The Buffalo GM defends the return of the former front office hire.
By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
Brian Gaine was welcomed back to the Bills with open arms.
But not before some background checking, of sorts, according to The Athletic.
The Bills hired Gaine in 2017 and he quickly left. When an opportunity that’s a promotion comes about, that’s how the NFL works. Gaine left the Bills to become the Houston Texans’ general manager.
That lasted 18 months and in a shocking move to many across the NFL, Gaine was fired. But soon after, his firing from the Texans, a complaint surrounding Gaine surfaced which stated he “targeted” African American employees in a series of firings during his time in Houston. The Houston Chronicle later interviewed Texans staffers who defended Gaine against the allegations.
“To me, it sounded baseless. Obviously I wasn’t there. But there was nothing to it other than an employee who was let go, who, I guess this was the only recourse he knew,” Beane added. “It’s the way of the world unfortunately.”
Gaine reportedly was at the Bills’ first day of training camp practice, but did not speak to reporters about the incident. While in his new role with the Bills, he’ll be based out of Houston and only sporadically be in western New York.
Beane reportedly went the route of the Houston Chroncle and did some investigating of their own before naming him their Senior Personnel Advisor.
“I talked to someone high up in Houston and they assured me that this was a baseless deal,” Beane said. Thursday as the Bills opened camp. “You know Sean (McDermott), me, Terry and Kim (Pegula), we’re about high character. If we thought there was any truth to that, we wouldn’t do it.”