Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane Better Be Right About Standing Pat at Trade Deadline

Buffalo Bills General Manager Brandon Beane Better Be Right About Standing Pat at Trade Deadline

The Buffalo Bills do nothing at the trade deadline and Brandon Bean better be right. You are Locked on Bills, your daily Buffalo Bills podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. What’s up, Bills Mafia? It’s Joe Marino, author of the Herd Mentality Substack, co-host of the Locked On NFL Scouting Podcast, co-host of the NFL First Read Podcast, and I am your host of Locked On Bills. Want to thank you for making Locked On Bills your first listen every day. And a big welcome and shout out to our everydayers. You know who you are. Those of you who never miss a single episode, I appreciate y’all being here very, very much. Locked on Bills is a proud part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Well, folks, welcome in. We’re going to react to the Buffalo Bills doing nothing at the NFL trade deadline. And so, want to look at this through several different angles. We’ll talk about the AFC in general. We’ll talk about some of the opportunities that the Bills have to get better with some players that are going to be healthy. We’ll talk about some missed opportunities, but ultimately it comes down to this. The Bills didn’t do anything. And Brandon Bean has to be right about that. He has to be right about that. Now, I’m definitely not the type of person that wants the Bills to do something just to do something. I just didn’t want a new toy today. That wasn’t my objective. I didn’t just want something for the sake of doing something. But I think you can look at this roster and find two areas where you probably want to upgrade. Number one for me is the wide receiver position. And then with your injuries at defensive end and defensive tackle, Michael Hoy and Ed Oliver significant injuries. I would have looked at some opportunities to upgrade there and Brandon Bean didn’t do anything. And so he has to be able to look back on the end of this season, whatever happens, whatever the end result is, and I hope that he can have peace that doing nothing at the trade deadline was the correct move. Josh Allen’s last year in his 20s. And again, I didn’t want to do something just to do something. And I’m not going to speculate about players that weren’t traded that I would have liked to have seen the Bills trade for because that’s not fair. You don’t even know if they were really available. But there were some opportunities with players that were traded that I would have absolutely been in on. So, we’ll talk about that. But to me, the most significant thing that the Bills should have tried to improve at the deadline was the wide receiver position. Keon Coleman is playing the most snaps at the wide receiver position of any player on this team. It is so obvious to me that that is upgradable. The looks that the Bills get with man coverage all the time with no safety help over top of Keon is such a lowhanging fruit obvious way to get better. If you just have a guy that can occasionally win against man coverage, a guy that the defense has to respect just a little bit, it would be significant for this offense. significant that margin of what Keon Coleman is right now to Rasheed Shahed or Jacobe Meyers, two players that were traded at the receiver position is significant. That would have made your offense so much better. I didn’t need the Bills to sell the farm for Brian Thomas. I didn’t need the Bills to risk it all for Chris Ave. But you had two players at the receiver position that were traded that I think would have represented significant upgrades to Keon Coleman. Rasheed Shahed who went to Seattle for a fourth and a fifth round pick and Jacobe Meyers who went to the Jaguars for a fourth and a sixth round pick. Now that’s not nothing to give up and I understand that you can get good players in the fourth and fifth and sixth round. Like trust me, I’m well aware of that. But the opportunity right now to improve that Keon Coleman spot to me was right there in Rasheed Shahed and Jacobe Myers. Now the other side of that is I think you have players on your roster right now that are better than Keon Coleman that deserve those reps, that deserve those opportunities. Obviously Joshua Palmer getting healthy, I want to see more. I want to see him more in those roles. I’m hungry for more Elijah Moore because I think these players give you a better chance to win those one-on-one battles that teams are giving you. They’re inviting you and it means so much for the spacing of the field. Like teams are able to get that safety down in the box because there’s no concern for Keon Coleman making them pay on the perimeter. everything could open up if that player, if that exceiver could separate from man coverage with some level of consistency. So, yeah, I would have done those trades, but I’m also looking internally at opportunities to change the playing time around a little bit. And to me, that starts with Josh Palmer getting healthy. And yeah, I am interested in Gabe Davis getting some opportunities. Is there a level of disappointment that that’s where we’re at? Of course there is. But we can’t pretend like Gabe Davis didn’t do something good with Josh Allen, including in big games in the playoffs. He uses the word trust when he talks about Gabe Davis. You know, I’m not the biggest fan of Gabe Davis, but I recognize that he could be a better option in that spot, and I’m interested in it. Even if he’s 5% better, 10% better. It’s notable to me. And I think Josh Palmer can be like a big number better than what Keon Coleman gives this team right now in that spot. So that’s really my big thought right now is you’ve you’ve got to find a way to get a better option in that spot right now. I’m not saying the book on Keon Coleman is written, but right now is right now. And right now you’re in a battle. You’re in a race not only for your division, but for playoff seating in an AFC where the Colts are currently the number one seed. I want that spot to be better. Josh Allen deserves that spot to be better. And so you didn’t go make a trade for another player. All right, let’s see some changes based on what you have right now to upgrade that spot. And I’m hopeful to see that as Josh Palmer and Gabe Davis get healthy. And I want to see some of this shift in terms of playing time and targets. The other area that I thought the Bills could address would be defensive line pass rush in particular. You lose that Oliver, you lose Michael Hoy. And again, I’m not going to speculate about players that weren’t traded that I would have liked. I could give you a list of those players, but we saw Draymond Jones. Draymond Jones was traded from the Titans to the Ravens for a conditional pick. So, it’s a fifth round pick that could be a fourth round pick. And Draymond Jones is to me ideally one of those can rush all different gaps, can be that interior player, can rush off the edge and give you something else to continue to improve this pass rush. It’s This feels like the best Bills pass rush we’ve seen in a while, maybe ever, under Shawn McDerman. and you don’t have Hoy and Oliver. I would have given up that fifth round that could be a four for Draymond Jones who I think would elevate your pass rush. So, two clear needs to me some opportunities to improve something and the Bills didn’t. And I don’t have as easy of an answer for you at receiver as I do the defensive line spot. I mean, what Javon Solomon, you hope that he gets it together, maybe Landon Jackson, TJ Sanders is eventually going to come back. Maybe that’s your formula there. And you certainly have other things brewing on defense with Max Harrison now being part of the mix. Jordan Hancock’s being worked in. You swap out Puyer for, excuse me, you swap out Rap for Pooyer. So, I like some of that and how it’s coming together. But this receiver stuff, to me, it’s pretty clear how you can upgrade this football team, this offense by having a different option in this role that the Bills currently have Keon Coleman filling. So, give me Josh Palmer, give me Gabe Davis, give me Elijah Moore, but we have to stop pretending like Keon Coleman right now is ready for the opportunity he’s getting. So, some opportunities to get better from within through reinforcements and getting healthy. Obviously, Daquin Jones is a big part of this recipe at defensive tackle. Hopefully, he’s ready to go soon because I I don’t know. I don’t know about Larry Agen Joby, Fi Matthysse, Jordan Phillips, you know, I just you could tell that there’s deficiencies in those players. And so you need Daquin Jones back. You need Dion Walker to continue his rookie campaign and take some steps. And you need TJ Sanders to get healthy and start to flash and make some plays to make up for what you’re missing with the loss of Oliver and Hoy. Now, the Bills obviously restructured the contract of Taran Johnson, freed up $1.75 million. So, the Bills have about $3.5 million in cap space. It’s my belief that Brandon Bean was after some things. I don’t think it came through. Obviously, it didn’t come through. I have reason to believe that he was in on several possible trades that didn’t come through, but now they have $3.5 million, and they probably needed that uh for operating reasons. Uh, but worst case scenario, you can roll that over to the next year, but obviously we’re talking about a small amount of money to begin with. Also worth mentioning Shaq Thompson uh getting healthy and potentially being able to help this defense as another area for some reinforcements. All right, so coming up next, I want to talk about kind of the rest of the AFC and uh what didn’t happen. Honestly, I think there’s some surprising things like we’re living in this Bills mindset, but there’s a other teams here that didn’t do anything either and um you know, has me scratching my head a little bit. So, we’ll talk about that here next folks. Be sure to stick with me. Nobody likes paying rent, but if you must, you might as well get something for it. That’s where Built comes in. Built is changing the game by turning your rent payments into real rewards that you can actually use. 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Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. So, check it out right now. FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, folks. kind of shared some thoughts already on the Bills not doing anything and how Brandon Bean needs to be right about that and the missed opportunities and some of the internal opportunities to improve. Now, when I zoom out and I look at the rest of the AFC, I think I’m generally pretty surprised by what happened at the trade deadline. This conference is interesting. If I would have told you that entering week 10, the Bills, Ravens, Texans, and Chiefs would not be leading their division, and two of them would be in third place. Well, none of those teams really did anything either. Obviously, the Ravens traded for Draymond Jones, which is necessary. I think they had like 11 sacks on the season. I think the Bills have had 10 in their last two games. So, they needed some help and they got some injuries on the Dline. I’m not sure it’ll be enough to get their defense where it needs to be, but that’s it. That was it from those four teams. Everybody would have told you before the year that those were your estimated division winners this year, and that’s not the case so far. So, you have the seven-2 Patriots. They didn’t do anything. In fact, they’ve given away players, right? Keon White, Kyle Duggar, they traded them away. Pittsburgh Steelers at five and three, leading the AFC North with the Ravens at three and five as a second place team. Pittsburgh didn’t do anything. They have needs they have needs. I know a receiver obviously in a big way and they certainly they got Kyle Bugger I guess they needed to based on some injuries they have to Sean Elliot there. You know that was a trade last week. The Colts at 7-2 leading the AFC South. They certainly made the splash of the day trading two first round picks for Sauce Gardner and that’s a team that obviously feels some type of way. I mean they coming off of a bad loss to Pittsburgh but they are seven and two. Daniel Jones is playing well and their biggest need was corner. I mean this season they lured Xavier Howard out of retirement to play corner and start for them and then he’s since retired since coming back. I mean that’s where they were in terms of the corner position. Now they have him and Chavarius Ward. It looks like a good duo. The Colts certainly feeling something here. Houston doesn’t do anything at three and five. Jacksonville at five and three. They add Jacobe Myers, I wonder how much of that is. You know, Travis Hunter is on injured reserve with a knee injury. And Brian Thomas Jr. if I’m not mistaken, recently got hurt as well. Denver 7-2 leading the AFC West. Did nothing. They have needs receiver. The Chargers at six and three. They add Trevor Penning from the Saints and they’re down several offensive tackles. They needed that badly. How about Kansas City at 5-4? They do nothing. Kansas City’s got needs at DTackle, edge rusher, running back, O line. They did nothing. Of course, the Bills at 6 and2 looking up at the Patriots also do nothing. pretty fascinating to me and in some ways it’s comforting I guess that so many other teams that you thought would be in on some activity weren’t. But um it’s interesting. It’s it’s interesting nonetheless. How about the Jets? They kind of went nuts, right? They they got all the draft picks in the world. They trade away Sauce Gardner and Quinn Williams. Uh, and boy, they they have a a lot of work to do. They got a ton of draft picks over the next two drafts, but they also don’t have any good players. So, they got a battle here to fill out that roster. And it makes you wonder, I mean, if you’re going to trade away Quinn and Williams and S Gardner, how don’t you trade like Bree Hall? You have some linebackers. Like, what’s the point of holding on to anything? If you’re the Dolphins, you trade away Jaylen Phillips, but you can’t get a a deal done for Bradley Chub or Minka Fitzpatrick or something like that. It’s very surprising to me. Like, what’s the point? Some of these teams that held on to players. Cincinnati, what’s the point with Trey Hendrickson? Cleveland, what’s the point with Malik Collins? Tennessee, what’s the point with keeping Sebastian Joseph Day or Calvin Ridley or some of the safeties that they have? like some of these teams that were selling like why didn’t you sell more? It’s kind of fascinating to consider. Obviously, some blockbuster trades did happen, but an interesting day. An interesting day. Obviously, some big moves across the league, but relatively quiet. I mean, outside of the Colts getting Sauce Gardner, relatively quiet in the AFC. The Jags add Jacobe Meyers. It’s about it. Trevor Penning to the J to the Chargers. So, a lot of teams zoomed out, looked at what they had and said, I guess we’ll roll with it. And the Bills are one of those teams. And it goes back to what I said at the beginning. Brandon Bean better be right. Because there were trades that I would have been in on. And not that I would sit here and try to sell you on Jacobe Meyers being the absolute difference maker that the Bills needed. And in fact, he’s not even exactly the receiver I would prefer. But the bar being, can you be better than what the Bills are getting from Keon Coleman right now. Not a hard one to clear. It’s not a hard one to clear. And obviously, we can get bigrained and speculate, well, yeah, maybe the Bills should have been really aggressive and gotten a Chris Alav or Brian Thomas Jr. or what, whatever, Debo Samuel. I don’t know. That wouldn’t have been that exciting to me. But there were trades that were done that I would have want to see the Bills get in on. And ultimately, I I don’t want to I don’t want this season to end and me to think, “Oh man, they missed the opportunity cuz they didn’t get a receiver or they didn’t go after some additional defensive line help.” Time will tell, but ultimately, and I guess as always, Brandon Bean’s got to be right. So, there you have it. The trade deadline that produced nothing for the Buffalo Bills. All right, folks. Thanks for being here. As always, I kindly ask that you share, subscribe, rate, review. Have a great rest of your day. Go Bills. And I look forward to catching up with you again real soon.

Buffalo Bills stand pat at the trade deadline while AFC contenders make moves. Was Brandon Beane right to trust his roster, or did the Bills miss critical opportunities to upgrade?
Joe Marino breaks down why the wide receiver position remains a glaring weakness, specifically examining Keon Coleman’s struggles against man coverage and the realistic trade targets Buffalo passed on. The analysis covers potential internal solutions through Josh Palmer and Elijah Moore, defensive line depth concerns following Ed Oliver’s injury, and why the Bills didn’t pursue available help like Dre’Mont Jones. Key context emerges from reviewing how quietly the entire AFC approached the deadline, with the Ravens, Chiefs, Texans, and Steelers all standing pat despite their own needs.
The episode examines whether Josh Allen deserves better weapons in his final year in his 20s, and what this inactivity means for Buffalo’s playoff aspirations.
Tune in for critical analysis of the Bills’ calculated gamble and what needs to change internally for this roster to compete in January.

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