From the moment the Buffalo Bills traded Stefon Diggs for a 2025 second-round pick, expectations were that it wouldn’t be long before they made another high-profile receiver addition or two. The Bills did select Keon Coleman with the 33rd pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but they’ve yet to add a ‘star’ at the position to help replace Diggs.
Though, the Bills didn’t miss a beat without Diggs. In fact, the Bills improved their offense without Diggs, going from sixth to second in scoring while averaging 4.4 more points per game. Still, as the 2025 NFL Draft approached, some Bills fans anticipated another big splash, whether it was in the form of another young prospect or possibly even trading for an established veteran.
Yet, when the NFL Draft passed, and the Bills still didn’t make a move, it caused a stir among some. Recently, Bills general manager Brandon Beane appeared on WGR Radio on Buffalo’s Jeremy and Joe Show. Yet, before he came on, Beane had a chance to spend the previous few minutes listening to the show, where they were complaining about the lack of additions to the receiver room.
Needless to say, Beane wasn’t happy with what he heard, which caused him to go on a heated rant, biting back against critics.
“Well, you guys were bitching in 2018 about Josh Allen, you guys wanted Josh Rosen, and now you guys are bitching that we don’t have a receiver. I don’t get it. . . . We just scored 30 points in a row for eight straight games. A year ago, I get you guys asking why we didn’t have receivers. But I don’t understand it now. You just saw us lead the league in points, when you add all the postseason. No one scored more points than the Buffalo Bills, including the Super Bowl champions. So you just saw us do it without Stefon Diggs. Same group. How is this group not better than last year’s group? Like, I don’t — like, our job is to score points and win games. Where do we need to get better? Defense. We did that. So I get it. You’ve got to have a show and you’ve got to have something to bitch about, but bitching about wide receiver is one of the dumbest arguments I’ve heard.”
Bills GM Brandon Beane on criticism
Most teams would love to be in the Bills’ position, able to play in the postseason each year since 2019. Yet, that’s not enough for a franchise that’s still chasing its first Lombardi trophy.
Still, Beane says fans need to “be realistic” when trying to assess where the franchise is today.
“I get it, I’m just like — let’s be realistic. Our job is not to have — it’s not fantasy football, like to trot out the best receivers. You got Josh Allen, first thing you got to do is protect him. You can’t have everything. You can’t have Pro Bowl wide receivers and have a Pro Bowl offensive line and an All-Pro quarterback and three great running backs. . . . Sure, I’d love to play fantasy football but there’s one football, Jeremy, there’s one ball. You can’t give it to so many people. So that’s where I’m like, I don’t understand this narrative. I felt it a little bit from a couple of the reporters in the thing like, our job is to score points, it doesn’t matter what receivers, what quarterback, what — if you score points at the level we scored, that is winning football.”
Beane, continued
As long as the Bills have Josh Allen, they’ll remain competitive, and he did prove that having a top-notch receiver wasn’t what made him tick. If anything, going without an alpha empowered him even more, helping Allen win the NFL MVP award for the first time in his career.
Still, unless the Bill can get over the hump and celebrate being Super Bowl champions for the first time in franchise history, the criticism will continue.
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