Brandon Beane has been dragged by Buffalo Bills fans recently for the roster that he has put together in Western New York. Yes, this team is a perennial contender, but with Josh Allen at the helm, the Bills should have at least played in a Super Bowl by now. But it was Sean McDermott who got the boot.
So Beane is under a lot of pressure as the 2026 NFL season slowly creeps closer. He and the Buffalo front office were fairly quiet in free agency, their big splash being the trade for D.J. Moore. Giving up a second-round pick wasn't necessarily ideal, but it was the price of doing business, fans thought.
But based on Beane's recent comments that he made ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft, perhaps it was emblematic of something more. Clearly, Beane isn't thrilled with the top of this year's class, which explains their pattern of pre-draft visits and why they made the plunge for Moore in the first place.
Buffalo Bills' view of 2026 NFL Draft class explains a lot about Brandon Beane's moves
ESPN's Alaina Getzenberger reported on Monday that Beane has been reluctant to annoint too many of the prospects in this year's draft cycle as first-round talents.
"Bills president of football operations and general manager Brandon Beane said that they are in the lower end in the number of players they've assigned first-round grades for the draft this year," Getzenberg reported.
Well, picking at No. 26, you're unlikely to get a true "Round 1 talent" anyway. Typically, the back half of the first round is reserved for very good players that aren't necessarily blue-chippers, or desparate teams trading back into Day 1 to reserve their quarterback of the future.
But this year's class, like many in recent memory, isn't top-heavy. It's a "starters" draft, not a "stars" draft. And with so many wideouts set to be available in the range that Buffalo will be on the clock, Beane instead opted for a proven veteran talent in Moore, who already knows head coach Joe Brady.
Not to mention the fact that the Bills haven't exactly met with a lot of players who most have slotted into the back end of the first round. Their 30 visits were almost exclsuively reserved for players set to be available between Round 2 and Round 5. That is fairly telling of the mood in Buffalo.
Do his comments mean that the Bills are going to trade back from No. 26 and ignore the first round altogether? Probably not, as that fifth-year option is always attractive. But perhaps they will. And it is definitely the worst idea to do so.
Simply put, Buffalo isn't high on the early crop of prospects in this year's class, so they traded away a premier pick and are focusing their efforts on mid-rounders, where the draft is truly won. Beane's comments confirm that.
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