Brandon Beane hints at his philosophy for the Bills.
By Justin DiLoro / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills offseason is about to kick into second gear, starting with their opportunity to meet with several collegiate prospects during the Scouting Combine at the end of this week.
The Bills have been moderately active already this offseason, signing offensive lineman Spencer Long to a three-year contract and wide receiver Duke Williams to a reserves/futures contract.
General manager Brandon Beane has hinted at his philosophy for drafting players, focusing on selecting the best player available ahead of need. He reiterated this idea in an article published Saturday on the team’s website.
Beane recognizes the deficiencies on the roster, and he feels that several of these gaps can be filled during the free agency period.
“We definitely want to fill holes in free agency.” Beane, entering his second full offseason as the head of the draft process, hinted at how free agency will direct decisions made at the draft. “You use free agency to help you so you’re not going to the Draft in April with all these holes, and now you’re drafting for need.”
How Beane balances the free agent period with the NFL draft is of the utmost importance for the organization. Over the brief period of six weeks, starting with the opening of free agency on March 13 and concluding with day three of the NFL draft on April 27, the team will have established a good chunk of what their roster will reflect entering the 2019 season.
Buffalo has several players who are still playing under the rookie contract, meaning that their salaries are largely team-friendly. Beane sees this as a benefit, but also know that these players will command a salary increase once these contracts have expired. For now, the team will look to bolster the roster with a balanced approach between free agency and the draft.
“We’ve got cap room, and we’re going to use it to fill some holes.” He added, “But we’ve also got to be wise with our money so that when these guys (veterans) are headed into years three and four (Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, that class) when they come up, we have money to spend.”
Assistant general manager Joe Schoen, also featured, sees the draft as the most important part to the offseason.
“It’s a matter of balancing the draft and free agency.” Schoen understands the risks of free agency and how it could hinder long-term draft selections, stating, “Until we can pay some of our own young players that are homegrown, you have to be very careful who you’re paying from the outside and bringing into your locker room.”
In fact, Schoen sees that deeper player evaluations can be made via the draft. “You’ve got to get to know the free agent guys, but at the same time, you can’t do the same research that you do on the college guys,” he said.
Nevertheless, the draft evaluation process can pay dividends in the future. Teams can make evaluations on a player during the draft process and keep this information handy, possibly years down the line if a player tests the free agent market.
As the next few weeks unfold, the Bills 2019 roster will come into focus. The moves that the team makes during free agency will have a strong impact on their draft selections. While the team looks to strike a careful balance between their involvement in free agency and the selections they make in the draft, circumstances and the free agent market could dictate otherwise.
If Buffalo is very active during the free agency period, especially during the initial time frame of the free agency period opening, the team may remain a bit more quiet during the draft. However, if the free agents who are targeted by the Bills do not sign with Buffalo, expect Beane and his crew of decision-makers to be a bit more aggressive on draft night.