Getty Bills general manager Brandon Beane at Hard Rock Stadium on September 19, 2021.
After several consecutive heartbreaking playoff losses, the Buffalo Bills are still looking to bring home their first-ever Lombardi Trophy. While the pressure is on for the Bills’ general manager Brandon Beane to finally get quarterback Josh Allen and co. to the Super Bowl this year, he refuses to be narrow-minded in their approach.
During an appearance on “The Jim Rome Show” on Thursday, May 4, Beane opened up about their offseason perspective. “There are some moves we could do that say, ‘Hey, we are just going to go all-in this year and then have a tear down.’ But we’ve been very diligent in how we’ve done the cap and we’re trying to avoid that type of situation,” Beane said, per WGR 550‘s Sal Capaccio.
“We think we’ve got a plan to continue to go for it year after year and hopefully we can find a way to pull that title home for Buffalo here sooner rather than later.”
Beane’s comments received strongly mixed reactions on Twitter. One fan tweeted, “I love hearing this. I want the Bills to be good for 10+ years. There’s so much luck involved in winning a championship it’s dumb to gamble on just one year,” while another person wrote, “What about when it doesn’t work though, which has been every season. At some point, you HAVE TO put all your chips in.”
Another Bills fan tweeted, “As crazy as the rams situation looks I’d take it if it meant getting that chip. Worry about the future in the future. As long as you have a QB you always have a chance.”
Brandon Beane Wants to Avoid What Happened With the Los Angeles Rams
GettyRams quarterback Matthew Stafford and head coach Sean McVay celebrate their Super Bowl win at SoFi Stadium on February 13, 2022.
While it may be tempting to go all-in for a championship, the Los Angeles Rams stand as a cautionary tale. While the Rams won Super Bowl LVI, devoid of cash and picks, Los Angeles went 5-12 last season, and the team continues to face an uphill battle in 2023, as they will pay over $72 million in dead money, per Spotrac.com, for players they were forced to trade or release. To compare, the Bills only have $5.2 million in dead cap money.
ESPN‘s Sarah Barshop wrote last month, “While Rams COO Kevin Demoff made it clear Los Angeles is not punting on the 2023 season, this has been viewed as sort of a set-up year for 2024, when the Rams anticipate having $55 million to $65 million in cap space.”
Barshop included comments from several NFL decision-makers, including Beane, about taking a more disciplined approach to building a roster.
“We’re trying to work our way out so that we don’t have just a tear-down,” Beane said. “And you see that happen from a team here or there like ‘man, we can’t do anymore. We got to get rid of some of these huge salaries and the only way to do it is either try to kick it further down the road, making it harder, or start trading, releasing, and taking those hits.
“We’re trying not to do that, we want to be competitive every single year. And so some years, you’re just not going to be able to go get a big ticket item every year. I know that’s sexy to go do that. And listen, we want as many talented players as we can get, but we’ve got to be fiscally responsible.”
The Bills’ Super Bowl Window Remains Open With QB Josh Allen Healthy
Does anyone else miss watching Josh Allen play football? 🥹
(via @BuffaloBills)
With Allen, 26, leading the Bills for the foreseeable future, it’s hard to imagine their Super Bowl window closing any time soon, a topic discussed by top NFL analysts following Buffalo’s playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, per 13 WHAM.
Rich Eisen said, “They’re going to be a Super Bowl favorite next year as long as Josh Allen is up and active…. Bills, just chill. You’re good. You know. So many teams don’t know. So many teams are here looking to see if they can find that guy. Will Levis, everybody’s like, ‘Can he be the next Josh Allen?’ You have the actual genuine articles.”
While NBC analyst Chris Sims called Allen “one of the best three quarterbacks in the league,” he noted that “there’s just too much on his plate at times,” which is a statement Beane would agree with. Following a flurry of offseason moves, trading up to land pass-catching tight end Dalton Kincaid with their first-round pick and getting a “steal” in guard O’Cyrus Torrence in Round 2 — “So all of it is to make it to where Josh can play quarterback and not feel like he’s got to do everything,” Beane said.