WR Cole Beasley is excited to be properly utilized with the Buffalo Bills

Wide receiver Cole Beasley is excited to be with the Buffalo Bills, where he figures to be used to correctly.

Wide receiver Cole Beasley hasn’t been shy to talk about what’s on his mind. Since signing a four-year, $29 million deal with the Buffalo Bills this off-season, the 30-year-old has publicly ripped the Dallas Cowboys due to their lack of willingness to properly utilize him and shortcomings in contract negotiations.

Despite growing up in the Dallas area, attending nearby SMU, and producing for the Cowboys for seven seasons, Beasley found it easy to leave his hometown for greener pastures in Western New York. He told Tim Graham of The Athletic the Bills’ favorable scheme was a big reason why he moved up North, saying;

"I feel I can do damage in a system like this [Brian Dabolls’ offense]. A receiver in this offense is way more important than it was in my last offense. There’s a lot more variety in what I’m doing here."

In Dallas, Beasley feels as if he wasn’t used up to the best of his abilities, often being phased out in favor for star boundary receivers. Though he was their slot ace and an always open target for Tony Romo and Dak Prescott, his route-tree was limited to a short range, and he lined up solely out of the slot.

Beasley doesn’t view his game as limiting. Though he’s not the biggest, fastest, or strongest receiver, he produces just like a more typical outside receiver, as he told Graham:

"Your job as a player on offense is to score touchdowns and move the sticks, and I don’t think anybody moves the sticks better than we [slot receivers] do. We keep drives going on third down. A great slot receiver is more important than most people give us credit for."

The Cowboys and Beasley didn’t view the slot position the same way. Instead of resigning a constant in their offense, Jerry Jones and Co. went in a direction, signing Randall Cobb to a one-year, $5 million deal. Now in Buffalo, Beasley’s excited to work in an offense that favors his short area quickness, route-running prowess, and surprisingly large catch radius.

In the same article with The Athletic, Beasley mentioned that he’s excited to play in an offense that will move around slot receivers and open up his route-tree. Although he hasn’t played with the team yet — he’s recovering from core surgery — he’s been studying the playbook and likes what he sees, as he previously noted the importance of the slot in Buffalo.

"In this offense, we move around. We’re everywhere. It’s going to be harder to key on one guy here. It’s a lot better than where I was before. — I’ll get to run routes from spots I’ve never gotten to run routes from. It’s going to be sweet. I’m excited about it."

Considering that the Bills haven’t had a constant threat from the slot in a long time, the team should be just as excited. We don’t quite know what their offense may look like — based off of Beasley’s statement, versatility and production from the slot will be key. With the slot turning from an anomaly to a regular in the NFL, the Bills assimilating to the trend could help them catch up to the explosive offenses that rule the league.

Alongside Beasley, Josh Allen should be a benefactor of a slot receiver friendly offense. Beasley, as he’s done all of his career, will likely be depended upon by his signal-caller for his quickly ran, often open, blitz-beating looks — similar to how Julian Edelman and Jarvis Landry are utilized for their respective teams. For Allen, quick-hitting routes by way of Beasley should help him find consistency when defenses inevitably attempt to take away the deep ball and on third-down.

The Bills offense will be different next year, and Beasley’s addition is a large part why. Having a route-running menace in the center field will surely do Allen more good than bad. He will also be used to pull defenses in, as you can’t account for just the deep ball with one of the better slot receivers roaming the field.

Despite being managed incorrectly in Dallas, Beasley was productive as he provided his quarterbacks with consistently open reads and sure hands. During his seven years as a Cowboy, Beasley ranked third on the team in receptions, yards, and touchdowns, behind Dez Bryant and Jason Witten. Now imagine if he was used properly.