NFL Agent Survey from The Athletic: Beane ranks highly in several "best GM in the league" categories

[Logic]

I just read an article on The Athletic where NFL agents were surveyed on a number of questions.

https://theathletic.com/4804587/2023/08/28/nfl-agent-survey-taylor-rodgers-goodell/

When it came to questions about GMs, Brandon Beane was mentioned favorably several times. I pasted the pertinent graphics below. Thought this was pretty interesting. At least from the perspective of agents, there is a lot of respect for the Bills Gm.

He was voted top five in several categories, and tied for first in the question of "whom do you trust the most?". 

[DJB]

Good to see Jerry Jones vote for himself

[Don Otreply]

This runs contrary to what some of our favorite members posts, 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Schneider's first few drafts in Seattle were incredible, then they wandered the wilderness for awhile after the Unger for Graham trade, but these last two drafts have them right back into the Playoffs with the Super Bowl ceiling capped by their QB. 

 

But moved off Wilson while still able to get a haul. 

[Haslett_Stomp]

no votes for Belichick?  I'm shocked!

[Rc2catch]

So he’s just lacking in the super important fan approval category 

[BillsShredder83]

56 minutes ago, Logic said:

I just read an article on The Athletic where NFL agents were surveyed on a number of questions.

https://theathletic.com/4804587/2023/08/28/nfl-agent-survey-taylor-rodgers-goodell/

When it came to questions about GMs, Brandon Beane was mentioned favorably several times. I pasted the pertinent graphics below. Thought this was pretty interesting. At least from the perspective of agents, there is a lot of respect for the Bills Gm.

He was voted top five in several categories, and tied for first in the question of "whom do you trust the most?". 

Seeing Lynch voted that high for talent evaluating was kind of surprising given the Trey Lance debacle.  Im sure the votes were done well before that trade, but still, a month ago that looks like an absolute train wreck.  There isnt anyone even close in worse draft day deals, EVER.  Then again these are agents, who have different motivations then most involved in the sport. Cool article though!

[machine gun kelly]

Bit, but, but I thought were supposed to fire Beane, McDermott, Dorsey, all the position coaches, trainers, doctors and even the PR guys.  Was I wrong?

 

Friends on TBD said they could do it all better.  (Insert sarcasm here)

 

He didn’t get voted two years ago by his peers GM of the year by accident, and now on the other side the agents basically saying the same.

 

Did you guys ever notice we secured Tre early and Ramsey went much higher.  We secured Dawkins early, and then made the pro bowl multiple times, and other LT’s are almost twice as much.  I can keep going.  Milano at $11 mil/yr as a steal and a 1st team all pro.

 

We aren’t in the drought anymore.  It doesn’t help as I know many of you are frustrated we didn’t get to the SB, but so are 30 other teams every year.

 

Thanks for sharing Logic.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by machine gun kelly

[Logic]

9 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Seeing Lynch voted that high for talent evaluating was kind of surprising given the Trey Lance debacle.  Im sure the votes were done well before that trade, but still, a month ago that looks like an absolute train wreck.  There isnt anyone even close in worse draft day deals, EVER.  Then again these are agents, who have different motivations then most involved in the sport. Cool article though!

Yeah.

Honestly, the one I took the most from -- because what do agents really know about talent evaluation? -- was the "GM you trust the most" vote, in which Beane tied for first.

I think that being among the top two most trusted GMs in the league by player agents is a great and important thing. At the end of the day, it's the agents negotiating the players' deals with the teams, and having a GM with a great and trustworthy reputation can only mean good things for the Bills' ability to sign and re-sign players in the future.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Beane seems like a very loyal and trustworthy person. 

[msw2112]

Impressive ranking for Rosenman.  He's earned it.  Two Super Bowl appearances in the last 6 years with one win (and a very close loss) with two different head coaches and two different starting QBs.  That's not easy to do.  Also agree on Schneider and Veitch being up there.  Seattle has a couple of Super Bowl appearances, and a win, in the Schneider era and they just got a rebuilding team back into the playoffs.   This quote from the internet sums up Vietch's tenure: "During Veach's six seasons as general manager, the club has won the AFC West every year, hosted an NFL record five-straight AFC Championship Games, en route to three Super Bowl appearances in four years, and has hoisted the Lombardi Trophy twice (LIV, LVII)."

 

I'm a Beane fan and am glad to see him getting some recognition.  The Bills have been very good during his time as GM.  They need to get to the Super Bowl and win one in order for him to break into the top tier like these other 3 guys.

[Nineforty]

Love Beane, but do we want our GM to be the most trusted (I don't see Roseman listed as one of the most trustworthy GM's)?! I ask mostly tongue-in-cheek but I'm sure those that have more knowledge of Front Office machinations could dive deeper into what, if anything, that means. 

[26TrapDraw]

2 hours ago, DJB said:

Good to see Jerry Jones vote for himself

This made me spit out coffee. Nicely done sir.

[Big Turk]

I'm not sure this should be a surprise to anyone...

 

he would lap the field if they asked "Who is the best GM at getting players to take below market deals to stay with or come to a team?"

Edited August 28, 2023 by Big Turk

[Whkfc]

I'd the Bills let Beane go. He could write his own ticket to just about any organization. I think he's the best we've had since Polian. That said it were out of our window. And haven't been the best drafters the last few years. I do believe they do well in finding bargain free agents.

[JohnNord]

I’m surprised he ranked so highly in terms of talent evaluation.  He hit on Josh which was huge but if you look at the rest of his picks, you have several good but not great players - at least up until point.  He doesn’t have the All Pro selections on his resume as some of the other GM’s do

[C.Biscuit97]

Honestly, he bought himself 10 years in the Allen pick alone. I also love that he doesn’t just stop trying to improve the roster (with the Trey Lance offer).

 

but the last few drafts haven’t been great. But much like Belichick and “the Patriot Way,” stud qbs cover up a lot of sins and poor moves.

 

but as a guy who hates Allen as prospect, Beane found a stud unicorn and set this Franchise up for a lot of success. He gets a major long leash. 

[Punching Bag]

4 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

This runs contrary to what some of our favorite members posts, 

 

Some people find raw liver sprinkled with hot pepper favorite.  

[C.Biscuit97]

1 hour ago, Whkfc said:

I'd the Bills let Beane go. He could write his own ticket to just about any organization. I think he's the best we've had since Polian. That said it were out of our window. And haven't been the best drafters the last few years. I do believe they do well in finding bargain free agents.

No one will agree with me (I enjoy being a lone wolf) but I do think Whaley built some really good teams. He just never hit on the qb and that’s what separates GMs. 

[Billl]

5 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

Honestly, he bought himself 10 years in the Allen pick alone. I also love that he doesn’t just stop trying to improve the roster (with the Trey Lance offer).

 

but the last few drafts haven’t been great. But much like Belichick and “the Patriot Way,” stud qbs cover up a lot of sins and poor moves.

 

but as a guy who hates Allen as prospect, Beane found a stud unicorn and set this Franchise up for a lot of success. He gets a major long leash. 

Where is the logic in this, though?  Let’s say he’s the greatest GM in history at determining which elite QB prospect will reach his potential in the NFL.  He will literally never need to utilize that skill set again as the GM of the Bills.  He had an amazing draft in 2018.  Since then, he’s managed 4 postseason wins in 5 seasons with an elite QB.  At what point does he get judged on his recent history?

[Punching Bag]

1 hour ago, Nineforty said:

Love Beane, but do we want our GM to be the most trusted (I don't see Roseman listed as one of the most trustworthy GM's)?! I ask mostly tongue-in-cheek but I'm sure those that have more knowledge of Front Office machinations could dive deeper into what, if anything, that means. 

 

I think Beane letting players go to free agency because they earned chance is big factor.

Personally I'd like him to be less trustworthy on this matter.

12 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

No one will agree with me (I enjoy being a lone wolf) but I do think Whaley built some really good teams. He just never hit on the qb and that’s what separates GMs. 

 

I think Whaley had trouble with 2 issues - public speaking and listening to Rex too much.  Remember Tyrod was Rex's project. 

They had a problem with leaks as well but Rex was known for not keeping his big mouth shut.

[Yobogoya!]

17 minutes ago, C.Biscuit97 said:

No one will agree with me (I enjoy being a lone wolf) but I do think Whaley built some really good teams. He just never hit on the qb and that’s what separates GMs. 

Whaley definitely had an eye for talent - particularly in pro personnel. People call him a poor drafter, but we changed our defensive scheme like 3 times in 4 years or something. It’s actually interesting how many of our picks from those years went on to win rings with other teams. 

[DrBob806]

Arguing about who's the best GM is like arguing who has the best fans. It's silly

[Mr. WEO]

Well it only takes 2 or 3 voters out of 23 to get you top or top 5.

 

The  only thing one can take away from such a sample. is that Howie Roswman is the only standout as”best GM” as far as those polled are concerned 

[Logic]

20 minutes ago, Billl said:

Where is the logic in this, though?  Let’s say he’s the greatest GM in history at determining which elite QB prospect will reach his potential in the NFL.  He will literally never need to utilize that skill set again as the GM of the Bills.  He had an amazing draft in 2018.  Since then, he’s managed 4 postseason wins in 5 seasons with an elite QB.  At what point does he get judged on his recent history?

Since 2018, the Buffalo Bills have been the 4th winningest franchise in the NFL.




Since 2019, the year after Allen's "redshirt, learn on the job" year, the Bills are the 2nd winningest franchise in the NFL.





What better metric is there to measure a GM on than how many wins his franchise has during his tenure? Particularly when said franchise was mired in a historic drought of ineptitude and struggle immediately prior to his arrival?

Yes, the Bills lack AFC Championship banners and Lombardis during Beane's tenure. I could easily argue that that's due more to coaching (13 seconds, to name just one) than roster building. Either way, the Bills have won a lot of football games under Brandon Beane, and have won three division titles in a row after failing to win a single one for two decades running.

If you want to use "recent history" as a metric, the fact remains that the Bills have been the fourth winningest team since 2018 and the second winningest team since 2019. They've been very good.

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Logic

[BADOLBILZ]

4 hours ago, Logic said:

Yeah.

Honestly, the one I took the most from -- because what do agents really know about talent evaluation? -- was the "GM you trust the most" vote, in which Beane tied for first.

I think that being among the top two most trusted GMs in the league by player agents is a great and important thing. At the end of the day, it's the agents negotiating the players' deals with the teams, and having a GM with a great and trustworthy reputation can only mean good things for the Bills' ability to sign and re-sign players in the future.

 

 

In all seriousness.........I think if this poll took place in 2006 that Marv Levy would have been the "GM you trust the most".

 

It speaks volumes that none of the "trusted" are on the "best overall" list.

 

That's just business..........the easy marks are the one's that are most liked.........always the favorites to deal with..........but the shiesty one's get the best deals.

 

Being much too accommodating to players and their agents has been a huge weakness for Beane.      

 

 

[Chaos]

It makes sense he is top 5. We have not be able to break in to the final four teams during his tenure. 

Bills have a top 2 QB. Top 5 GM and a Top 10 coach.  So far the recipe practically guarantees making it to the divisional round of the playoffs.  

[k2mountain]

23 responses to the survey. An academic would have a hard time extrapolating statistically meaningful data from that.

[Punching Bag]

2 hours ago, Yobogoya! said:

Whaley definitely had an eye for talent - particularly in pro personnel. People call him a poor drafter, but we changed our defensive scheme like 3 times in 4 years or something. It’s actually interesting how many of our picks from those years went on to win rings with other teams. 

 

Whaley was much better as assistant GM than GM and IMO for right GM would be a good asset.

[Chaos]

1 hour ago, k2mountain said:

23 responses to the survey. An academic would have a hard time extrapolating statistically meaningful data from that.

Not really.  Its not a random response survey.  The assumption is the experts being survey each have a valid response. 

[GoBills808]

4 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Not really.  Its not a random response survey.  The assumption is the experts being survey each have a valid response. 

Yeah and it's not technically only 23 responses as presumably they asked agents w multiple NFL clients

[NoSaint]

7 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

This runs contrary to what some of our favorite members posts, 

I mean, getting 2-3 votes isn’t exactly dominating or a windfall of support. 

2 hours ago, Logic said:

Since 2018, the Buffalo Bills have been the 4th winningest franchise in the NFL.




Since 2019, the year after Allen's "redshirt, learn on the job" year, the Bills are the 2nd winningest franchise in the NFL.





What better metric is there to measure a GM on than how many wins his franchise has during his tenure? Particularly when said franchise was mired in a historic drought of ineptitude and struggle immediately prior to his arrival?

Yes, the Bills lack AFC Championship banners and Lombardis during Beane's tenure. I could easily argue that that's due more to coaching (13 seconds, to name just one) than roster building. Either way, the Bills have won a lot of football games under Brandon Beane, and have won three division titles in a row after failing to win a single one for two decades running.

If you want to use "recent history" as a metric, the fact remains that the Bills have been the fourth winningest team since 2018 and the second winningest team since 2019. They've been very good.

 

honestly, I don’t particularly lean on the drought when measuring him. That a team 15 years ago lost to the Steelers and should have got in but didn’t doesn’t make beane more impressive right? 
 

that said, beyond win/loss record, one might argue playoff record is much more important at the highest end once you cross some baseline win percentage overall?

[GoBills808]

38 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

I mean, getting 2-3 votes isn’t exactly dominating or a windfall of support. 

honestly, I don’t particularly lean on the drought when measuring him. That a team 15 years ago lost to the Steelers and should have got in but didn’t doesn’t make beane more impressive right? 
 

that said, beyond win/loss record, one might argue playoff record is much more important at the highest end once you cross some baseline win percentage overall?

Probably fair to look at playoff record when evaluating GMs but imo that's equally a coaching issue, tons of regular season wins and disproportionate postseason probably points to more than personnel issues I think

[maddenboy]

i noticed one thing that might make the credibility of the survey results suspect

 

The article did not say that each of these "Certified Agents" had at least one client on a roster or looking for work during the period.

 

was it leigh steinberg?  Master P?  Mike Lombardi?

 

---

for example, on running backs being underpaid, somebody actually said:

 

• “Stop calling themselves running backs. ‘All-around player’ or ‘playmaker’ or some other position label that applies to several different current positions.”

 

because the jedi mind trick will work on NFL GMs?

Edited August 29, 2023 by maddenboy

[JGMcD2]

3 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

In all seriousness.........I think if this poll took place in 2006 that Marv Levy would have been the "GM you trust the most".

 

It speaks volumes that none of the "trusted" are on the "best overall" list.

 

That's just business..........the easy marks are the one's that are most liked.........always the favorites to deal with..........but the shiesty one's get the best deals.

 

Being much too accommodating to players and their agents has been a huge weakness for Beane.      

 

 

Isn’t Brandon Beane on both? 

[Sierra Foothills]

9 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Seeing Lynch voted that high for talent evaluating was kind of surprising given the Trey Lance debacle.  Im sure the votes were done well before that trade, but still, a month ago that looks like an absolute train wreck.  There isnt anyone even close in worse draft day deals, EVER.  Then again these are agents, who have different motivations then most involved in the sport. Cool article though!

 

On the other hand their starting QB Brock Purdy was Mr. Irrelevant... the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 draft.

 

Also the Niners have 8 players ranked in the NFL Network's Top 100 players, most in the league.

 

No one questions what a great job Lynch/Shanahan have done building that roster.

 

The Trey Lance pick doesn't negate the rest of their work.

 

[Sierra Foothills]

1 hour ago, JGMcD2 said:

Isn’t Brandon Beane on both? 

 

Yes. In this small sample size opinion poll he's ranked 4th Best GM overall and 5th Best Talent Evaluator.

 

I disagree with @BADOLBILZ comment that being a schyster is a better trait than integrity for a GM.

 

As an NFL GM you're gonna be dealing with the same people over and over. If they don't trust you they're not gonna do business with you. If they don't do business with you you're not gonna be effective in your job.

 

[maddenboy]

6 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

Some people find raw liver sprinkled with hot pepper favorite.  

that's how mike vick chose his agent.   first interview question.

[RenoNVBillsfan]

After that disastrous Lance pick and draft capital given up, how can Lynch / Peters possibly be ranked higher than Beane? 

[Sierra Foothills]

32 minutes ago, RenoNVBillsfan said:

After that disastrous Lance pick and draft capital given up, how can Lynch / Peters possibly be ranked higher than Beane? 

 

Especially with 2 page threads, you should read through before posting... so others don't have to repeat themselves.

 

The Niners starting QB Brock Purdy was Mr. Irrelevant... the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 draft.

 

Also the Niners have 8 players ranked in the NFL Network's Top 100 players, most in the league.

 

Knowledgeable league followers don't question what a great job Lynch/Shanahan have done building that roster.

 

The Trey Lance pick doesn't negate the rest of their work.

 

The five teams most commonly chosen to win the Super Bowl are the Chiefs, Eagles, Bengals, Niners, and Bills.