Buffalo Bills: Ranking the best departed players in McDermott-Beane era

NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 06: (L-R) Shaq Lawson #90, Jordan Phillips #97 and Kevin Johnson #29 of the Buffalo Bills celebrate a sack by Phillips during the first quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on October 6, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Buffalo defeats Tennessee 14-7. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 06: (L-R) Shaq Lawson #90, Jordan Phillips #97 and Kevin Johnson #29 of the Buffalo Bills celebrate a sack by Phillips during the first quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on October 6, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Buffalo defeats Tennessee 14-7. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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NASHVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 06: (L-R) Shaq Lawson #90, Jordan Phillips #97 and Kevin Johnson #29 of the Buffalo Bills celebrate a sack by Phillips during the first quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on October 6, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Buffalo defeats Tennessee 14-7. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

These are the five best players who have left the Buffalo Bills during the Sean McDermott-Brandon Beane era.

There is no question that the managing roster in the NFL is one of the toughest things. Every GM, and this includes Buffalo Bills’ GM Brandon Beane, has to find a balance of keeping good players, managing the salary cap and trying to predict future production.

While it is important to bring in as much talent as a team can within their budget, that also means that some players that can help a franchise are either not re-signed, released or even traded.

Over the past three years, the Buffalo Bills with Beane and head coach Sean McDermott have undoubtedly raised the talent on this roster. This is a franchise that has been to the playoffs two out of the last three years and are in a good position to win the division for the first time since 1995.

However, to get to this point the Bills have seen some players leave that have gone on, or it looks likely will, have success somewhere else. While this is a list of the top five players the Bills have seen have success elsewhere, one name that will not be on this list is wide receiver Robert Woods.

This is not because he isn’t a good player, and frankly he would be number one on this list, however he left the franchise prior to Brandon Beane joining as general manager. For that reason, he was not included.