By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The 2019 NFL Combine is in full swing at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis this week. The Buffalo Bills are making the rounds with prospects, but also did so with the media.
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott spoke for the first time since the end of the regular season. Now general manager Brandon Beane has as well.
After making his way around the circuit, here are the 14 biggest takeaways from everything Beane said in Indiana:
Dennis Lock
The Bills brought Dennis Lock into their front office in an analytics role. Sounds like a lot of number crunching. But it’s not just that. Beane discussed the hiring of Lock at the combine and said he won’t be the only one working with him. Lock will have an influence on McDermott and game day.
“He had a role in Miami where he was very tight into the coaching staff and what they were doing, but also some personnel stuff,” Beane said. “This time of year he’ll be more personnel driven, bringing up some analytical stuff and models and things like that.
“Then in-season, a little less with personnel and more with the coaches and the game-planning process,” Beane added.
Lock’s hiring sounds like it could be a big one that’s under the surface.
Could trades happen?
Beane’s become known as a trader. Sammy Watkins, Ron Darby, Kelvin Benjamin. All those guys are among players that have gone one way or another in a trade involving Beane. While speaking to the team’s radio show at the combine, Beane admitted within the last week he’s talked with three teams.
“You’re always looking for ways to improve your roster,” Beane said. “I’ve had three calls last week. ‘Hey, just to get ahead of the curve, we may move on from these guys on these teams.’
“That way when we meet them here, we can ask, ‘hey, would you be interested in a swap or swap for picks.’ That will pick up more,” Beane said.
In addition, Beane once again didn’t push away the notion of a draft day trade involving their first pick at No. 9 overall, moving back in the draft.
“It could (happen),” Beane said.
Jordan Phillips likely to test market?
Beane said he’s still trying to get Jordan Phillips back. More than when speaking about other pending free agents, Beane made it appear as if Phillips will test the market and perhaps the value Beane has is different than the one Phillips’ agent has on his client.
“We had good conversation with Jordan at the end of the year and talked to his representatives a couple of times,” Beane said. “Definitely would be interested in bringing Jordan back. Liked the energy he brought to our team mid-season when we acquired him.”
“One of the things he said was he loves playing in our stadium. I love our fans,” Beane added on the team’s radio show. “But he’s a free agent and he’s earned that right.”
Beane also mentioned he likes Phillips both against the pass and run.
Miller, Mills, Groy sound gone
The Bills need changes along the offensive line. The Bills have talked to plenty of prospects already. Factoring that into the thought, Beane discussed three pending free agents along the offensive line, John Miller, Jordan Mills, and Ryan Groy.
Now, Beane said they’re meeting.
“We’re definitely talking to those guys,” he told the team’s radio show.
But Beane did a little tip-toeing that made it seem like those three would be gone.
“Listen, these guys have hit free agency. They’ve earned the right to find out what their market is. They’ve waited this long, they’re not going to sign something that, maybe they don’t agree with our value,” Beane said. “If these guys… if we bring them back, great. If not, we’ll wish them the best.”
At minimum, it would be a good bet that those three hit the market and if the Bills do re-sign them, it wont be until after they test the waters.
Why Beane loves having Allen
Beyond the narrative of not needing to scout quarterbacks, Beane discussed why he’s happy his team has Josh Allen. The GM brought up the fact that there’s no QB competition this year and Allen will get more reps.
“I sleep a little bit better,” Beane said. “We had a three-quarterback battle [heading into] last year. Which is not ideal. So for Josh to be able to line up with the ones, as soon as he gets here in mid-April, will just help set the tone for our offense. He missed out on some reps we would have liked to have gotten him, had we known he would have ended up being the No. 1 QB as quick as he was.”
Like McDermott a day prior, Beane stressed he needs to improve the offense this offseason, specifically around Allen, too.
“It’s nice to know we’ve found a guy we believe in and we’ve got to do the right thing and build around him and add pieces on offense. We were better on defense last year than we were on offense,” Beane said.
For the DK Metcalf fans
In lock-step once again, Beane repeated what his head coach said about wide receivers. The Bills currently have Zay Jones and Robert Foster as their top two targets. DK Metcalf is the top receiving prospect and his been label as the prototypical, No. 1 wide receiver model with his big frame. That’s not was Beane’s specifically looking for, though.
“I’m not one that subscribes to a No. 1 wide receiver. Receivers come in all sorts of sizes. You got guys that are 6-5, 6-6, out-jumping people and going to the top. And you’ve got some 5-7, 5-8 guys that are making plays,” Beane said.
“There’s a lot of different sizes, flavors… veterans, young guys, speed, size, we’re just looking for good football players, good receivers, that can make plays, and Josh can count on,” Beane added.
But on the positive side for the Metcalf crowd out there, Beane said this:
“Man, he’s a big, good-looking young man. I don’t know… I don’t want to put a label on him like that. But he had a heck of a career. There’s guys that come to mind, but I don’t really want to put that label on him,” he said.
Where else?
Beane’s subscribing to what most are saying about the big board heading into the draft. It’s loaded along the defensive front. But in addition to there, Beane mentioned that tight end and receiver are also deep position groups.
“I think defensive front, I think there’s definitely some depth there, early on. I think there’s a lot of receivers, too,” Beane said. “It seems like it’s a pretty good draft class all around. I don’t think there’s a position that’s just, wow, thin, or anything like that.”
“Similar to receivers, there’s different flavors of tight end. The draft, there’s some depth at tight end from my point of view. Same as free agency,” he added.
So, does that mean offensive line could be the pick at No. 9 and Beane thinks there will be quality at those other spots later in the draft? Just thinking out loud.
Loves him some Bobby
McDermott gushed about the Bills’ undrafted rookie on defense this week, Levi Wallace. Beane did the same about the one on offense, Robert Foster.
“Robert was a great story,” Beane said. “What a great deal. We released him early in the year when he wasn’t effective and he wasn’t able to make plays. He was making plays in practice, but it was not translating. There were some things that he had to clean up.
“That drive that he showed, he didn’t even leave town on the bye week because he was so focused on earning that opportunity,” Beane said.
It sounds like Foster in some aspect will still be a mainstay in Buffalo’s offense next season, no matter what the team does in free agency or the draft.
“I’ve seen Robert in town a decent amount. I know he’s from the south and it’s cold in Buffalo, but I’ve seen him there a lot. I like where his arrow is. He’s really embraced the opportunity and I look forward to seeing where he goes in his second season,” Beane said.
Not handing things to Harrison
With Jordan Phillips in mind, there’s Harrison Phillips, too. When he was Buffalo’s third-round pick last year, many dubbed him as Kyle Williams’ replacement. If he does end up being that, he’ll have to earn it, which isn’t a surprise to hear from the GM of “the process.”
“He’ll compete to start, I can’t say he’s going to win it,” Beane said. “Harrison did a great job for us last year.”
“With Kyle gone, not only did we just lose a player we lost a leader. We’ll definitely look to add players along the front. We believe in the pass rush,” Beane added.
Wanted Spencer Long for awhile
Buffalo already addressed their offensive line a bit this offseason. McDermott said this week that newly-signed Spencer Long will have to compete for his spot. Beane did more of the same and also did not commit to whether or not he will be a guard or center. He has experience playing both positions.
Interestingly, Beane added that the Bills actually wanted Long last season when he was a free agent. That didn’t happen as the Bills were out-bid by the Jets.
No moves at running back?
At running back, the Bills are old. Both LeSean McCoy and Chris Ivory will be 31 when the season starts. However, Beane said he likes exactly what those two bring to the position and unless it’s a very late pick, don’t expect much addition to that room.
“It’s another position that maybe there’s competition out there in free agency or the draft. If not, we feel like those top-two guys are guys that have started and played. Chris (Ivory), has started and been a thousand-year rusher. I thought when Shady missed a few games, I thought Chris came in and did a real good job,” Beane said.
Why are you the way that you are?
Beane had two options: get the QB and then build. Or build and then get the QB. He opted for Allen and now he’s building it. Discussing the upcoming quarterback class in 2019, Beane put an emphasis on having your QB first and why he wanted to do that.
“It’s a quarterback league. It’s a premium position. If you don’t have a quarterback, a franchise quarterback, your team is going to do this [gestures hand up and down]. It’s hard if you don’t have a true franchise guy. If you look at the teams that are in the playoffs currently every year, those names don’t change. Nine times out of 10 they have a good quarterback,” Beane said.
With that logic in mind, Beane is certainly hoping one of the QBs taken at the 2019 draft doesn’t pan out. Could he have waited a year? We’ll find out in a few years.
Slot receiver isn’t solved
Many talk about a No. 1 receiver. But Beane isn’t sold on Buffalo’s slot receivers yet either. Speaking with WKBW-TV, Beane mentioned Isaiah McKenzie and Ray-RayMcCloud as guys who could have a chance for that role. It sounds like they’ll very likely have some competition brought in at some point this offseason.
“We have some different receivers there. To say we solved that, I can’t sit here and say we have. I think we some guys who’ve shown flashes of what they can do, but we need someone that’s accountable and can do it for the whole season and can these guys do it? They’ll get a chance, but that doesn’t mean if we think there’s an upgrade in free agency or the draft, that we won’t make a move,” Beane said.
What judicious means
At his end of season press conference, Beane said the Bills will be “judicious” in free agency, despite having near $80 million in cap space. That’s the third-most in the NFL. When speaking to WKBW-TV, Beane cleared the air on that word. He said he certainly won’t overpay for a player, but if it costs a lot and Beane thinks that’s worth it, he’ll bring em’ in.
“When you go into free agency, you’re probably going to have to pay a little bit more for a guy if you want a guy early in free agency. Day one, day two. If you’re looking for a guy in his market, or lower-end guys, you can wait a week, 10 days, when the market settles down and get this guy who thought he was getting a higher number,” Beane said. “Then you’re making bad cap decisions, if you make enough of those, they’ll catch up to you, and just got out of it and we don’t want to put ourselves right back there.”
Beane continued, “we will put values, we put values on players that we know would come in and start, to guys we think would compete to start, to guys that would be a great backup. They all have their values financially and value on our roster. If there’s a guy that’s a premium player, that we feel fits, we have the money to spend, if that fits that value that we think it is, and fits our team, then we’ll target him and go after him,” Beane added. “I can’t predict if we’re going to land three guys on the first day or zero guys.”
But Beane also added one more interesting nugget. He said it takes one team to out-bid him. That might be a bit short-sighted, though. Beane will have to hope that guys want to come to Buffalo, too. That’s a very real thing.