Q&A With Bills’ McDermott, Beane
The Bills are in the midst of a 17-season playoff drought, but the new regime is hopeful that things will be turning around fast. New head coach Sean McDermott and GM Brandon Beane have some history together thanks to their time with the Panthers and the duo is ready to change the culture in Buffalo. During a conference call with Peter King of The MMQB, both men discussed their shared past and the future of the franchise. Here’s a look at some of the highlights:
Is Buffalo’s quarterback of the future on the roster now?
McDermott: He is, in Tyrod Taylor. And then when you look at the competition we have behind him. We’ve drafted Nathan Peterman, we’ve added T.J. Yates, and then Cardale Jones in the draft a year ago. I’m not sure there is a team out there that has the depth that we do at the quarterback position. So we feel good about that. We’re anxious to see how Tyrod develops in his third year as a starter in a new system, a system that he has some familiarity with in terms of [new Buffalo offensive coordinator] Rick Dennison’s system in Baltimore a few years back with Gary Kubiak. 
Beane: We have open competition everywhere. Obviously it is a quarterback league, but with Tyrod … He has some tools, his speed, he is tough to game-plan for. He has some strengths and he is still a young starter in this league. It is going to be a competition for every position, to let them fight it out and earn the right to start on this team.
[RELATED: Bills Name Joe Schoen Assistant GM]
How do you both feel about being tied at the hip?
Beane: That was part of the attraction of the job. There were a lot of attractions, but I don’t have to get to know the guy I am going to be working side by side with personally, away from the office. I already know that. I have that box checked. I know that this guy is going to have my back, and he knows I am going to have his back. And that’s a huge thing in this business. We know how important it is to trust each other. It’s so funny when people ask, Who’s got control? Who has the 53-man roster? Honestly, we don’t care about it. We are going to make decisions together and we are going to talk about everything that affects the roster, the staff, and that is what’s exciting. You don’t get that everywhere. You read about dysfunction in various organizations, and that is part of the reason I am here. I did not want to leave Carolina for something I was unsure of. This seemed like as sure a thing as there can be in the NFL, to partner up with Sean.
McDermott: Sometimes you get a chance and you have to take it. I wanted him to know that there is a soft landing on this side because of his familiarity with me. If we are tied at the hip, there is no one I would rather be tied at the hip with than Brandon.
Why should a Bills fan believe in you both?
Beane: We have to keep the same mindset we’ve had our whole career. Keep our head down, work on ourselves, learn our strengths, learn our weaknesses, and then obviously know our division. And then one of the first things you want to do for success is win your division. We feel bad for the city of Buffalo. These fans have had to endure a 17-year deal, but we’re focused on being part of the solution with the whole organization to get it right.
Bills Name Joe Schoen Assistant GM
Less than a week after the Bills tabbed Brandon Beane as their next GM, the club has made former Dolphins director of player personnel Joe Schoen its assistant GM, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Florio adds that Miami could have blocked the move, but Dolphins executive vice-president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum allowed Schoen to take a promotion with a division rival in order to foster an atmosphere of upward mobility in Miami.
Schoen has steadily worked his way through the front office ranks, having began his professional career as a scouting assistant with the Panthers in 2001. He spent seven years in Carolina before joining the Dolphins as a national scout in 2008, and Miami promoted him to assistant director of college scouting in 2013 before bumping him up to director of player personnel one year later. During his collegiate days, he enjoyed a standout career as a wide receiver at DePauw University (via a press release from the Dolphins announcing his 2014 promotion).
Schoen is now well-positioned to become a GM himself if he enjoys some success during his tenure with Buffalo. Of course, the Bills enter 2017 with a completely new crop of top decision-makers after hiring head coach Sean McDermott earlier this year and replacing departed GM Doug Whaley with Beane a few days ago. While there have been some conflicting reports as to whether McDermott or Beane will have control over the Bills’ 53-man roster — team owner Terry Pegula tried to set the record straight on Friday by announcing that Beane will have the final say — the longtime coworkers will certainly collaborate on roster construction. Schoen, another young front office talent, will now have the opportunity to join that collaboration.
Bills Giving Air Force WR Jalen Robinette Tryout
Jalen Robinette looked like a player set to be at worst a Day 3 pick entering draft week, but after a Department of Defense 11th-hour ruling, the standout Air Force wide receiver went undrafted. The reversal of a policy that allowed Navy’s Keenan Reynolds a path toward the Ravens’ roster as a rookie meant Robinette and fellow military academy-developed prospects could not be drafted.
But the Bills are taking a look at the yards-per-catch dynamo as part of their rookie camp, Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post notes. One of 25 rookies the Bills are examining this weekend, Robinette may well have to wait until the 2019 season if this Buffalo setup ends up working out.
The Eagles also invited Air Force safety Weston Steelhammer to their rookie camp, and the Cardinals extended the same opportunity to linebacker Ryan Watson, per Jhabvala. Both of those rookie camps are also unfolding this weekend.
The new policy, similar to the one that required former Air Force (and current Falcons) lineman Ben Garland to serve two years before joining the 2012 Broncos, would force these talents to serve for 24 months before being eligible to pursue a professional sports career. Garland signed with the 2010 Broncos as a UDFA and was placed on the team’s reserve/military list before returning two years later.
However, Jhabvala reports that Robinette’s agent, David Lisko, is attempting to get the receiver and the rest of this class of military academy athletes grandfathered in under the old D.O.D. policy, since that’s the one the athletes were operating under this offseason. These athletes would need to have a professional contract to be eligible for the Ready Reserve program, which allows for the delay of service time. Teams at the most keep a few rookie-tryout players out of the dozens generally invited, so the trio has an uphill battle this weekend.
That said, someone like Robinette could be appealing since he was a projected draft pick. The 6-foot-3 target averaged 27.4 yards per catch — en route to 959 yards and six receiving touchdowns — last season.
Brandon Beane To Have Final Roster Say
As reports indicated earlier this week, new Bills GM Brandon Beane will indeed have control over the 53-man roster. Terry Pegula confirmed as much Friday. “Brandon’s gonna have the 53,” the owner said, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “Him and Sean (McDermott) will obviously collaborate on any decisions.” The 39-year-old first-time GM, though, plans to work extensively alongside McDermott, with whom he obviously functioned alongside with the Panthers.
Beane and McDermott have worked together since 2011, save for a near-four-month period when McDermott took the Bills job and Beane stayed in Charlotte. The former Panthers assistant GM will still have the final say, even though the new Bills HC arrived in Buffalo first.
- A slew of Bills free agency moves shouldn’t be expected, Beane said today, per Joe Buscaglia of WKBW (on Twitter). In a statement not exactly contrary to most new GMs’ philosophies, Beane plans to build the Bills through the draft (Twitter link, via Buscaglia).
- The Saints invited some familiar names to their rookie minicamp/tryout venue today. Former Jets, Bills and Falcons passer Matt Simms received an invite, as did former Raiders and Buccaneers wideout Louis Murphy and veteran tight end Clay Harbor (all Twitter links via Nick Underhill of The Advocate). Murphy spent the past two seasons with the Bucs but saw injuries limit him to just six games.
Bills Sign Two Draft Picks
Buffalo Bills
Bills Waive Three
The Bills have waived a pair of cornerbacks, Marcus Cromartie and Marcus Roberson, as well as wide receiver Corey Washington, a source tells ESPN.com’s Field Yates (Twitter link).
Both Cromartie and Washington joined the Bills earlier this offseason, but they apparently became unnecessary to the organization in the wake of the draft. The Bills used their first-round pick on ex-LSU cornerback Tre’Davious White, thus helping to push Cromartie out. The team then spent its second-rounder on former East Carolina receiver Zay Jones, which spelled the end for Washington. Neither Cromartie nor Washington has accomplished much in the NFL, with the former having started in one of 21 appearances and totaling 18 tackles as a 49er from 2014-16; meanwhile, the latter’s only action came during a 14-game, five-catch 2014 with the Giants.
Like Cromartie and Washington, Roberson also carries a fairly unimpressive pro resume (and White’s selection didn’t do him any favors, either). Roberson first signed with the Bills last year and picked up a meager two tackles in seven games. He saw more time with the Rams from 2014-15, starting in six of 25 games and picking off his lone pass in the first of those two years.
Bills Could Further Shake Up Front Office
- After the Ravens surprisingly didn’t add a wide receiver at any point during the draft, the club could conceivably turn to the trade market in its search for a pass-catcher, as Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun and Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com write. Both scribes point to New England’s Danny Amendola and Los Angeles’ Dontrelle Inman as logical potential acquisitions, as higher-caliber wideouts such as the Bills’ Sammy Watkins and the Jets’ Eric Decker probably aren’t feasible. It’s not known whether the Ravens are calling teams about wide receivers, but as Zrebiec notes, they’ve gone this route before. In 2010, Baltimore traded two draft picks to Arizona to acquire Anquan Boldin, and one year later, dealt for Buffalo’s Lee Evans.
- The Bills have found a new general manager in former Panthers executive Brandon Beane, but the club has more work to in its front office, according to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. Jim Overdorf, Buffalo’s chief contract negotiator, could be on the chopping block given that Beane’s prior work history is rife with salary cap experience. As such, Beane may look to bring in his own financial staffers instead of relying on Overdorf, who’s handled the Bills’ cap since 2008. As Carucci explains, Buffalo’s roster is full of “bloated contracts”, meaning the next negotiator will have his hands full.
Brandon Beane To Control Bills’ Roster?
Will new Bills GM Brandon Beane have final say over the roster? The team’s public answer could differ from the day-to-day reality.
Coach Sean McDermott, who effectively was in charge of this year’s draft, will cede control of the 53-man roster to Beane, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Bills owner and CEO Terry Pegula will communicate this to the public on Friday, but McDermott will retain final say over the 53-man roster, Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News (Twitter links) hears. This is similar to the Chiefs’ model in which GM John Dorsey has a say in the roster, but everything must get the green light from coach Andy Reid.
Right now, we have conflicting reports from two highly-trusted reporters, so it remains to be seen how things will truly be divvied up between the two men. This offseason, McDermott wrestled control of operations away from former GM Doug Whaley and effectively pushed him out of Buffalo. After seizing that kind of power early on in his tenure, some believed that McDermott would continue to call the shots in the front office. Soon, we should have a better idea of how things will shake out in Western New York.
“During our search for a new general manager, Brandon stood out to Kim [Pegula] and I as he embodies the type of leader and type of person we want in our organization,” Terry Pegula said in a statement earlier this week. “Brandon has excelled in a variety of roles for a Panthers team that has consistently competed at a high-level in this league. We feel his vast understanding and experience in many facets of football operations will be invaluable to our club moving forward.”
Before hiring Beane, the Bills also considered Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, Eagles director of college scouting Trey Brown, and Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine.
Bills Sign LB Carl Bradford
The Bills announced that they’ve free agent linebacker Carl Bradford after hosting him on a visit earlier today.
Bradford, a former draft choice of the Packers, never lived up to his fourth-round billing in Green Bay, as he didn’t appear in a regular season game until his third year in the NFL. After spending his first two campaigns on the inactive list and the practice squad, Bradford finally played in four games for the Packers in 2016 before being waived. The 24-year-old was claimed by the 49ers, with whom he finished out the 2016 campaign.
While Buffalo didn’t add any free agent linebackers to a group that already includes Reggie Ragland, Preston Brown, and Ramon Humber, it did select two ‘backers — Matt Milano (Boston College) and Tanner Vallejo (Boise State) — on Day 3 of the draft. Bradford will likely present the primary competition for those draft picks as the Bills seek to replace some of the production void left by Zach Brown‘s absence.
Because Bradford has only accrued one NFL season, the Bills would hold his rights for the next several years if he makes the roster and plays well. Assuming he sticks for most of the year, Bradford would become a restricted free agent in 2019 and a unrestricted free agent in 2020.
Bills Hire Brandon Beane As GM
The Bills have announced former Panthers executive Brandon Beane as their new general manager. Beane’s contract will run concurrent with that of head coach Sean McDermott, meaning Beane is signed through the 2021 campaign, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Landing on Beane was always considered a likely outcome for Buffalo, especially given Beane’s ties with McDermott. The duo spent time together in Carolina, and will now form a tandem decision-making squad after Buffalo fired general manager Doug Whaley last week.
While it’s unclear who will have the final say over personnel choices and the makeup of the 53-man roster, there’s little doubt that McDermott is now firmly in place as a key operative in the Bills’ structure. Even with Whaley still in place during the draft, McDermott was reportedly essential as Buffalo made its picks. But McDermott’s familiarity with Beane should enable the club to quickly establish a new paradigm as it moves past the Whaley regime.
Beane wasn’t the only candidate for the Bills general manager position, as Buffalo also interviewed three other executives for the vacancy. Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, Eagles director of college scouting Trey Brown, and Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine were also considered for the position.