Buffalo Bills: Brandon Beane is too low in latest general manager rankings

At the end of the month will be the 2021 NFL Draft and for every general manager, this is one of the most defining annual events that determine whether they are a success or not. Fortunately for the Buffalo Bills, they have one of the best general managers in the league with Brandon Beane.

Beane joined the team in 2018 and will be entering his fourth NFL Draft as general manager of the Buffalo Bills. He has been able to build one of the most complete rosters in the league through free agency, smart trades, and the NFL Draft. After this past season, Beane was named Sporting News Executive of the Year for what he has done in the role.

Even with all the moves and success, Beane has had it wasn’t enough to move him higher than fourth in the NFL in Gregg Rosenthal’s power rankings for general managers based on their use of draft capital.

"McDermott is the alpha in Buffalo because he essentially hired Beane, but there’s no gray area regarding the job the Bills’ front office has done since McDermott arrived. His first draft in Buffalo (without Beane, who came aboard shortly after) included Tre’Davious White, Dion Dawkins and Matt Milano. They’ve all signed long-term extensions since. Beane’s aggressive move to trade up for Josh Allen in 2018 will define his tenure for as long as the quarterback thrives. Buffalo had a vision for Allen, and then executed the best way to support him, even if the last two Bills drafts are shaping up as less noteworthy."

While fourth in the league is not a significant oversight, it is still too low for what Beane (and Sean McDermott) has been able to accomplish since 2017. During that stretch, they have drafted 29 players and this past season they have had eight players play 50% or more of their team’s snaps. These eight players also don’t include Matt Milano and Tyler Bass, two players drafted that are considered starters.

The Buffalo Bills under McDermott/Beane have found starters in every round of the draft but one of the areas they have been really successful is not drafting players who could be considered busts. In fact, of the 14 players they have drafted in the first four rounds, only one player (Zay Jones) is not on the roster.

It is also interesting to note that he gives Kevin Colbert, general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers, credit for the first round pick he traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick but doesn’t mention the trade the Bills made last year, where they sent a package of draft picks including the first round pick, for Stefon Diggs. This was another example of how Brandon Beane has been smart with the draft capital he has.

While fourth isn’t bad at all, there is certainly a case to be made that Beane should be as high as second behind Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard with the starters they have drafted and their use of draft capital.