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Brandon Beane provides weak response to Buffalo Bills' inactivity at NFL trade deadline

It was rinse and repeat for the Buffalo Bills' General Manager, who offered up many different cliche reponses during his time speaking with reporters on Wednesday afternoon, hours after the expiration of the NFL trade deadline.
Alex Brasky|
Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane reacts during the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane reacts during the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Rinse and repeat.

General Manager Brandon Beane fired up the cliché machine as he spoke with reporters hours after the expiration of the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

RELATED: Reasons why Buffalo Bills will regret standing pat at NFL trade deadline

During his time at the podium, Beane explained why the Buffalo Bills decided to stand pat without any moves to bolster an injury-besieged roster. In his responses to questions feathered at him by the media, the Buffalo GM uttered phrases such as “it takes two to tango,” “it’s not fantasy football,” and “cannot force someone to trade,” among other gobbledygook that fell on deaf ears for many.

"It's not a store where you can just go in and say, 'Hey, I'll pay $20 and I'll take this player or I'll take you know — it takes two to be able to do it," said Beane. "And so, yeah, we're competitive. We we're always trying to not just on the trade deadline. We're always looking."

OK. I'll play along.

MORE: Three WRs Bills should have traded for before NFL trade deadline

The entire 27-plus minutes he spent at the podium was akin to listening to a broken record.

"The trade deadline's hard," Beane added.

Well, it didn't appear to be all that hard for those teams involved in the eight trades made on Tuesday, which were tied for the second most on any deadline day dating back to 1990.

The Bills have made plenty of pre-trade deadline deals in the past, albeit many of them have been less than inspiring and lacked anything near star talent. And as was confirmed on Tuesday, it is more than possible for teams to swing blockbuster deals for significant contributors, despite what Beane would like to gaslight fans into believing. Look no further than the Indianapolis Colts’ trade for Sauce Gardner, the Dallas Cowboys' move to acquire Quinnen Williams, and more.

RELATED: NFL insider reveals why Bills didn't make trade with fire-sale Jets

Terry Pegula Brandon Beane
Terry Pegula, owner, CEO and president of the Buffalo Bills and Brandon Beane, general manager, talk and walk off the field at the end of practice at the Buffalo Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford on July 24, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This season, perhaps more than ever, the Bills appear to be just a few pieces away from vaulting ahead those with whom they remain in competition throughout the AFC. However, rather than landing a player or two that would have helped Buffalo rise above their competitors, the status quo has remained, and the Bills will forge ahead as constructed into the stretch run.

And if you ask Beane, despite his failure to complete a trade before 4 p.m. Tuesday, he remains more than confident in his roster as constructed heading into Week 10.

"I do believe we can win a championship with this roster," asserted the Bills' GM.

If he says so.

Whether or not the tack the Bills elected to take will prove to be the right decision remains to be seen. But with nine players on injured reserve, and several more missing from the Bills’ first practice of Week 10 due to their respective injuries, Buffalo’s inactivity before the deadline appears a bit negligent at this point.

MORE: Buffalo Bills sign potential Michael Hoecht replacement, two others after trade deadline

For now, Beane has put his pencil down and will move forward with the Bills’ roster as it is currently constructed. And while his overall grade for this season will be determined at season’s end, his passivity on Tuesday leaves him between a rock and a hard place.

Either make the Super Bowl, or suffer the wrath of Bills fans for another failed kick at the can.

"We're 6-2 and I've seen I've been to the Super Bowl a couple times," said Beane. "I've seen us be in AFC Championship games. You don't get to AFC Championship games without having a championship roster. And I know what that looks like."

A meaningful trade before the deadline would have bought the Bills some faith from their fan base if things are to go awry over the next few months. At the very least, they could have said, "Hey, we tried."

But instead, Beane sat on his hands and did nothing, leaving a depleted roster that has experienced plenty of inconsistencies over the first nine weeks of the season to put it all together and finish the job.

It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for him.

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Alex Brasky
ALEX BRASKY

Alex Brasky is editor of Bills Digest and host of the Buffalo Pregame podcast. He has been on the Bills beat the past six seasons and now joins Sports Illustrated hoping to expand his coverage of Buffalo’s favorite football team.

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