Paying the Wrong People

[newcam2012]

I also think it's very important to say Beane and McD best opportunity to thrive and improve the roster was when Allen was on his rookie contract. They needed to get star power and immediate impact players. Von Miller was a huge miss and resigning Diggs was a colossal mistake. The team has paid for these mistakes.

 

I just don't see how they get it done now under severe CAP restricts. What's going to change? That's exactly why Beane has to be frugal and get mediocre players and throw darts. Not to mention many of his draft choices haven't been very productive. This years draft choices have been very very poor as far as contributing in a positive way. Not a recipe to a super bowl appearance. 

 

Beane and McD supporters will continue to reference the drought days. How football is entertainment, the multiple AFC East titles, the great regular season records, the culture, etc... All of this is true. But what's also true is missed opportunities to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. In hindsight, I think many of us thought the Bills would have made a super bowl appearance by now with Allen as our QB. I know I did. Each year passes and my desire for change grows. 

 

 

 

[Mikie2times]

10 hours ago, MDH said:

Is the OP really stating that Benford got "market value?" Ok. Dude is a top 7-10 CB and is getting paid like the 20th. You should be ecstatic about this contract. 

 

I keep seeing people rip Beane for "almost losing Cook." You're ripping him for getting a high end RB for $11M a year? Shouldn't you be happy that he got him on a lower per year deal? Wait till you see what Gibbs and Robinson get.

 

Groot is getting paid like the 16th best DE and that's without a some young guys who are better getting theirs yet. This is probably market value, maybe a tad high. Nothing worth complaining about. If you want good edge play you have to pay for it. Groot is good - not great. Most fans don't know what they're looking at when they rip Rousseau. 

 

Shakir - he probably got about the right amount, maybe a little high. He's getting severely misused in this offense. It's as if Brady thinks he can only catch screens. 

 

Bernard-  I'm not happy with that contract. He can't stay healthy. He's never available in the playoffs. I would have passed on him. Best way to salvage it is to move him to outside backer and hope his smaller frame can hold up better there.

 

Palmer- I liked the signing at the time but the missed time is frustrating. If he could stay healthy I like what he can bring to the O and he'd develop a better rapport with Josh...but that's a big IF. He's had some injury issues his entire career so this isn't exactly surprising.

 

Samuel-  I hated the signing at the time because of his widely known and discussed injury issues. That's come to pass.

 

The Hoecht signing was awesome. He was going to be a wrecking ball in this D. It's unfortunate what happened but that can't be placed on Beane. Stuff happens sometimes, it's not always someone's fault.

 

Overall I think what fans are most frustrated about is the injuries which end up producing uneven play week to week. The team gets decimated every single year by them. That's part D philosophy (wanting small DTs and LBs), part bad luck and part signing guys who have injury histories. Beane isn't blameless for the faults of the team but he's done a pretty good job overall. Despite what fans want to believe, Allen isn't carrying this team to division titles and playoff wins every year by himself. The team is solid...just a little snakebit.

 

Groot prevents further premium investment at DE. I would rather take my chances in Free Agency with a Bosa or a Floyd which still preserves the ability to go after a Miller type.

 

I really like Shakir, but he has been a niche YAC player. He hasn’t even been able to fulfill the traditional slot route tree. Pure screen guy. When your entire WR room sucks having him as the gold piece isn’t exactly shiny. 
 

Shaq Thompson is outplaying Bernard. A street free agent nobody wanted. Who was going to come in an pay out 15 pound MLB prime dollars at the end of his contract? Beane jumped the gun like he did with Knox when he had no risk of waiting. At which point, if he did wait, he would have found out his market value is in the toilet.

 

Palmer and Samuel are just brutal signings at this point. Somehow Beane thinks you can create a great WR in the slot aggregate with guys that have barely been able to stay healthy or reach high production levels in past lives. 
 

Benford was a good signing, but the concussion stuff will always be a risk with him. The Hoecht was also a good signing, but we did so knowing about the PED issues, guaranteed lost time, increased injury risks associated. 
 

At the end of the day it’s more of the same with Beane. Ever since Diggs and Von burned him he’s afraid to take any swings. He would rather invest in numbers with the hope a guy breaks thru or avoids injury despite being injured most his career. A whole lot of hope and wishing. Very little that can be counted on. He needs to go back to taking some swings and get out of his little baller ways. 

Edited 16 hours ago by Mikie2times

[Puckman5]

17 hours ago, MDH said:

Is the OP really stating that Benford got "market value?" Ok. Dude is a top 7-10 CB and is getting paid like the 20th. You should be ecstatic about this contract. 

 

I keep seeing people rip Beane for "almost losing Cook." You're ripping him for getting a high end RB for $11M a year? Shouldn't you be happy that he got him on a lower per year deal? Wait till you see what Gibbs and Robinson get.

 

Groot is getting paid like the 16th best DE and that's without a some young guys who are better getting theirs yet. This is probably market value, maybe a tad high. Nothing worth complaining about. If you want good edge play you have to pay for it. Groot is good - not great. Most fans don't know what they're looking at when they rip Rousseau. 

 

Shakir - he probably got about the right amount, maybe a little high. He's getting severely misused in this offense. It's as if Brady thinks he can only catch screens. 

 

Bernard-  I'm not happy with that contract. He can't stay healthy. He's never available in the playoffs. I would have passed on him. Best way to salvage it is to move him to outside backer and hope his smaller frame can hold up better there.

 

Palmer- I liked the signing at the time but the missed time is frustrating. If he could stay healthy I like what he can bring to the O and he'd develop a better rapport with Josh...but that's a big IF. He's had some injury issues his entire career so this isn't exactly surprising.

 

Samuel-  I hated the signing at the time because of his widely known and discussed injury issues. That's come to pass.

 

The Hoecht signing was awesome. He was going to be a wrecking ball in this D. It's unfortunate what happened but that can't be placed on Beane. Stuff happens sometimes, it's not always someone's fault.

 

Overall I think what fans are most frustrated about is the injuries which end up producing uneven play week to week. The team gets decimated every single year by them. That's part D philosophy (wanting small DTs and LBs), part bad luck and part signing guys who have injury histories. Beane isn't blameless for the faults of the team but he's done a pretty good job overall. Despite what fans want to believe, Allen isn't carrying this team to division titles and playoff wins every year by himself. The team is solid...just a little snakebit.

 

This is a fair take, but our draft picks and FA signings never seemto make up for the lack of talent around Josh.  I don't even care if we're a run first team, but when it's stopped or we get turn over prone, we'll struggle to offset it with the passing game or defensive play.  Many are simply frustrated that that we have to have this identity while having  a generational talent at QB.  I don't disagree.  The lack of balance on offense will only take us so far.  If the passing game starts to click a bit and the defense gets healthier, maybe they'll go further than I think.  I just think poor decisions are catching up with us and forcing us to take on an identity that's  counterintuitive to paying a top 3 QB. 

[T master]

On 12/5/2025 at 8:31 AM, wagne591 said:

I for one thought Beane was doing a good job in the beginning of his tenure but not so much as of late.  Here is my list of why Beane screwed up and why both he and McD need to go.

1.  Both are great coaches/GM but as time goes by so does your window of opportunity.  As McD said after the Texans game about this roster, he said that while he “loves these players,” he admitted the team doesn’t have what he considers a “super-Bowl-caliber” roster. That is on Beane and paying all the wrong players. I mean look at the guys he signed this year alone:

 Bosa DE (was killing it but we all knew he would get hurt eventually and miss some games, which he is at the most crucial part of our schedule)

 Palmer WR (signed a three year deal and was the forth/fifth receiver with the chargers so far he has played 8 games and has 18 catches for 272 yards 0 TDs)

 Hoecht DE great signing for the game and a half he played was impressed but was suspended the first six games played a little in Carolina and was killing it against KC then got hurt and is out for the season.

  Ogunjobi DT suspended first six games now playing but probably our worst DT on the roster. 

 

Honorable mention Curtis Samuels last year 14 games (only started 2) for 31 catches 253 yards 1 TD; 2025 6 games 0 starts 7 catches 81 yards 1 TD.  and we gave that guy $24M for 3 years.  

  

2.  Signing the guys he drafted instead of signing players that will help.  

Here is a list of players Beane Drafted then signed to big contracts:

 Josh Allen - Franchise QB drafted 2018 (best move Beane ever did)

 James Cook - RB drafted 2022 (great move but almost lost him to free agency because Beane didn't want to pay him)

 Khalil Shakir - WR, drafted 2022 (average WR probably paid too much for him 5yr $56M)

 Christian Benford - CB, drafted 2022 (probably paid him market value 6yr $69M)

 Greg Rousseau - DE, drafted 2021 (overpaid for a 5 sack a year guy who never got better, 4yr $80M)

 Terrel Bernard - LB, drafted 2022 (overpaid, 4yr $42M)

 

IMO only 2 of these contracts make sense (Allen, Cook); I can live with 2 (Shakir, Benford); and two I could have done without and used that money somewhere else (Rousseau, Bernard).  Bernard is small and gets washed out of a lot run plays, Shaq Thompson makes our Defense way better for only 1.25 million this year.  He is bigger stronger and better against the run which forces team to play into our strengths (pass defense).  Maybe Bernard will be better in the Malino role but Bernard is hurt a lot also just like Milano.  Rousseau is getting paid an average of 20M a year and Bosa is getting paid 12.6M this year and has already proven to be a way better pass rusher then Greg.  Greg is in his fifth year and has played in 74 games and has 28 career sacks (not cutting it).  For example, Jaelan Phillips drafted right before Greg played in 59 career games and has 27 career sacks.  You don't sign a guy because you like him you sign him because he is a good football player.  We need to get back to that.    

 

3. Bringing back dead weight over and over again.

  Retreads 

  Philips, Lawson, White, Davis, Jackson, Poyer, Spector, Broeker (all dead weight if you ask me) when we had guys like Tim Settle (DT Texans now), Puna Ford (DT Seahawks now) both did nothing in Buffalo after signing free agent contracts never got a chance if you ask me and are now killing it with their new organizations.  

 

4. McD hiring from within all the time instead of going outside the organization.

  Coach McD always hires from within (Brady and Badich) IMO we were better with Daboll and Frazier on the staff running their respective units.  It makes me wonder why Daboll and McD had a rocky relationship, and Frazier was fired.  I believe McD was responsible for the whole 13 seconds debacle when he played the analytics instead of going with his gut and kicking it inbounds.  I want to believe that Frazier was telling him to kick it in bounds to kill some time and when McD's plan backfired he fired Frazier.  When Frazier was running the D the opposing team always seemed to have a good opening drive but then Frazier made adjustments, with Badich running the D the opposing team has a good first half and some of the games get away from us, but after the half when the game is already lost he makes adjustments).  For example the Atlanta game right before the half with under 2 minutes the Falcons drove right down the field to get into FG range which was almost a TD, and the Texans game right after the Bills scored to get some momentum the Texans went right down the field and scored a TD right before the half. both unacceptable.  

 

5. What is up with all these injuries, I know it happens around the league but dam.

 Our training staff sucks, or our coaches are being over-protective.  

 

6. What happened to the players being the best version of themselves (remember when JA17 first got here and that was one of the things that lured people in).  Now it feels like it is not that anymore and it is do what I say and like it and smile.  No top end WR free agent is going to want to come here to run block all the time because that is not what they want to do.  They want the ball to make plays not to block.  

You know some of this is due to unforeseen circumstances so how can you put the blame on Beane ? What if all of these players that have been injured stayed healthy ?

 

IMHO this season would look quite a bit different but maybe that's just me ...

[MDH]

6 hours ago, Puckman5 said:

This is a fair take, but our draft picks and FA signings never seemto make up for the lack of talent around Josh.  I don't even care if we're a run first team, but when it's stopped or we get turn over prone, we'll struggle to offset it with the passing game or defensive play.  Many are simply frustrated that that we have to have this identity while having  a generational talent at QB.  I don't disagree.  The lack of balance on offense will only take us so far.  If the passing game starts to click a bit and the defense gets healthier, maybe they'll go further than I think.  I just think poor decisions are catching up with us and forcing us to take on an identity that's  counterintuitive to paying a top 3 QB. 

 

Oh, I'm frustrated by the overall offensive philosophy. Like you say, we have a generational talent at QB...yet we are the only team in the NFL to run the ball more than we throw it. We need a good running game, but it's just too much. And that's inexcusable with Josh. Now, it's debatable why that is. Is it because McD wants a ball control offense and to protect Josh's longevity in the league? Is it simply because Beane has failed to gather a quality WR room? Has Beane not bothered spending a ton at WR because he knows what type of offense McD wants to run and it's wasted resources if you're not going to use it? I don't know, but I tend to lean towards its McD and the type of offense he wants to run. Even with that reason, Beane has failed the WR room. It's still a good O, but it's not a scary one - and it should be scary with Allen at QB.