Is the Bills GM on the Hot Seat? Analyzing Questionable Past Moves
The Buffalo Bills have the second-most wins in the regular season in the NFL since the start of the decade. Despite this, they’ve failed to reach a Super Bowl this century, making every loss contribute to an increasingly impatient fan base that becomes as frustrated as possible. Every loss feels like the sky is falling to Bills Mafia, and two losses in a row mean that it’s time to start asking questions about the people making decisions for the team. With rumors swirling around the league indicating players such as Chris Olave, Jaylen Waddle, and Jakobi Meyers might be available, Bills fans won’t be happy if the team doesn’t acquire a pass-catcher before their next game against the Chiefs in Week Nine. However, general manager Brandon Beane has also made moves that didn’t pan out, angering the fan base that way as well. In this piece, we’ll take a look at some transactions that haven’t aged well up to this point to understand why some people believe that Beane is on the hot seat.
Boogie Basham Over Creed Humphrey
After the Bills went back to their first AFC Championship since 1993, they were looking to build on their success. The first step was building on their defense, which had playmakers in the secondary like Tre’Davious White, Jordan Poyer, and Micah Hyde, but lacked explosiveness on the defensive line. In 2020, two players tied for the team lead with five sacks: A.J. Klein, a journeyman linebacker who played only due to Matt Milano being injured, and Mario Addison, a 33-year-old edge rusher who had his best years behind him. Buffalo drafted Greg Rousseau with the 30th-overall pick, a selection that has panned out considering that it’s hard to get consistent production from a pass rusher as a late pick in the first round. The pick that screwed up what otherwise would’ve been a great draft class was doubling down on edge rushers. The Bills took Boogie Basham with their second-round pick, which has aged poorly considering that Creed Humphrey was selected two picks later. This matters because while the Bills had Mitch Morse at center, who was approaching his age-29 season coming off of his second concussion in three seasons, a concern that could’ve caused the team to find his replacement in Humphrey, who has been selected to two All-Pro teams since 2022. Fortunately for the Bills, they’ve found a fine replacement at center with Connor McGovern, who earned a Pro Bowl nod last year.
Amari Cooper Didn’t Pan Out
To get to a more recent example of a move not working out, let’s take a look at last season. After losing perennial All-Pro Stefon Diggs, the Bills decided not to go after another superstar wide receiver. Instead, the Bills’ offense lived and died with guys like Curtis Samuel, rookie Keon Coleman, and fan-favorite Mack Hollins. That only got them so far, until the team came off two back-to-back losses after being undefeated to start September… Sound familiar? This season, like last season, had question marks at receiver, which led to Beane making a huge move by acquiring Amari Cooper after Week Six. Unfortunately, this trade didn’t yield the desired outcome since Cooper barely made an impact, finishing sixth in receiving yards and eighth in receptions on the team.
Trusting Coleman to Be the Top WR
Let’s get down to brass tacks on why people are frustrated with this team… the receivers. Khalil Shakir is an exceptional slot receiver and is great at getting yards after the catch. However, no team can reasonably expect to consistently win football games with its top receiving threat being a slot receiver in today’s NFL. Heck, Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in receiving yards in his first season as a primarily outside receiver. According to PFF, in 2023, Smith-Njigba played 31% of snaps out wide and played 15.6% of snaps out wide last season before skyrocketing up to 79.4% out wide so far this year. Playing even more snaps out wide over the past two years is Coleman, who the team drafted to be their X receiver, a decision that was scrutinized heavily at the time since they allowed the Chiefs to draft Xavier Worthy. In Beane’s defense, Coleman has outplayed the speedster out of Texas, and Worthy would’ve never been the answer at receiver for the offense, now being used as a “gadget guy” rather than a true wide receiver one. Nonetheless, Coleman hasn’t excelled at getting open, which is something that the player who leads a Josh Allen-led offense in targets should probably know how to do by now. Since this group of outside receivers, led by Coleman, has struggled to create separation, the Patriots and Falcons figured out that all you have to do is rush at least five players every play, and eventually Allen will get sacked.
