the Chiefs have won more games than the Bills since 2020, that they've won their division four years in a row, and that they are contenders year in and year out.

You want perfection? Go watch a Kurosawa film or listen to a Betthoven sonata. 

Beane is a very good GM.

P.S. Brandon Beane DOES receive criticism, and if you don't see it, then you're not looking in the right places. Go turn on ESPN, Fox Sports 1, or listen to any drive time football radio show, and you'll hear scores of criticism of Beane and his Bills. Heck, the buzziest phrase in football the past two season has been "the Bills window is closed".

If you're angry at Brandon Beane and want to criticize him, then just say that. Don't manufacture an immunity to criticism that he does not actually possess.

the Bills are the second best team in football because McD is a good coach and Josh is the second best QB in football.

 

Beane deserves massive credit for hitting Josh Allen and massive criticism for most of his other moves.

 

Do you disagree with that?

[SirAndrew]

I think Beane has done a great job overall, but he gets carried away with signing subpar veteran players. People like pointing to the Diggs and Knox contracts, but I don’t mind taking a chance with special talent. It doesn’t always work out, and that’s ok. We lost more money signing below average offensive and defensive lineman when cheaper options were available. It’s the smaller amounts that add up to big numbers, just like personal finance. The excessive small unnecessary purchases are what destroys the budget. That’s what’s happened here the past offseason. 

[amprov56]

1 hour ago, HOUSE said:

Because nobody on this board complains 

Ya, Im pissed off about being a perrenial playoff team; can we have Rex Ryan back, seriously!!!!

1 hour ago, Don Otreply said:

Your right, torches and pitchforks, we must march on One Bills Drive right now!!!  By the way who’s bringing the beer?

Fire everybody, the TBD mantra!

2 minutes ago, FireChans said:

the Bills are the second best team in football because McD is a good coach and Josh is the second best QB in football.

 

Beane deserves massive credit for hitting Josh Allen and massive criticism for most of his other moves.

 

Do you disagree with that?

Stop using facts and logic, you need emotion!

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Beane is not perfect and he is no genius.

I have liked most of his offseason moves over the years. 

I have posted my disagreements with his choices.  In many cases I was proven wrong - Bernard for sure. I hated the Oliver pick and didn't like the extension. Oliver is not a top 10 draft pick talent but he is very good. I hated trading Diggs and I hated Epenesa pick and now extension. 

I actually like the Benjamin trade and the Miller signing. Really like the Knox deal as he was one of my favorites though he simply has not developed.

He has been elite at getting guys to rework their deals.

His two flaws are giving up too many picks moving up in the draft and until this last year he failed at building a OL.

 

The problem is KC has a better team and a better HC. In almost every way we are the Manning/Dungy Colts. Our only hope is Allen can win at least one Lombardi 

[mannc]

One reason: Drafted number 17. That’s enough for now 

[Billy Claude]

He gets plenty of criticism, especially the last two years.  However, we should ask how many NFL GMs have clearly done a better job than Beane.  I feel there is only two obvious ones and a bunch who are on a similar level

 

1. Brett Veach - Chiefs (obviously)

2. Howie Roseman -- Eagles: Two Super Bowls with two different QBs and two different coaches but the team fell apart at the end of last year and they might be in a bit of trouble if it turns out Jalen Hurts is not the guy.

 

On same level  (in no particular order)

3. Eric DeCosta -- Ravens --- always has good drafts but one wonders how high their ceiling is with Lamar Jackson.

4. Brian Gutekunst -- Packers --- nice job transitioning from Rogers to Love.

5. John Lynch -- 49ers -- two super bowls in the weaker NFC.  However one has to wonder how much is luck and the extra draft picks the 49ers have gotten, considering how many complete busts he has had in the first round (Solomon Thomas, Reuben Foster, Trey Lance, Javon Kinlaw).   Beane never made a mistake anywhere close to the disastrous trade up for Trey Lance.

6. Wes Snead -- Rams -- one Super Bowl victory but mortgaged the future for it.

7. Duke Tobin -- Bengals -- got to one Super Bowl but has not been able to protect Joe Burrow and was extremely lucky to get that Super Bowl.

 

Off to a good start but not yet proven:

 

8. Nick Caserio -- Texans -- masterful job rebuilding the Texans and still has a lot of draft capital.

9. Brad Holmes -- Lions -- only two years on the job so far so will need to see sustained success.

 

I don't know if the OP thinks Beane should be fired but you certainly aren't getting any of these guys to come to Buffalo.

 

 

 

Edited April 5 by Billy Claude

[Ponch]

2 hours ago, Sharky7337 said:

He hasn't earned criticism?

Snarky, let’s hire you! 

[msw2112]

1 hour ago, Aussie Joe said:

I’ve been thinking that he has got a little lucky this off-season with Miller and Knox agreeing to pretty unlikely pay cuts IMO..

 

I wonder if he still trades Diggs if those pay cuts don’t happen? 
 

 

 

Perhaps getting those guys to take pay cuts was a credit to Beane's talent and not luck.  He rewarded and took care of those guys when the arrow was pointing up for them and they returned the favor by taking one for Beane and the team when the arrow wasn't.  In doing so, both guys showed that they were team-first guys and that's the kind of guy Beane wants on the roster.  Perhaps Diggs was no longer a team-first guy and now he's no longer on the roster.

 

It's widely known that most employees will take less money if they are treated well and like the culture where they work.  Beane (along with McDermott and the rest of the Bills staff) have worked hard to create just such a culture.  That's likely why guys are willing to take pay cuts to stick around, or, in some cases, sign for the Bills for less than they can get elsewhere.  In some cases, the money gap is just too large and guys move on.  Beane is often very open to letting guys test the market to see what they're worth before pressuring them to re-sign with the Bills.  In the cases of Edmunds and Davis, the money was too good elsewhere and they parted ways with the Bills on good terms.  For Epenesa and guys like Milano a couple of years ago, they tested the market and liked what was available in Buffalo, and they stayed.  I suspect that both could have made more money elsewhere.

 

Beane is not perfect and has taken appropriate criticism (see Basham, Boogie and Ford, Cody), but overall, he's done an excellent job building and maintaining a winning team, among the best in the NFL, in a market that isn't considered the most attractive one to live in/play in.

Edited April 5 by msw2112

[uticaclub]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Some of us did not like the 2022 offseason at the time and it has proven to be pretty much an unmitigated disaster:

 

Free Agent signings:

Jordan Phillips - $5m

Tim Settle - $9m

Daquan Jones - $14m

Von Miller - $120m

Roger Saffold - $6.25m

Ryan Bates - $17m

OJ Howard - $3.5m

Jameson Crowder - $2m

 

Extension:

Stefon Diggs - $96m

 

First round pick:

Kaiir Elam

 

 

I know he had some decent success with some of his later picks - Cook, Bernard, Benford - but it is by any standards a bit of a disaster of an offseason.

 

And this is the offseason that “Big Baller Beane” picked up stream

[SoonerBillsFan]

Beane stated early this offseason he is learning, and to me he has proven he is.  Parting ways with so many older, high paid players that are fan and locker room favorites is a big step. Punt kicking that assclown Diggs is another big step.

 

I want to see how this draft pans out as well as post June 1st.  I am excited to be honest. 

Edited April 5 by SoonerBillsFan

[Nephilim17]

Beane's assembled a very good but not great team. That's something. He needs to get more elite players in drafts (hard when you're drafting lower) and he needs to be more careful with extending aging players.

 

McDermott needs far better playoff defense.

 

I'd say if he and McDermott don't win it all or get very close in 3 or 4 years they will both be replaced. But who knows.

[78thealltimegreat]

1 hour ago, MasterStrategist said:

McD and Beane are on the same level to me, tier 2.  They are very good/would get hired instantly by another team.

 

They just haven't proven to be able to:

1. Coach: Make necessary adjustments/get us over the hump in playoffs

 

2. Beane: outside of the Allen pick and Diggs trade, he hasn't drafted any "superstars".  Looking at other top-tier teams, who have multiple superstars, he has put together very good teams/depth.

 

Coach needs to improve, but so does Beane.  He needs to find a superstar in one of these drafts, ideally this year's.  I've also had an issue with Beane DL acquisitions, agree with his philosophy, but he has striked out alot (draft and FA).  Ignored WRs early in draft, and didn't prioritize OL until LY.

 

Beane and Coach aren't the problem, but we need to get better talent and execute when It matters.  They need to be better I'd we want a SB

You aren’t wrong 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

I think Knox is going to have a bounce back season especially w/ the Diggs trade happening. I wouldn’t count him out. He had one off year