Cincinnati Bengals fans probably won’t be happy with some comments made by Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane on Tuesday.
Beane met with reporters on Tuesday to discuss the 2022 season after they were eliminated from the postseason by the Bengals.
A reporter asked Beane about the Bengals’ wide receivers and how they have contributed to Cincinnati’s success. He specifically asked if the Bills should try to emulate some of the things the Bengals are doing.
Beane insinuated that the Bengals are only having success right now because they went through some “lean years” and had the opportunity to draft players like Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
Beane says Sunday was a blowout. Indy in 2021 was a blowout. But that’s not usual for them and have to be careful about looking at one game and making it bigger than it is as far as who they are.
— Sal Capaccio 🏈 (@SalSports) January 24, 2023
“They right now are on the advantage of a rookie quarterback contract,” said Beane. “And, you know, they had some lean years — without getting too much into their build — and I don’t want to suck bad enough to have to get Ja’Marr Chase. He’s a heck of a talent. I’d love to have him, but you gotta go through some lean years to do that. They were able to get Burrow at No. 1…those guys are on their rookie deals. We’re paying Stefon Diggs a hefty number. We’re paying Josh Allen a hefty number. So there are the constraints of the cap.”
“Our cap situation is a little different,” added Beane.
Those sound like excuses mixed with some shade at the Bengals for their down years before Burrow.
It’s almost like Beane is saying the only reason that Cincinnati is a top team in the AFC right now is because they landed Burrow and they’re not having to pay him a ton right now.
Maybe that’s true. I don’t know. But I sure wouldn’t say that out loud if I were in Beane’s shoes.
By the way, one thing Beane doesn’t seem to realize is that Cincinnati took some heat for drafting Chase at No. 5 in 2021 instead of taking an offensive lineman. That wasn’t an easy decision, but the Bengals took a gamble and it paid off.
Something else to note: The Minnesota Vikings drafted Justin Jefferson at No. 22 in 2020 with a pick they acquired from the Bills in the Stefon Diggs deal.
Jefferson has been better than Diggs, but Diggs has still been good. That’s not the point though — I’m not calling that a bad trade.
The point is that Buffalo can draft an elite wide receiver at any point in the first round, it just takes a little more work when it comes to scouting.
The Bills, by the way (lots of “by the ways” with Beane’s comments), haven’t drafted a wide receiver earlier than the fourth round since 2017 when they took Zay Jones in the second round.
The next highest they took a wide receiver was Gabe Davis in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
It’s hard to hit on a wide receiver if you don’t draft one in the early rounds.
Beane just looks silly after Tuesday’s comments. Throwing shade at Cincy because they’ve built a better roster than the Bills isn’t a good look for the Buffalo GM.
