Does Beane's serious and concerted effort to trade for AB change your perspective on Beane & OBD?

[freddyjj]

excerpt from my response in other thread

 

So my takeaways from all this:

1. Beane and McD have prioritized improving the WR position.  This is key as when OBD was faced with same issue last year all they did prior to season was sign a JAG in Kerley and drafted 2 smurfs in Rd 7.   They must see the need for a veteran WR that can have immediate impact this year.  This is a good development.
2. The locker room must be sensing that 2019 is not a rebuild year as they see management looking to add a difference maker of the largest magnitude.  OBD has to try and win now in Josh Allen's rookie deal.
3. Look for the Bills to add Vets at OL, TE and WR in FA or trade before 3/13 as today the Bills have lowest payroll at all 3 positions.  Beane is aggressive and will move on to next priority.

Personally not a fan of AB.  So not upset.   Glad we didn't have to rewrite a deal to get him here and restart the cap jail engine!

[One Buffalo]

Some reflections from Joe B that I agree with-

 

https://www.wkbw.com/sports/bills/joe-b-what-the-antonio-brown-non-deal-says-about-the-buffalo-bills

 

Quote

It's fair to re-evaluate your preconceived notions about the Bills and how they'll choose to build their roster around Josh Allen. And perhaps more importantly, as long as the GM of the team is Brandon Beane, it's now okay to think big -- as long as there is some value to be had in the discussion.

 

[BarleyNY]

Beane and McD have talked about the kinds of people they are and want on this team. I’m not looking for a team of choir boys.  That’s not what this is about.  And I want to win.  But AB is the antithesis of what they’ve said they want.  They aren’t walking the talk and I’m disappointed.  That comes more from them BSing everyone as opposed to just giving us all a more honest and reasonable assessment of their approach. 

[papazoid]

hard to figure beane out

 

earlier this week he brought in cornerback Kevin Johnson who was rated the worst coverage corner in the league for 2017 by pff and missed all but 1 game in 2018 due to a pair of concussions.....the guy sucks

 

then he almost pulls off a trade for a superstar WR

[CuddyDark]

No. It make me more resolute in thinking he's not a real GM. He's a nepotism hire. He's in over his head. What a dumb trade. Give up 9 and a 3rd for 20 and a player who must be traded. They should give us a 3rd just to take him off their books.

[Dr. K]

1 hour ago, MAJBobby said:

Makes me think they may actually try to field a respective offense.  But will wait and see how it plays out.

respectable

[Dr. K]

12 minutes ago, One Buffalo said:

Some reflections from Joe B that I agree with-

 

https://www.wkbw.com/sports/bills/joe-b-what-the-antonio-brown-non-deal-says-about-the-buffalo-bills

 

 

Great commentary by Joe B

[GottaRun]

I'm real curious if this means renewals are down.  An attempt at a big splashy move the week before the renewal period ends to try and prompt people to buy.  Would have felt kind of like the day Owens signed.

[K-9]

It did, but not in a positive way. I’m concerned they made a serious offer for a quitter like AB. Maybe they were convinced a change of scenery was all he needed; that his discipline when it came to his work ethic was enough to convince them he has the commensurate football character and that he’d me even more motivated with a new deal and team. That makes sense.

 

But Brown broke the code by quitting, an unforgivable sin imo, and they still went after him.

[Ramza86]

In terms of talent...im glad he was pursued. 

 

In terms of who this guy is as a man....im not glad he was close to being a Bill.

 

Last thing this team needs is a diva, crybaby opening his big mouth when things arent going his way.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2019 by Ramza86

[4_kidd_4]

51 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

Let them laugh. Jeez, people need to get a grip

 

 

 

Oh it certainly doesn’t bother me, it’s just the way it is.  

 

Some of those tweets are hilarious, esp this one;

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/AronYohannes/status/1103881597764268033?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1103881597764268033&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2F

 

[transplantbillsfan]

2 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

No, because I already had a very high opinion of him before this.  

 

I knew he was fully capable of making a move like this, and I fully believed prior to this they are aggressively building a team to win.  

 

Loved him before, love him still.  Beane is has done a great job so far, my confidence in him has never been higher.

 

I had a very high opinion of Beane before this.

 

I still do.

 

This just shifts my perspective a bit on him.

 

I really didn't think we would make a serious run at AB because of how much of a documented locker-room issue he's been over the last couple years--face-timing after a win, walking out at the end of week 17, the way he's handling things with the team, etc.

 

Now that we have, it certainly makes me think culture isn't as important with Beane and McDermott as I thought it was.

 

It also makes me think, despite Beane's comments as the offseason began about us being relatively judicious with our offseason moves in Free Agency with all our freed up CAP space should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

And it tells me the McBeane regime is moving into the "win-now!!!" stage rather than the "rebuild primarily while trying to win" stage we were clearly in last year and the year before.

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

It tells me that he thinks all the top WR’s in this draft are high 2nd rd picks like I do. I wouldnt be surprised if we tried to trade for another WR’s. I’m 100% sure that AB wanted to be the highest paid WR in the NFL at 31 years old and Beanie then said OK.....BYE.....

 

 

 

[Alphadawg7]

1 minute ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I had a very high opinion of Beane before this.

 

I still do.

 

This just shifts my perspective a bit on him.

 

I really didn't think we would make a serious run at AB because of how much of a documented locker-room issue he's been over the last couple years--face-timing after a win, walking out at the end of week 17, the way he's handling things with the team, etc.

 

Now that we have, it certainly makes me think culture isn't as important with Beane and McDermott as I thought it was.

 

It also makes me think, despite Beane's comments as the offseason began about us being relatively judicious with our offseason moves in Free Agency with all our freed up CAP space should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

And it tells me the McBeane regime is moving into the "win-now!!!" stage rather than the "rebuild primarily while trying to win" stage we were clearly in last year and the year before.

 

I don't know that "culture" isn't as important because of this inquiry into AB.  I think it shows more that the media and fan base may be over exaggerating the potential Brown issues.  

 

Fans and media like to over react to comments.  But on the field, Brown has a reputation as being all about Football and one of the hardest workers in the NFL. He is getting all the negativity in this situation, however, what is too often over looked is Big Bens role and Tomlins.  Once a player feels betrayed or disrespected, its not unusual for them to react to it.  Tomlin has had a long reputation of not handling his locker room better, and Big Ben has a long reputation of being kind of a deuche and not the easiest to get along with.  

 

So, I think too many people want to cast stones and paint Brown as a locker room killer without knowing everything.  I see a lot of comments on how he quit on his team the last week, but there are two sides to the story and AB tells it very different.  Everyone discredits his version without having any real insight.  

 

In the end, I have no doubt that Beane did his due diligence on AB, heavy due diligence, and felt that the concerns are not as big as the media and fans are painting them and had confidence that his work ethic and obsession with winning would mix in well with what they want and that McD's command of the locker room would be a good environment for him.  

[LABILLBACKER]

The deal didn't make sense. There's no way Mr. Big Chest would want to come to small market Buffalo. Then factor in all the horror stories about AB. Beane had to be aware of all this before  the Tuesday talks started. On top of all this, his character would've been tough on a young developing qb and the locker room. I appreciate Beane made the effort but if this expensive trade had gone through I think it would've turn out disastrous. 

[CaptnCoke11]

Throws out we only want choir boys drum people on here beat to death 

[transplantbillsfan]

3 hours ago, Cash said:

Given how it turned out, not much.  (And I haven't seen any credible speculation about what the trade compensation was yet.)  There's probably a price point at which AB would've committed to playing for the Bills next year.  There certainly was for Shady when we traded for him - he was very upset by that trade until we gave him a new deal, then it was all smiles.  

 

If the Bills had gone all-out to get Brown regardless of cost, that would concern me.  The Bills are at LEAST a year away from being a "win-now" team.  I certainly don't mind the team pursuing one of the top players (ever) at a position of need, but there's a point at which the price is no longer worth it.

 

I disagree.

 

I think this is an indication that plans are to "win-now."

3 hours ago, vorpma said:

Are you basing this post on your conversation via hotline to Brandon Beane's desk and his desire to bring you into Bill's stratagy discussions or merely on sceptical media reporting trying to create some excitement on a slow news day?

3 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

Makes me think they may actually try to field a respective offense.  But will wait and see how it plays out.

 

I think this is a pretty damn good indication that's priority #1 this offseason.

[Cash]

29 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I disagree.

 

I think this is an indication that plans are to "win-now."

 

To clarify, I'm talking about what the Bills SHOULD do, not necessarily what they ARE doing.  Last year's team was a loooooong way away from being a contender.  More than a full offseason away, in my opinion.

[transplantbillsfan]

3 hours ago, CuddyDark said:

No. It make me more resolute in thinking he's not a real GM. He's a nepotism hire. He's in over his head. What a dumb trade. Give up 9 and a 3rd for 20 and a player who must be traded. They should give us a 3rd just to take him off their books.

 

Was that what the compensation was?

 

Where'd you hear that?

 

I don't think that's bad at all, actually.

[transplantbillsfan]

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

I don't know that "culture" isn't as important because of this inquiry into AB.  I think it shows more that the media and fan base may be over exaggerating the potential Brown issues.  

 

Fans and media like to over react to comments.  But on the field, Brown has a reputation as being all about Football and one of the hardest workers in the NFL. He is getting all the negativity in this situation, however, what is too often over looked is Big Bens role and Tomlins.  Once a player feels betrayed or disrespected, its not unusual for them to react to it.  Tomlin has had a long reputation of not handling his locker room better, and Big Ben has a long reputation of being kind of a deuche and not the easiest to get along with.  

 

So, I think too many people want to cast stones and paint Brown as a locker room killer without knowing everything.  I see a lot of comments on how he quit on his team the last week, but there are two sides to the story and AB tells it very different.  Everyone discredits his version without having any real insight.  

 

In the end, I have no doubt that Beane did his due diligence on AB, heavy due diligence, and felt that the concerns are not as big as the media and fans are painting them and had confidence that his work ethic and obsession with winning would mix in well with what they want and that McD's command of the locker room would be a good environment for him.  

 

I agree with a lot of this.  The problem is that whatever due diligence Beane did on AB, if the reports that Brown wouldn't show up in Buffalo are true, then Beane's due diligence either led him astray or this was an example of him rolling the dice on an uber talented player assuming he would just "fall in line" once he got absorbed into Buffalo.

 

I hope it's the latter more than the former.

[BuffaloBillsGospel]

4 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

It didn't happen, but there's no denying now our very serious pursuit of arguably the best WR in the NFL for what likely would have been for a relatively hefty price.

 

No one really was talking about the possibility of that trade as a serious thing and I'm sure many questioned whether Brown is a Beane/McDermott type guy.

 

Does it change your perspective on Beane, what we're going to do in Free Agency, McDermott's Bills` culture and the outlook of out 2019 season?

 

 

It caught me by surprise because up until now I believed what Beane has been telling the media and fans " you don't have to have a #1 WR in todays NFL", if he thought that were true there would have been no need to go out and get AB here. So WR at 9 could be a real possibility if the Bills aren't able to land one in FA or through trade even though I don't think any of these WR are a #1 guy and the ones I feel strong about are 2nd rounders or possibly late 1sts. I don't think much changes in FA, I think we'll swing for the fences on OL help whether that be Darryl Williams, Rodger Saffold, Matt Paradis, Quinton Spain or Mitch Morse I fully expect them to nab 1 or more offensive lineman imo.

[ndirish1978]

Changes my opinion of what a "process guy" is. Surprised we almost made that move. I guess Beane wasn't joking when he said they weren't looking for choir boys.

[JoPar_v2]

2 minutes ago, ndirish1978 said:

Changes my opinion of what a "process guy" is. Surprised we almost made that move. I guess Beane wasn't joking when he said they weren't looking for choir boys.

 

And thank god he wasn’t kidding. 

[Alphadawg7]

7 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

I agree with a lot of this.  The problem is that whatever due diligence Beane did on AB, if the reports that Brown wouldn't show up in Buffalo are true, then Beane's due diligence either led him astray or this was an example of him rolling the dice on an uber talented player assuming he would just "fall in line" once he got absorbed into Buffalo.

 

I hope it's the latter more than the former.

 

Well this is a process before he can talk to the player too.  

[Real McClappy]

Just glad AB made it clear he would not play for us before Beane signed. 

 

So glad this fell through in all honesty.

 

AB is a friggin headcase.

 

Have fun with Gruden.  

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2019 by Real McCoy

[BillsSB2020]

4 hours ago, BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P said:

absolutely. I liked the haymaker Beane tried to swing at the NFL. Didn't think he'd ever do it before yesterday.. but he's showing he's aware we're reaching a critical point in his rebuild when I was worried he was going to keep milking a rebuild with zero vets.

This 100 percent. I'm glad Beane is willing to take a shot on a marquee player with some character issues. This is a football team, not an advocacy group.

 

I'm disappointed how things turned out and how it may affect other FA's. At the same time, I have MORE faith that Beane knows he's got to think outside the "culture" box in order to become a winner.

[Bing Bong]

Just now, BillsSB2020 said:

This 100 percent. I'm glad Beane is willing to take a shot on a marquee player with some character issues. This is a football team, not an advocacy group.

 

I'm disappointed how things turned out and how it may affect other FA's. At the same time, I have MORE faith that Beane knows he's got to think outside the "culture" box in order to become a winner.

shows confidence in his staff and locker room as well. He believes it's strong.. now I can believe it's strong.

 

I couldn't say that before when it felt like we were shying away from anything scary.

[transplantbillsfan]

3 hours ago, One Buffalo said:

Some reflections from Joe B that I agree with-

 

https://www.wkbw.com/sports/bills/joe-b-what-the-antonio-brown-non-deal-says-about-the-buffalo-bills

 

 

 

This deserves reposting.  One of Joe B's more thoughtful and accurate columns I'd say.

[DCbillsfan]

I'm encouraged that Beane explored the possibility of acquiring a great receiver.  I'm also encouraged that he found out that Brown would not play for Buffalo and withdrew any further interest in acquiring Brown.  He didn't "force" the trade by fixating on Brown the player and ignoring all other "stuff".

 

 

[without a drought]

I would definitely give him a participation trophy.

[Buddy Hix]

The more I think about it the more I like that Beane was willing to ditch all the culture talk for an elite player. I prefer hardworking, nose to the grindstone types, too, but I’m willing to overlook a ‘me first’ diva when they are the best at what they do.

[CuddyDark]

1 hour ago, transplantbillsfan said:

 

Was that what the compensation was?

 

Where'd you hear that?

 

I don't think that's bad at all, actually.

So basically a 2nd and a 3rd for a player they must traded isn't a bad trade? It's one of the dumbest trades ever made if it goes through.

[BillsFan17]

To a degree, yes. 

 

You preach culture and character. You ship out players that dont adhere to your "culture." We all buy in, then you turn around possibly land one of the bigger headcases in the game.

 

Dont get me wrong, I wanted AB and badly, but it sends a mixed message.

[Perk71]

No

[Bookie Man]

12 hours ago, TheTruthHurts said:

The Bills are below the minimum cash spending over a 4 year period that the NFL requires every team to spend. They have to spend a lot of cash this offseason. They will. The only question is on what? I'm glad it wasn't on AB. I hope we don't spend cash on WR's honestly. 

 

Expect the Bills to be very active. 

 

 

Thanks for dropping that piece of knowledge. I didn't know there was a minimum. Any idea how far they are under? I'd love to the Beane go on a spree.

[Success]

Beane knows what he’s doing.  He has the potential to be a top GM in the league, imo.

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

6 hours ago, BillsFan17 said:

To a degree, yes. 

 

You preach culture and character. You ship out players that dont adhere to your "culture." We all buy in, then you turn around possibly land one of the bigger headcases in the game.

 

Dont get me wrong, I wanted AB and badly, but it sends a mixed message.

 

This is my thinking as well. 

 

We want "process", high character type guys***

 

*Unless that player is Lesean Mccoy.  We'll ignore his off field issues, and the precipitous drop in on field production (combined with his grossly overpaid salary). 

 

**Or that player is Antonio Brown. He's probably the biggest locker room cancer in the league right now. 

 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

I dont think they were that serious. Schefter said the Bills didn't think they had a decent shot at Brown and were just doing due diligence.

 

This does change my feelings about Beane a little bit. I do like that he was trying to get talent but going after a declining WR who is delusional is concerning in that he doesn't fit the culture and why get a guy whose past his prime when were arent close to contending. Its not like we need just one more guy to win the SB, we are in the middle of a major rebuild and the whole thing doesn't make sense.

[BillsFan1988]

12 hours ago, Logic said:

I already am a big fan of Brandon Beane. I think he is going to prove to be an EXCELLENT GM.

That being said, I'm actually a bit perplexed at the attempt to get Brown. 

From a culture standpoint, it doesn't seem like a fit.

From a "having a head case WR yelling in Allen's ear every time he doesn't get the ball" perspective, it doesn't seem like a fit.

Considering McDermott recently says he wants a WR that can work well with Allen, catch passes, then put the ball down and line up and do it again, it doesn't seem like a fit.

Considering McDermott and Beane recently talked down the notion of needing a "#1 WR" in their offense and given the fact that Daboll's Erhardt-Perkins offense historically DOESN'T need a #1 WR, it doesn't seem like a fit.

I fully grant that adding Brown would be a HUGE boost to the Bills offense from a pure talent standpoint. But from all the other angles I just mentioned, it seems like a weird move.

One thing it does is show us all that without a shadow of a doubt, Beane views 2019 as the year to strike and really build up the talent level on this team, and is willing to take risks to accomplish that goal.

I'm beggining to start to like Beane but he should have read the tea leaves on this situation.  It was a major miscalculation on his part . Brown wasn't coming here and other players like won't come here either until we prove to be a competent organization that wins games regularly. When I say players like him I mean divas.

 

Btw great post I agree with what u are saying .

 

 

[Ol Dirty B]

1 hour ago, Success said:

Beane knows what he’s doing.  He has the potential to be a top GM in the league, imo.

 

His mentor is certainly a pillar of hope lol.