Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane is comfortable acknowledging when two things are true at once. Take the Bills defense, for example.
Last season, Beane was impressed with some statistics, while realizing those rankings didn’t equate to the ultimate goal, a Super Bowl.
“This was a No. 1 defense, and did a lot of really good things,” Beane said Friday. “Was every game perfect? No. Was the pass rush where we wanted it all the time? No.”
In the nuance, he saw an opportunity for improvement. And as free agency played out, Beane saw the person for the job.
By Wednesday, famed pass rusher Von Miller had signed with the Bills. The former Bronco and Ram signed a six-year, $120 million contract that guarantees $51 million. Beane is expecting a strong return on investment.
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“I think we're just going to get so much from him,” Beane said Friday. “He's a true pro. Obviously, he is a heck of a player. Maybe on the field, (he’s) that closer. That finisher. OK, this guy knows how to get to the quarterback. It's proven. He's done it 115 or whatever times. We don't have that on our roster, and this was the only way to get it.”
Beane was close on the stats: Miller has 115.5 career regular-season sacks. He’s added another 10.5 sacks in the playoffs. But it’s not just the immediate impact of Miller’s individual play that can boost the defense.
Beane believes Miller will help the Bills’ younger players on the defensive line, who will be able to watch his example and ask questions on his techniques. He noted Miller brings the experience of winning two Super Bowls – his win with the Broncos six years ago perhaps just as fresh as last month’s win with the Rams in Beane’s eyes.
“Unfortunately I was a part of one of his wins,” said Beane, who was then with the Panthers. “If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, as my son told me last night.”
Beane planted seeds of Miller joining long ago, having reached out about Miller when he was still in Denver. Beane stayed in touch with Miller’s agent, Joby Branion, checking in over the years. This time, Branion reached out to Beane.
Beane had appreciated Branion’s transparency in the past, so he kept asking direct questions, even if the answers may have kept Buffalo out of the running.
“One of the things I said to Joby is, ‘Is he all in? Would he really want to be here?’ ” Beane said.
At Miller’s introductory news conference Thursday, the pass rusher was clear that he was excited to be in Buffalo, while being candid about how hard it was to leave Los Angeles. Both can hold true at once; Beane knows that.
The general manager can empathize with any player wanting to take that jump, while still feeling rooted elsewhere.
“He talked about the struggle of making this decision, leaving L.A.,” Beane said. “I talked to him, I said, ‘Listen, I was in Carolina 18 years. My kids were crying when I told them that we were leaving, but it was the best thing for me. Just trust it.’ I appreciate that. Some people don't want to tell you what they're feeling internally. I respected his whole process.”
Even with all the reasons to reel Miller in, Beane knew it would take some work on the Bills’ end. First, there’s the way the team’s cap situation will play out. Beane knows things are tighter than before, a byproduct of a talented roster. He pushed back on the idea that the team would sacrifice long-term team health simply to win now. Beane doesn’t think the Bills are set up in a way where it has to be one or the other.
“I’m not trying to set this up that if we don’t win this year or the next year, then we gotta blow it up and start over,” Beane said. “We’re going to try to be a consistent contender. … I’m not sitting here going, ‘Alright, we got a two-year window, we gotta win it, and then we blow it up.’ That’s not the plan at all.”
Beane credited Jim Overdorf and Kevin Meganck of the Bills' front office for working with him to structure different contracts to avoid everything swelling at once. That work will continue.
Any financial concerns could be tied to Miller’s longevity. There again, Beane recognized concerns before dismissing them.
“We all watched this guy down the playoff stretch and what he showed he's still got,” Beane said. “I've seen pass rushers in the history of the NFL do well late into their career and into the end of their 30s. And so, I get the question of this guy's in his early 30s, but you didn't see anything down the stretch with the Rams that said he doesn't have it or he's declining by any means.”
In the end, the main hesitancy in the whole process was from Miller’s end – not for lack of enthusiasm, but for feeling out a new situation and making sure it felt right. Beane gave him time. The rushing will come later.
By the time Miller put pen to paper, contemplation gave way to elation.
“When he signed it, he was all smiles and excited to be here, and I appreciated how he went through it,” Beane said. “He was very open and honest that he wanted to get here and know this was the right thing for him.”
