Brandon Beane outlines draft mindset as Bills juggle free agency concerns

The Buffalo Bills are soaking up as much information as they can this week at the NFL Combine. It’s a deep-if-not-elite class at the two biggest positions of need on the roster, wide receiver and edge rusher, and general manager Brandon Beane has his eyes on all of them.

He and head coach Joe Brady joined The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday to talk about the draft and how the team’s process changes with Brady taking over in his new position. 

McAfee posed an intriguing question to Beane about his strategy going into the draft process, and whether he builds a gameplan for each position of need or simply finds the best players available regardless of need. Beane’s answer helped peel back the curtain for Bills Mafia as the offseason kicks into gear in Indianapolis.

Bills GM Brandon Beane keeping draft strategy flexible amid offseason uncertainty

“No, we’re truly looking for the best players, because one of the things about the draft, you don’t know how free agency is going to play out, even with your own guys,” he said.

It’s sometimes an overlooked aspect, but Beane’s right. The draft comes later, but teams are getting to know the incoming prospects right now. What they learn at the Combine can help frame those decisions in free agency, but the money plays a bigger role than anything.

The conversation quickly shifted from the draft strategy to the Bills’ finances, where Beane mentioned the team could find itself as much as $20 million over the cap. Of course, Spencer Brown’s restructured contract already opened up $10+ million, so Beane is already working on balancing the books ahead of free agency.

Of course, once Beane has the finances settled and knows exactly how much spending power he has on the free agent market, then he can begin attacking the roster needs. He can’t fill all of them in free agency, of course, least of all in this class of free agents, coupled with his expected limitations in that spending power.

But to that end, say Beane can’t re-sign either David Edwards or Connor McGovern; that would open up a much bigger need that fans weren’t expecting. Of course, Beane expects to be able to sign one, and the most likely candidate is McGovern. But a situation like that completely shifts the teams’ needs in the draft and free agency in an instant.

In a similar vein, however, signing a veteran free agent wideout like Mike Evans doesn’t completely solve the team’s issues at wide receiver. Beane is likely going to need to draft a receiver somewhere, so knowing which players are the best available when they’re ready to pull the trigger on one, regardless of how free agency eventually plays out, is half the battle.

While many football fans subscribe to the idea of picking up the best player available at a position of need, having the best of both worlds is a rare luxury in the NFL, and Beane knows that as well as anyone. And having great players on the field, regardless of position, is never a bad thing. Of course, that doesn’t mean Bills Mafia will be satisfied if the Bills head into the 2026 campaign with glaring weaknesses as they did last year.