Michael Silver spent the draft in the Bills' war room. Here is his excellent article.

[Logic]

Michael Silver, who has spent time with Sports Illustrated, NFL Network, Yahoo Sports, and helped write several books, spent the NFL draft with the Bills. He wrote this piece about Brandon Beane. I think it's excellent and worth your time. It has tidbits of info not only from this draft, but going back to the Josh Allen draft as well. Also some interesting stuff about Zack Moss. Great stuff. 

Brandon Beane's Lasting Formula to build a champion in Buffalo

 

Quote

“It’s not always obvious to everyone, because he’s a friendly guy, but Brandon is a killer,” said Joe Schoen, who was Beane’s chief lieutenant in Buffalo before being hired as New York Giants general manager in January.

Or, in the words of Bills owner Terry Pegula: “This guy has ice water in his veins.”

 

Quote

“We can just see who’s at the top of our board, and there are positions on each side of the ball we’d like to bolster,” he said. “And if there’s a group of people we feel similarly about and we believe we’ll get one of them eventually — and if someone wants to come up and we can pick up some extra assets — we’d definitely feel comfortable moving back.”

Moving up to take a player, he insisted, was much less likely.

“If I trade up for someone tomorrow,” Beane said, “that means I really love him.”

  

Quote

In the weeks leading up to the [2018] draft, Beane had several conversations with then-Browns GM John Dorsey. The two had worked out a trade to send Tyrod Taylor, the Bills’ incumbent QB, to Cleveland for the first pick in the third round, despite the fact that the Broncos were willing to offer more. Beane believed that Dorsey, in turn, would give him first dibs on securing the fourth overall pick, all things being equal. On numerous occasions, they discussed the framework of a deal that would allow the Bills to move up to No. 4, as long as another team didn’t swoop in with a much sweeter offer.

Then, on the eve of the draft, it all fell apart. Dorsey called and raised his asking price — substantially. Beane angrily ended the call; he would have to find another way to move up. (He and Dorsey, now a senior personnel executive for the Detroit Lions, have since smoothed things over.)

 

Quote

“We’re in a different phase than when I got here, but the core philosophy doesn’t change. You still have to draft, develop and re-sign. People say, ‘Now you change (and go for broke).’ No — that’s not a lasting formula. Yes, we can compete for a Super Bowl now. But we want to have a sustainable model. We’re trying to make a steady run. We don’t want to put it all on 2022 and then be bad in ’23. We have to build a team with the next few years in mind, not just this year.”

It helps that Beane and McDermott are philosophically aligned, on matters ranging from the sustained team-building model to which players fit the Bills’ culture. Even more important, the GM and coach often operate in lockstep with ownership. Terry Pegula faithfully attends draft meetings and asks questions when prospects are being discussed.

“They’re good questions, too,” Schoen said. “He’s very knowledgeable about college football, and he’s the first owner I’ve been around who watches film.”

 

Quote

“The cool thing with (Elam) is he’s a little bit different than Tre,” Beane added. “He has a little more size and length. When we play a quicker, shifty receiver, Tre can cover him, and if we go against a taller, longer receiver, this guy can match up. It gives (defensive coordinator) Leslie Frazier some more versatile options. And it gives you insurance there if Tre is slow coming back. And trust me, Dane ain’t gonna give this thing up easily.”

 

Quote

Though Beane believes that running back Zack Moss, a 2020 third-round selection, will rebound from a disappointing 2021 season to challenge current starter (and 2019 third-rounder) Devin Singletary, the Bills could clearly use some more juice at the position. Had the Bills not landed Elam and stuck with the 25th selection, Iowa State running back Breece Hall would have been under consideration...

 

“We were hoping to add a player with some dynamic trait on offense. RAC (run after catch) was this one’s skill set. He’s not as heavy as Dalvin; he’s not gonna be a short-yardage, pound-it guy. But he’s a wide-zone running back who will find the crease. And look, I think Zack Moss is gonna come back this year and be good. He was coming off (ankle surgery) from after the (2020 first-round playoff victory over the Colts) and couldn’t cut off his left side as well in 2021.”

 

Quote

In this case, Boise State wide receiver Khalil Shakir stood out as the obvious choice. With Shakir still on the board as the fifth round began, Beane began to ponder the possibility of trading up. On Saturday morning, Bears scouting director Jeff King — a former Panthers tight end — texted Beane to broach the possibility of acquiring one of the Bills’ four sixth-round picks. “Call me when the fifth round starts,” Beane replied.

So King did — at the time, Beane was meeting with Cook, the team’s newly drafted running back, in his office. Beane finished the meeting and, five minutes later, returned King’s call. They quickly worked out a trade that allowed the Bills to move up 20 spots in the fifth round, from 168 to 148, while surrendering one of their sixth-round selections (No. 203). Beane then drafted Shakir, a receiver he views as “versatile, smart and tough. His first position is inside, but he can survive on the outside, too. I got a few texts from around the league after that one.”

The gist of those texts: Damn you for taking him. We wanted him.

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Logic

[BillsFan4]

https://www.ballysports.com/national/news/brandon-beane-s-lasting-formula-to-build-a-champion-in-buffalo
 

really good read.

 

Quote

Many of Beane’s biggest moves have come when he has given in to his aggressive nature, from the series of deft maneuvers that netted Allen with the seventh overall pick in 2018 to the 2020 trade for star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, and it’s not a tendency he can easily shed. After all, the man known to many in the Bills Mafia as “BBB” — Big Baller Beane — didn’t earn that nickname for nothing.

 

“It’s not always obvious to everyone, because he’s a friendly guy, but Brandon is a killer,” said Joe Schoen, who was Beane’s chief lieutenant in Buffalo before being hired as New York Giants general manager in January.

 

Or, in the words of Bills owner Terry Pegula: “This guy has ice water in his veins.”

 

 

Quote

‘Freaking out’ over Josh Allen

 

 

In the weeks leading up to the draft, Beane had several conversations with then-Browns GM John Dorsey. The two had worked out a trade to send Tyrod Taylor, the Bills’ incumbent QB, to Cleveland for the first pick in the third round, despite the fact that the Broncos were willing to offer more. Beane believed that Dorsey, in turn, would give him first dibs on securing the fourth overall pick, all things being equal. On numerous occasions, they discussed the framework of a deal that would allow the Bills to move up to No. 4, as long as another team didn’t swoop in with a much sweeter offer.

 

Then, on the eve of the draft, it all fell apart. Dorsey called and raised his asking price — substantially. Beane angrily ended the call; he would have to find another way to move up. (He and Dorsey, now a senior personnel executive for the Detroit Lions, have since smoothed things over.)

Thought this was interesting ⬆️
 

also, they had Allen at #1 and Mayfield at #2

 

Quote

By the time he arrived at the 2018 scouting combine in Indianapolis, Beane had Allen and Mayfield ranked as his top two quarterbacks — in that order — and was intent on getting one of them. The challenge was to find a trade partner in a highly competitive market, with numerous teams also seeking quarterbacks.

 

“I started talking to people at the combine about moving up, and nobody in the top 10 was giving me anything,” said Beane, whose response was to deal tackle Cordy Glenn to the Cincinnati Bengals and swap the No. 21 pick for No. 12 as part of that trade. “Once I got from 21 to 12, now people were like, ‘We can talk.’”

 

Five days later, while a Bills contingent was conducting a private workout with Allen in Wyoming, the Jets — who were also in the QB market — swung a deal with the Indianapolis Colts to move from the No. 6 to No. 3. “That,” Beane said, “was a kick in the you-know-what.”

Lots of interesting little tidbits from Schoen

Quote

Said Schoen: “Early on, (McDermott) was heavily invested (in the personnel process). The more we earned his trust, the more hands-off he was. It’s a testament to him that he and his coaches did such a great job of clearly defining what they were looking for, and then in developing the players we brought in.”

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by BillsFan4

[H2o]

This just simply is not true. He traded away our 4th Round pick!!! 

[Logic]

I just posted this article too. Whoops!

I thought the Zack Moss stuff (about his injury last year) was really interesting too.

 

All in all, a great read that I highly recommend to everyone.

[BADOLBILZ]

 

Beane's lasting formula:

 

Draft an elite QB and then do a bunch of other things that make varying degrees of sense.

 

Presto.

 

Not to show too much behind the draft curtain but here is the 3rd round concoction he came up with per Joe Marino:

 

 

 

 

[Shaw66]

Great read.  Thanks.

[Watching since 1964]

Great insights into the draft…thanks for posting.👍

[1st&Goal]

The "BBB" moniker is definitely deserved!

 

[jkeerie]

Very good read.  I'm hoping Moss rebounds and we keep him.  Taiwan Jones has been good on special teams, but I'd like one of these young guys we picked up replace him.

[Peter]

Thank you for sharing. 

 

Very interesting.

 

Also, some additional insight re Moss and that he was coming back from an injury last year and BBB expects him to play well this year . . . . 

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

Excellent article!

 

I can't get over the fact that the Browns were willing to give up MORE than pick #65 for Tyrod Taylor, but that Beane was willing to only take the 3rd rd pick with the promise that we would have the inside track on trading for #4 overall. And then they reneged!

 

Edit

Whoops. It was the BRONCOS that were willing to give up more than #65 overall. Still can't believe there was that much of a market for TT (and I like the guy more than most on here). 

Edited May 2, 2022 by DabillsDaBillsDaBills
correcting my mistake

[Captain Hindsight]

I want to know what the Broncos offered for Tyrod 

[jkeerie]

3 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

Excellent article!

 

I can't get over the fact that the Browns were willing to give up MORE than pick #65 for Tyrod Taylor, but that Beane was willing to only take the 3rd rd pick with the promise that we would have the inside track on trading for #4 overall. And then they reneged!

You misread it.  The Broncos were willing to give up more than the Browns.  Beane thought he'd curry good favor with Dorsey by letting them have Tyrod for less.  Dorsey turned out to be a fink on draft day.  I'm sure that's a lesson learned by Beane.  Take the bird in the hand.

[mannc]

5 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

Excellent article!

 

I can't get over the fact that the Browns were willing to give up MORE than pick #65 for Tyrod Taylor, but that Beane was willing to only take the 3rd rd pick with the promise that we would have the inside track on trading for #4 overall. And then they reneged!

No, i think it said a different team was willing to give up more…but yeah, still hard to believe.

[BillsFan4]

34 minutes ago, Logic said:

I just posted this article too. Whoops!

I thought the Zack Moss stuff (about his injury last year) was really interesting too.

 

All in all, a great read that I highly recommend to everyone.

Looks like we were both creating our threads at almost exactly the same time! Within 1 minute of each other. yours was first but it must’ve posted after I started creating this one because I did look + search before posting it 😂

 

Mods feel free to merge my thread with his. 

 

8 minutes ago, Captain Hindsight said:

I want to know what the Broncos offered for Tyrod 

Me too! I’m thinking maybe a late 2nd? Browns gave the first pick of the 3rd round.

 

or a 3rd + a player? 3rd + 5th/6th? 
 

Id also like to know why the trade with Green Bay for #22 fell apart.

[nkreed]

Fantastic article! Thanks for posting. Interesting confirmation that Breece Hall would have been the pick had Elam not been available. Great insight into the room, and the Joke Schoen sweating sorry is funny as h***!

[davefan66]

Find it interesting the Bears didn’t get an idea who the Bills were taking with the 5th rounder.  Kinda thought trades were not made unless they knew who was being targeted.  

 

I guess it would apply to a few slot trade, not 20.  Then again, maybe Chicago thought Shakir was more a late 5th rounder.

[thenorthremembers]

All good. But, Dane Johnson...you gotta do better.

[Coach Tuesday]

How do we feel about the fact that he likes Raisinettes?

[GunnerBill]

I like Mike Silver. Good journo. Always brings depth to his coverage. Good piece.

[Nextmanup]

What I have always loved about BB from the beginning is how he very clearly had a master plan, built over a period of years.

 

He had a good idea how to turn a joke of an irrelevant franchise into a steady solid contender, with deliberate, well planned phases. 

 

I remember when they started getting rid of players--even with big names like Marcell Dareus--who didn't really want to be in Buffalo or just didn't get with the program.  

 

That was when I thought "this guy has a plan...let's just see where it goes."
 

 

[Turbo44]

This is one of the best articles I've read - wonder how this site got all the insider info that hasn't gone out before??

 

[DrDawkinstein]

Quote

“We’re in a different phase than when I got here, but the core philosophy doesn’t change. You still have to draft, develop and re-sign. People say, ‘Now you change (and go for broke).’ No — that’s not a lasting formula. Yes, we can compete for a Super Bowl now. But we want to have a sustainable model. We’re trying to make a steady run. We don’t want to put it all on 2022 and then be bad in ’23. We have to build a team with the next few years in mind, not just this year.”

 

It's good for him to say this, and yes that should be the general philosophy. But it worries me if he really believes it and isnt willing to make the big move to get us over the top.

 

Sure, we want to be a perennial winner, but a Super Bowl victory followed by a 9-8 year then a climb back to 12-5, is much better for Beane and McD's job security than going 13-4 and losing in the playoffs for the next 4 years.

 

IMO, if you are this close, you absolutely risk mortgaging a year or two of our future in order to bring home the Lombardi. Rams did it multiple ways last year, and it paid off.

 

[cle23]

3 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

It's good for him to say this, and yes that should be the general philosophy. But it worries me if he really believes it and isnt willing to make the big move to get us over the top.

 

Sure, we want to be a perennial winner, but a Super Bowl victory followed by a 9-8 year then a climb back to 12-5, is much better for Beane and McD's job security than going 13-4 and losing in the playoffs for the next 4 years.

 

IMO, if you are this close, you absolutely risk mortgaging a year or two of our future in order to bring home the Lombardi. Rams did it multiple ways last year, and it paid off.

 

 

The issue is if you do go all in and don't win, and then you still have a bad year after that.  The "all in" strategy works occasionally, but it also falls on its face a whole lot more than not.  Basically like anything else, it needs to be "all in" within reason.

[HappyDays]

15 minutes ago, nkreed said:

Interesting confirmation that Breece Hall would have been the pick had Elam not been available.

 

McDermott and Beane have sure made it a point to let other teams think they really want a RB at the bottom of the 1st round. I can't wait to see what speedy running back we're heavily rumored to want next year. They'll only be able to carry on that con for so long though. Eventually other teams will realize they can't bank on the Bills drafting a RB in the 1st round.

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by HappyDays

[Logic]

7 minutes ago, Turbo44 said:

This is one of the best articles I've read - wonder how this site got all the insider info that hasn't gone out before??

 

Silver is a long time veteran journalist. Well respected. A pro’s pro. He somehow got Beane to open the vault!

[Buffalo Junction]

5 minutes ago, cle23 said:

 

The issue is if you do go all in and don't win, and then you still have a bad year after that.  The "all in" strategy works occasionally, but it also falls on its face a whole lot more than not.  Basically like anything else, it needs to be "all in" within reason.

And it needs the blessing of the owners if you want to maintain job security if it fails. 

[BillsFan4]

6 minutes ago, Logic said:

Silver is a long time veteran journalist. Well respected. A pro’s pro. He somehow got Beane to open the vault!

I think quite a bit of that info came from Joe Schoen as well.

[stevewin]

Great article

 

-  Raisinets, really?

- I guess it's been reported before but another confirmation Josh and Mayfield were their two 

- This article should be required reading for all the people in the draft threads constantly having fits "They should have traded up/down!!!!!" - you need a partner to make a trade and it isn't easy.  Also req'd reading for the "He would have been there X picks later!!!!!" crowd (Cue the wailing in the Josh Allen draft thread there was no neeed to move up)

- Interesting tidbit about the Tyrod trade - says they could have gotten more from Denver - dealt to Cleveland in part for some goodwill for future move.  Can you imagine how pissed Beane must have been at Dorsey for screwing him over after working out tentative terms to deal for the 4th

- "“Once the dust settled,” he said, “I turned around and someone said, ‘Jesus Christ, Joe!’ I had a grey suit on, and there were pools of water on both sides. My wife, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time, was gathered with some other people’s family members in the cafeteria, and I didn’t even go out and see her for awhile. I thought, ‘I better just stay in here and hydrate.’"  

- 

 

[Success]

That was such a cool read. Thanks for posting.

 

Obviously, we have a great one in Beane.  I can't think of any other GM in the league who I would trust more at this point.  

 

But the thing that I get really stoked about is the long-term vision. We see so many GM's go all in and create a "win now" pressure on their organizations because of poor long-term planning.  Beane doesn't just want to win the next 2-3 years - he wants to keep this team in contention for as long as Allen is QB, and even beyond.

 

We have some really fun years ahead.

 

[billieve420]

Interesting to read that Beane had Mayfield as his # 2 QB in that draft.

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, Coach Tuesday said:

How do we feel about the fact that he likes Raisinettes?

 

I'm fine with that. But contemporary country? Fire his @$$!

 

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

1 hour ago, Captain Hindsight said:

I want to know what the Broncos offered for Tyrod 

 

Well..they missed out on Tyrod....then they passed at drafting Allen...

[WhoTom]

40 minutes ago, stevewin said:

Interesting tidbit about the Tyrod trade - says they could have gotten more from Denver - dealt to Cleveland in part for some goodwill for future move.  Can you imagine how pissed Beane must have been at Dorsey for screwing him over after working out tentative terms to deal for the 4th

 

Quote

He and Dorsey, now a senior personnel executive for the Detroit Lions, have since smoothed things over.

 

Beane got the last laugh ... twice! He got Josh anyway, and Dorsey now works for the Lions!

 

 

[jkeerie]

51 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

McDermott and Beane have sure made it a point to let other teams think they really want a RB at the bottom of the 1st round. I can't wait to see what speedy running back we're heavily rumored to want next year. They'll only be able to carry on that con for so long though. Eventually other teams will realize they can't bank on the Bills drafting a RB in the 1st round.

 

Beane can't figure out where anyone got that idea.  Nothing ever came from the Bills intimating that.  He believed everyone knew that they were taking CB.  That's why he traded up to insure he got Elam.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

I thought the Zack Moss stuff (about his injury last year) was really interesting too.

Yeah, that came out of the blue.  Beane said Moss is not at all out of the #2 running back picture, that he had difficulty throughout the year coming back from his ankle injury.  That's a wow!   As a rookie, Moss sometimes looked like he might take Singletary's job.   

 

They could have a three-way battle for playing time.   

56 minutes ago, Logic said:

Silver is a long time veteran journalist. Well respected. A pro’s pro. He somehow got Beane to open the vault!

Beane clearly trusted him.   There's a lot of detail in there.   

 

I wouldn't be surprised if along the way Beane told Silver that some things he heard needed to stay out of the article.  

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, davefan66 said:

Find it interesting the Bears didn’t get an idea who the Bills were taking with the 5th rounder.  Kinda thought trades were not made unless they knew who was being targeted.  

 

I guess it would apply to a few slot trade, not 20.  Then again, maybe Chicago thought Shakir was more a late 5th rounder.

Actually the opposite - the two teams typically never discuss the player being targeted

[chris heff]

“Big Baller Beam”? Really 

 

Great article, I have been wondering since first game last year what was going on with Moss.

[MrEpsYtown]

Ok so with the Breece Hall tidbit, if Elam was gone and we took Breece, in the second the corners available when we picked were Cam Taylor-Britt and Martin Emerson. So would you rather have:

 

Elam and Cook 

or 

Hall and Taylor-Britt/Emerson

 

I would take Elam and Cook all day every day. JMO. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by MrEpsYtown

[DrDawkinstein]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

Silver is a long time veteran journalist. Well respected. A pro’s pro. He somehow got Beane to open the vault!

 

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

I think quite a bit of that info came from Joe Schoen as well.

 

Yeah, Schoen is with a new team and doesnt have to stay so tight-lipped about the Bills anymore. Makes sense.