Brandon Beane unfairly survives Bills' purge despite multiple on-the-job failures

Although general manager Brandon Beane didn't join the Buffalo Bills' organization until a few months following head coach Sean McDermott's hiring, the two former Carolina Panthers' colleagues have been closely tied together since reuniting in Orchard Park.

It's almost as if McDermott helped Bills' owner Terry Pegula select Beane to fill the GM seat. Immediately after getting through the 2017 NFL Draft with Doug Whaley as general manager, Buffalo made the change to Beane.

The point being is Beane's fingerprints are all over the Bills' organizational failures, and if McDermott deserves to lose his job for not getting the team over the hump, then Beane should carry equal blame.

MORE: Bills suffer another playoff exit due to same Sean McDermott-rooted shortcomings

The last thing Beane deserves is a promotion to President of Football Operations in addition to his GM responsibilities, but, obviously, Pegula believes otherwise.

It's certainly concerning that Pegula is allowing Beane to spearhead the coaching search, but it could be the owner giving his general manager one final chance.

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 St. John Fisher University in Pittsford on July 24, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The title promotion most likely means higher expectations for Beane, but his chances of actually succeeding aren't encouraging considering his recent track record of failed moves, free-agent misses and early-round draft gaffes.

Without even looking back at the 2022 first-round Kaiir Elam mistake, or his move to trade down for Keon Coleman in 2024, there are four recent moves that can all be viewed as fireable offenses.

While Pegula should have viewed McDermott and Beane as a package deal at this point, at the least, the general manager must be on a short leash.

Defensive free-agent misses

There's no questioning that the Bills' offseason approach was significantly limited due to salary cap constraints, Beane's past moves are a main reason why the franchise remains in an accounting pickle.

With limited resources, the general manager went out and made three notable signings. In addition investing multiple years in versatile defensive lineman Michael Hoecht, Beane awarded one-year contracts to defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and defensive end Joey Bosa.

Immediately after the signings became official, it was revealed that both Hoecht and Ogunjobi were mandated to serve six-game suspension due to violating NFL substance policy.

Unfortunately, Hoecht, who showed promise in a limited sample, tore his Achilles two weeks after returning to game action.

Following his suspension, Ogunjobi was available for the remainder of the regular season, but his contributions were entirely unnoticeable. He was a healthy scratch on December 21, and the free-agent disappointment totaled 19 tackles and no quarterback hits over 10 appearances.

Taking a flier on Bosa for $12.6 million wasn't an awful idea, but he was not the consistent differencemaker that the Bills needed him to be. Four of his five forced fumbles came during September as he faded down the stretch. Bosa accounted for only one quarterback hit over 91 playoff snaps.

Jakobi Meyers Tossed Joey Bosa pic.twitter.com/4idGtHG6dJ
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) January 11, 2026

Darius Slay saga

The Bills blindly claimed defensive back Darius Slay off waivers from the Pittsburgh Steelers without preparing for the possibility that the veteran had no intention of reporting.

In the process, Buffalo was forced to release battle-tested backup cornerback Ja'Marcus Ingram to open a roster spot for Slay's anticipated arrival. The Houston Texans claimed Ingram, Slay was a no-show and the Bills were suddenly shorthanded at cornerback.

As it turned out, Buffalo sure could've used Ingram this past Saturday against the Denver Broncos, who immediately took advantage of Tre'Davious White's one-play absence.

With Tre White out, the Broncos went at Dane Jackson pic.twitter.com/fDTvvfttnm
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 18, 2026

WR shortcomings

Beane turned the wide receiver room into Khalil Shakir and a bunch of other guys. The unit has clearly lacked firepower since the subtraction of Stefon Diggs, but the general manager has seemingly been in denial.

It remains a mystery as to why Beane was not willing to use early-round draft capital to beef up the Bills' WR corps this past spring. The Bills didn't draft an offensive player until Round 5, and trading a first-round pick for Jaylen Waddle was also reportedly an option this past November. Beane, however, declined to go either route.

Instead, the general manager doubled down on Keon Coleman and attempted to pass free-agent addition Joshua Palmer off as a legitimate threat. The two combined for 60 receptions, 707 yards and four touchdowns. By comparison, New England Patriots' secondary receivers Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas accounted for 998 yards and nine TD receptions.

In what wound up being the final game of the season, the Bills were relying on late-season waiver wire pickup Brandin Cooks as their main downfield target. Injuries certainly hurt, but Buffalo wasn't playing with a full deck from the start.

Salary cap quagmire

As mentioned earlier, the Bills are in a salary cap situation that is a direct product of Beane's roster management.

Buffalo is set to enter the new league year needing to create approximately $3 million in salary cap space to become compliant. Meanwhile, the division rival New England Patriots will have nearly $44 million of room to work with right off the bat.

Per Spotrac, the Bills will have to eat $32 million in dead money from early bonus payouts. It's the fourth-highest total in the NFL. My Bills On SI colleague Alex Brasky dove into the details on Sunday.

Beane made his bed, and now he gets to sleep in it. Although there will be challenging times ahead for the general manager, at least he still has a bed to sleep in, unlike McDermott.

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