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Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane responds to rock-bottom NFLPA grade

The 2025 NFLPA report card was released this week with Bills' players giving the organization a very poor mark in this category critical to recruiting free agents
Brian Letscher|
Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine.
Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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For the last three years the National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA) has released a report card, the result of the players anonymously grading their own organization on 11 different categories including 'Training Room', 'Treatment of Families', 'Head Coach', and 'Ownership'.

RELATED: Bills see drastic year over year drop on NFLPA team report cards

Another category is "Team Travel". While the Bills were middle of the pack on most categories, they came in dead last here with an abysmal 'F-'. One could imagine some of this has to do with weather related issues and delays, but based on the more detailed feedback, more than weather went into the poor grade.

RELATED: Bills see drastic grade drop on NFLPA team report cards

The NFLPA report card went into detail, "35% of the Bills players feel they have a comfortable amount of personal space on team flights, ranking them 32 out of 32," and that "players believe their team travel schedule is inefficient, a rank of 32 of 32 teams." The report went on to say that "players feel that travel continues to be the worst part of their experience."

Bills GM Brandon Beane spoke with ESPN's Alaina Getzenberg Wednesday at the combine in Indy, sharing his thoughts on the organizations terrible grade.

“We put a lot of our players up [in first or business class] on the outbound [flights], we don’t put as many on the return, because depending on when we get back, some of the coaches are up there working on breaking down this film, getting ready for the next week,” Beane said. “So, if anyone’s complaining about not being up there, it couldn’t be on the outbound and maybe would be more on the return.”

Beane continued, pushing back on the validity of the survey, “My question is how many people actually completed this survey? This is the problem when you do anonymous surveys. Are we talking about six people, 12 people? You’re talking about we have 70-something players when you count our practice squad and beyond. So, it’s really hard to ascertain who gave the F-minus for their plane travel.”

Terry Pegula, Brandon Beane
Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, left, and General Manager Brandon Beane. | Shawn Dowd / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ultimately, Beane expressed a desire for an in-house discussion with Bills players -- or at least a chance to tell them they're doing the best they can.

“Ultimately, we love feedback, but we’re not getting that in the building. So, that would be the most constructive way, for us, would be, so we could have that dialogue and explain this is the biggest plane we can get and it’s only going to fit so many people up front,” said Beane.

Spencer Brown, O'Cyrus Torrence, Connor McGovern, David Edwards
Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown (79), Buffalo Bills guard O'Cyrus Torrence (64), Buffalo Bills guard Connor McGovern (66) and Buffalo Bills guard David Edwards (76). | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It is difficult to ascertain how other teams, such as the Ravens or the Broncos, receive 'A' grades for Player Travel, but considering the report serves as a sort of 'free agent guide' as players decide where they'd like to play, it's definitely something Beane and the Bills should improve as they look to recruit difference makers.

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Brian Letscher
BRIAN LETSCHER

A Michigan native, Brian graduated from the University of Michigan in another century, where he earned a degree in economics and a Rose Bowl Championship ring while playing football for the Wolverines under Head Coach Gary Moeller. Brian went on to coach Division 1A football for several years before becoming a full-time writer and actor while maintaining an unhealthy interest in sports. He is currently developing a scripted television series, THOSE WHO STAY, based on a series of historical fiction articles he wrote about Bo Schembechler's Michigan football program as they struggle to unite and win the championship - which requires beating #1 Ohio State - during the tumultuous civil rights and anti-war movements of 1969.

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