Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane rejected the notion Wednesday that his team is facing a “Super Bowl or bust” season.
“It's not that. It's not that,” Beane said. “It's not. It's not.”
Make that four “nots,” for emphasis.
Beane embraces the Super Bowl goal and the idea his team is a strong contender to win it all. The bust part is what he’s not buying.
“I understand the question, and I get why people would think that, but this is not a one year, we gotta get to the Super Bowl or not,” Beane said in his annual pre-draft news conference. “I want to get to the Super Bowl every year. But we can win the Super Bowl this year, and we're gonna be fighting like hell to get back there next year. No move we made this year was an all-in, you better do it now.”
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He stressed that mortgaging the future for an all-out, one-year, mad dash for the title is not part of his master plan.
“We've got a plan and we're going to stay competitive,” Beane said. “That's the plan. ... I don't know a case where I'm going to say, 'Let's push all our chips to the plate and to the table and let's do it all right now, and don't worry about the next year.' That's not what we're doing. I promise you.”
Beane said even the move to sign defensive end Von Miller in free agency was not at the expense of the team’s salary cap flexibility in future years.
“The foundation of the team when I sat up here when the Pegulas hired me, was we’ve got to draft, develop and re-sign, and that's what we tried to do as many times we can,” Beane said. “The foundation of how you build it doesn't change. Yeah, you may get a little more aggressive a year or two if you feel your team is closer.
“You're trying to get over the hump, and that's really what our moves have been this year,” he said. “It’s not an all-in as much is it is just trying to get across that finish line. And we came up short in the AFC championship against the Chiefs, and then this past year against the Chiefs, and trying to get over the hump, what can we do? We're close, but we're obviously not there. So what do we gotta do? But you still have to have many foundational draft picks to be able to do that. You can't just go buy players, it's not going to work, I don't think.”
With a week to go before the first round of the NFL draft, Beane played it coy regarding all specific questions on the Bills’ plans for the 25th overall pick.
“We still got spots that we want to add competition on both sides of the ball, and that'll be the plan,” he said.
Asked if he thought the Bills needed a defensive back, since cornerback is the biggest obvious need on the roster, Beane responded: “Do I think I need a defensive back? Like a safety or corner or what?
“Yeah, I’m looking for depth at a lot of spots, that one too, though, you’re right,” he said, unable to suppress a slight smirk.
Asked if the team is deep enough at outside wide receiver behind Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis, Beane said: “I don't feel we have enough at almost anything. We're looking to add everywhere. I would tell all my players that. ... I'm not comfortable at a lot of positions. I'm truly not. I’m comfortable at quarterback, but I'm not comfortable with a lot of spots. We're honestly still looking.”
Beane, however, threw plenty of compliments Davis’ way.
“Gabriel, he's a stud, and I mean that in all sense,” Beane said. “His habits, he is serious about football. ... I see him yesterday, first time at the coffee station. I mean, I don't even know if he took a day off. I hope he did. I didn't get into that, but he looks like he's ready to play, like he could play. ... Even his eyes. I mean, he's got that look, the eye of the tiger. I'll go to war with Gabe Davis any day of the week.”
