No NFL general manager is perfect. The vast majority, if not all, see more misses than hits when it comes to building a roster, including both free agency and the draft. But the best ones hit often enough to stay consistently competitive over the years and the Buffalo Bills’ Brandon Beane certainly fits that description as evidenced by a recent ranking of the top free agency classes of 2025 by ESPN’s Ben Solak.
Hired in May 2017 after almost two decades with the Carolina Panthers, Beane joined newly hired HC Sean McDermott. The Bills then proceeded to make the playoffs for the first time in 18 years after the 2017 regular season. Beane’s contributions may have been limited for that squad but it was the beginning of a run which has seen the Bills be highly competitive for the last seven seasons, including two AFC championship game appearances.
Beane’s move with the biggest effect was a draft pick not a free agent — no doubt in the 2018 draft when he traded up from No. 12 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers No. 7 pick and used to select Josh Allen, QB, Wyoming. Significant free agent signings over the years include WR Cole Beasely, Pro Bowl center Mitch Morse, WR John Brown who had a 1,000 yard season in 2019, and another Pro Bowler in current center, Conor McGovern.
Much of Buffalo’s talent has been homegrown, a draft-and-develop philosophy that Beane has espoused since day one. In his #1 ranking of the Bills this offseason, Solak notes that several of Beane’s most valuable deals were extensions of players he’d drafted, particularly WR Khalil Shakir, LB Terrell Bernard and DE Greg Rousseau.
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Beane once again appears to have Buffalo’s roster in very good shape heading into a draft in which he’ll try to fill glaring holes at corner, DT, EDGE. Look for Beane to trade some of the organization ten picks to make a big move and snag a couple more homegrown difference makers that can take the Bills past the AFC championship game and cement Beane as one of the league’s best.
