Getty General Manager Brandon Beane of the Buffalo Bills waves to fans at Highmark Stadium on August 13, 2022.
While the Buffalo Bills surprised fans and analysts by trading up to two spots to pick Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid at No. 25 during the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the move apparently wrecked the Dallas Cowboys‘ plan, and general manager Brandon Beane knows it.
Beane initially told reporters that it would be more likely for the Bills to trade down since they didn’t have many first-round grades in the bottom half of Day 1. “If Dalton was not there, we would have traded back,” Beane explained after trading with the Jaguars to select Kincaid on Thursday, April 27. “We had a good feeling that Dallas would take him (at 26), and we just really liked him and just felt he would be a great fit in our offense.”
During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Beane trading their No. 27 and No. 130 picks to the Jacksonville Jaguars was called one of the “Alpha moves” of the night, and he was asked, “Outside of the getting the guy who you wanted, a big physical explosive tight end, how good does it feel sticking it up Dallas’ a**?”
“How good does it feel making the alpha move of the night Brandon Beane”
Mad Mel Kiper #PMSDraftSpectacular
Beane, of course, couldn’t help but laugh at the question and sidestepped from giving a straight answer. “Yeah, I don’t know about that. But we love this kid and we’re excited to get him. We felt strongly if we didn’t move up, that he wouldn’t be a Buffalo Bill.”
In another section of the show, Beane said he historically moves up when there’s a player they really want as they did last year with Kaiir Elam, two years ago with Tremaine Edmunds, and to grab Josh Allen in 2018. “It’s just my personality. I hate myself for giving up picks but I always say, ‘How disappointed am I going to be if I lose the guy?’ We just had a strong feeling that Dallas would take this guy right in front of us if we didn’t go get him.”
Pat McAfee Said the Cowboys ‘Were Beffudled’ After the Bills Drafted Dalton Kincaid
Trading up for Dalton Kincaid..
“I’ve historically traded up for guys that I really like and we had a strong feeling that Dallas was gonna take him ahead of us”
Brandon Beane #PMSDraftSpectacular
McAfee says that while cameras didn’t show what was going on in the Cowboys draft room in Kansas City when they selected Kincaid, “You had them befuddled,” the host said. “That’s what I heard. So, that’s gotta count as a win.”
Beane tells McAfee that he first called the Giants to talk to his “good buddy Joe Schoen” about trading up, but former Bills exec turned general manager informed him that they were already trading up from No. 25 to take Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks at No. 24.
“As soon as I heard that, I called Jacksonville,” Beane explained in a separate presser. “Right away, they weren’t sure, they waited until they got on the clock, talked it through and got it done.”
The Bills Trolled Skip Bayless After Snagging TE Dalton Kincaid
The Cowboys ended up selecting Michigan defensive tackle Mazi Smith at No. 26, which CBS Sports analyst Pete Prisco gave a rare “A” grade, as did NFL.com‘s Chad Reuter, but FS1’s “Undisputed” co-host Skip Bayles was livid with the Bills’ move.
Bayless tweeted, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I WAS ONE PICK AWAY FROM DALTON KINCAID — AND BUFFALO LEAP-FROGGED MY COWBOYS AND STOLE HIM RIGHT OUT FROM UNDER JERRY’S UPTURNED NOSE. DEVASTATING.”
Bayless also wasn’t too thrilled about Smith. The NFL analyst tweeted, “I’m just not sure about Mazi Smith. I’ve HEARD good things about him. I didn’t SEE enough good things when I watched Michigan. But he can be a force. He is a need. I’ll take him over Michael Mayer. But THE pick was Kincaid.”
The Bills official Twitter account retweeted Bayless’ tweet from earlier in the evening that read, “Please let Dalton Kincaid fall to my Dallas Cowboys,” and shared a short video of Bayless’ contentious co-host Shannon Sharpe getting real hyped.