Brandon Beane
Brandon Beane (born July 27, 1976) is an American football executive who is the general manager for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), a position he has held since 2017.[1][2] Prior to joining the Bills, Beane served in the personnel department of the Carolina Panthers organization from 1998 to 2016.
Buffalo Bills | |
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Position: | General manager |
Personal information | |
Born: | Norwood, North Carolina, U.S. | July 27, 1976
Career information | |
College: | UNC Wilmington |
Career history | |
As an executive: | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
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Executive profile at PFR |
Career
Before joining the Bills, Beane held various roles of increasing responsibility with the Carolina Panthers. He turned down a journalism job for a low-paying internship with the Panthers and eventually rose to become the team's assistant general manager. Beane has worked alongside general managers Marty Hurney and Dave Gettleman, and with head coaches Dom Capers, George Seifert, John Fox, and Ron Rivera.[3][4][5][6]
During his 18-year tenure, Beane's Panthers appeared in Super Bowls XXXVIII and 50, but lost to the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos respectively.[7]
Buffalo Bills
On May 9, 2017, Beane was hired by Buffalo as the general manager, joining former Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, who had been hired as head coach.[5] After the Bills fired previous general manager Doug Whaley, they opted to hire someone familiar to McDermott due to conflicts within the previous head coach-GM tandems under Whaley.[8][4]
Within the first season, Beane traded away many of the players Whaley had signed, drafted, or extended, including receiver Sammy Watkins, cornerback Ronald Darby, linebacker Reggie Ragland, and defensive tackle Marcell Dareus.[9] Though Beane arguably had his sights on a long-term rebuild while purging unfavorable contracts for the Bills, some sports commentators criticized his tactics.[10] In 2017, Beane's first season with the team, the Bills ended their 17-year playoff drought.[11] Beane has since drafted players such as quarterback Josh Allen, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, and defensive tackle Ed Oliver and brought in numerous offensive free agents with the team's new cap space.[12] On December 10, 2020, Beane signed a contract extension through 2025.[13]
Personal life
Beane was a high school quarterback before injuries cut short his athletic career. He graduated from UNC Wilmington with a degree in communications,[14] and he has two sons, Tyson and Wes, with his wife Hayley.[8][4]
References
- Maiorana, Sal. "Bills free agent tracker: Here's who's coming and who's going". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- Fetes, Daniel (March 14, 2021). "Why the 2021 salary cap HELPED the Bills". WHAM. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- "Beane named assistant general manager". Carolina Panthers. June 17, 2015. Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- Maiorana, Sal (July 22, 2017). "New Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane took an early career risk that paid off". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- "Bills name Brandon Beane general manager". Carolina Panthers. May 9, 2017. Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- Polacek, Scott (May 9, 2017). "Brandon Beane Named Buffalo Bills GM After 19 Years in Panthers Organization". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- "Super Bowl 50 – Denver Broncos vs. Carolina Panthers – February 7th, 2016". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
- Fairburn, Matthew (April 30, 2017). "Who is Brandon Beane? 5 things to know about Buffalo Bills GM candidate". newyorkupstate.com. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- Sessler, Marc (August 11, 2017). "Bills trade Sammy Watkins to Rams, acquire Matthews". NFL.com.
- Silagyi, Kyle (June 22, 2018). "Sporting News thinks that Brandon Beane is one of the NFL's worst GMs". Bills Wire. USA Today Sports. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
- Rodak, Mike (January 1, 2018). "Buffalo Bills make postseason for first time in 18 years". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
- Brown, Chris (March 13, 2019). "Offense dominates Bills initial wave of 2019 free agent additions". www.buffalobills.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- Gordon, Grant (December 10, 2020). "Bills sign general manager Brandon Beane to extension through 2025". NFL Official Website. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- Evans, Jon (March 11, 2018). "Brandon Beane: UNCW grad follows his passion to become an NFL General Manager ("1on1 with Jon Evans" podcast)". WECT. Retrieved December 15, 2020.