The Bills are going to Los Angeles on Monday night, and I have to believe Brandon Beane is at least a little annoyed about it. The Rams represent a team-building philosophy he has warned against, and they also happen to be the team that fans like me keep pointing toward whenever we’re frustrated with Buffalo’s approach. That combination feels tailor-made for a guy who, in my opinion, has some of the biggest rabbit ears in the NFL.
Back in April 2023, Beane talked about avoiding the kind of teardown that comes when a team can no longer carry its expensive roster. “We’re trying not to do that, we want to be competitive every single year,” he said. He never mentioned the Rams by name, and maybe he wasn’t specifically taking a shot at them, but coverage at the time certainly connected those dots. Los Angeles was coming off a miserable season after winning the Super Bowl, and its aggressive approach had become a convenient cautionary tale.
The part that always got me was that the cautionary tale included winning the fucking Super Bowl. I understand there were consequences, and I understand nobody wants to spend years digging out of a hole, but you can’t discuss what the Rams sacrificed without discussing what they actually got for it. They took their swings, won a championship, and gave their fans something they could keep forever. I imagine a few people in Buffalo would take that deal.
And that’s why Monday night feels like Brandon Beane’s personal Super Bowl. One regular-season game won’t settle which front office has the better philosophy, but I’d bet Beane understands exactly what this particular opponent represents to the people questioning him.
Beane has done some great things, and I don’t have to pretend otherwise to criticize him. He drafted Josh Allen, helped build a roster that brought Buffalo back into contention, and has made moves that deserve credit. He has also said things that I think are complete bullshit, and sometimes his explanations sound more like a defense of his decisions than an honest accounting of why they haven’t worked. Both things can be true, even if every discussion about him eventually turns into an argument about whether you’re sufficiently grateful.
And the irony is that the Rams were part of what helped build the whole “Big Baller Beane” persona in the first place, when he sent Sammy Watkins to Los Angeles in a deal that brought back a second-round pick. That was controversial at the time, and I wasn’t a fan of it, but it ended up being an incredible deal for Buffalo, and Beane deserves credit for that. So there’s something funny about looking back at a trade with the Rams as an example of the bold decision-making we celebrated, and now looking at those same Rams with envy because we want Buffalo to show more of that nerve.
And the man hears the criticism.
We’ve seen the public defensiveness, and there’s also the PFF podcast account about him being angry with their grading and allegedly threatening to pull business from the company. My impression is that he’s far more aware of what fans, media members and assorted idiots like me are saying than he would probably like us to believe. So I have a hard time imagining he has somehow missed all the Rams envy.
Because that’s what it is, and I have no problem admitting it.
I know I’ve said this before, because I’ve tweeted some version of “be like the Rams” numerous times, and I’m hardly the only Bills fan who feels that way. Then you see Myles Garrett go there, and your reaction is basically, “What the fuck, how do they keep doing this?” I want to be the fan celebrating that move instead of sitting around explaining why my team couldn’t make it. We can debate the cost and the contracts all day, but the Rams keep giving fans like me a reason to look at Buffalo and ask why we can’t have that, too.
They appeal to the Madden player in all of us, because they’re willing to trade picks and make the kind of move that has you immediately picturing what Sundays could look like. Obviously, running an actual franchise is more complicated than pressing a button on your controller, but I don’t think fans need that lecture every time they want their team to pursue somebody great. We know there’s a cost, and sometimes we’re saying we think the player is worth it.
And I’m sorry to peel back another layer of annoying Brandon Beane explanations, but hearing Josh Allen’s contract brought up as a reason to be careful gets old.
Beane explicitly connected paying Allen with the danger of becoming too top-heavy, while explaining his reluctance to take a one-year, all-or-nothing approach. I understand the accounting behind that, but having Josh Allen is also the best argument for doing everything you can to improve the team around him.
Meanwhile, Matthew Stafford isn’t exactly playing for a gift card, and the Rams still find ways to pursue players who make you stop scrolling. Their circumstances aren’t identical to Buffalo’s, and nobody is suggesting every contract can be copied and pasted, but that doesn’t make the comparison meaningless. When one team keeps finding ways to do the things you’re told are difficult, eventually you start questioning the explanations.
The Rams have had to reset, and pretending they’ve never dealt with the downside of their decisions would make this argument too easy to dismiss. They’ve also shown a willingness to change direction and take another swing, which is what I admire. I don’t need a general manager to promise there will never be a difficult offseason, but I would like to feel that avoiding one isn’t becoming more important than maximizing the opportunity we already have.
And Buffalo has had that opportunity for a long time. Every season with Allen gives us another chance, but it also uses up another year of his career, and I think that’s where a lot of the impatience comes from. Fans aren’t asking for a reckless move just so they can win an argument on the internet, although I’m sure some of us would enjoy that part. We want the move that might finally make the difference.
I also know Beane has taken swings, which is why the question can’t simply be whether he’s willing to spend money or trade a pick. The question is whether he’s making the right bets, and whether all the talk about sustainability has delivered enough when the games matter most. Being consistently good has value, but it shouldn’t make the people asking for more sound unreasonable.
So when the Bills go to Los Angeles, I’ll be watching the football game, and I’ll also be thinking about all those arguments we’ve had over the years. Beane will have a chance to see his roster beat the team that fans like me keep holding up as an example, and I suspect that would feel pretty satisfying to him. He’ll probably go on Pat MagaFee’s show to pound his chest out and talk how great everything is while Pat’s peanut gallery will hoot and go oooooooo when he says something that’s borderline arrogant.
And if the Rams win, he probably won’t need to open X to know what we’re saying, because we’ve been saying it for years.
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What exactly has Brandon done? The Bills were built on the previous regime's 2017 draft and the savvy FA signings of Hyde and Poyer. The reason that the Rams can stay competitive is their ability to draft well in later rounds when top picks were traded.
Given his drafting record, I have little faith that this management to team can replicate the Rams feats.