Stanly native Brandon Beane signs four-year extension with Buffalo Bills
Published 12:02 pm Monday, December 14, 2020
South Stanly’s own Brandon Beane just received another feather in the cap of his NFL career.
With Buffalo at 10-3 and in first place in the AFC East by two games, the Bills announced recently a four-year contract extension for Beane to remain as the team’s general manager.
Joining the team in 2017, Buffalo has improved to win 10 games in two straight seasons, including last year when the Bills were 10-6 and earned a wild card bid into the playoffs.
This season, Buffalo has the chance to win a divisional title for the first time since 1995, leading Miami by two games in the standings with three games left, including the season-ending game at the Bills.
Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula issued the following statement on the announcement posted on the Bills’ website:
“Brandon is an outstanding leader, and he has brought a great level of stability throughout our organization. One of the things we appreciate and respect about Brandon is that he is very thorough in his decision-making process. No decision he makes comes without a great deal of study and research. We appreciate his strong communication skills, and he works extremely well with us, with Sean and with all levels of the organization. We are happy to extend his contract and to have Brandon and Sean leading our football team for many years to come.”
During a press conference Friday, Beane thanked the Bills’ owners for believing in him and head coach Sean McDermott and giving both the resources to build a strong scouting system.
The extension he said, “is a lot of people’s work, not just what I’ve done and I’m thankful. We haven’t accomplished what we’ve set out to do, but we can continue the journey and I’m excited to see where we are heading.”
Talking about his staff, Beane said “I have to have people who are driven, who want it…it was important for me to find the right people.”
Beane drafted the team’s current starting quarterback, Josh Allen, a three-time AFC Offensive Player of the Week who ranks this season in the top 10 in passing yards, TDs and completion percentage. He also drafted middle linebacker Termaine Edmunds, who earned a trip to the Pro Bowl last season.
Before Buffalo, Beane spent 19 seasons with the Carolina Panthers, and was with the Panthers when McDermott was an assistant.
Beane overhauled the roster since 2017, with just two players remaining on the team from that year: long snapper Reid Ferguson and defensive lineman Jerry Hughes.
“My view on Brandon hasn’t changed since the day we first met,” McDermott explained. “When I was around him in Carolina he always had a great way about him, in particular with people skills. Then to me, a great balance of the business and the operation and then also blending the football side, that’s unique around the league.
“I think for most GMs to have that experience on the business side of the football end of things, I really can’t envision myself working with anybody else but Brandon moving forward. For coaches, as I mentioned earlier, it’s one thing to be a good coach and develop players. But if you’re not being fed good players, it’s almost like drinking from a dry hose. That’s a hard thing to sustain over the course of time. So being fed good players, being fed players that match what we’re looking for, Brandon has done a phenomenal job. I can’t envision myself working with any other GM.”
Having the extension and the stability it brings to his family is huge, Beane said, added leaving Carolina was one of the hardest things to do.
He did not want to be like some NFL executives who move from team to team, adding “you see what this business can do” to families.
“I never wanted to be that. I thought that would be to hard on my family and I didn’t want that to happen. To be able to stay here for the foreseeable future is exciting and makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing as a husband and dad.”
Note: Maddy Glab, who wrote the story for buffalobills.com, contributed to this story, along with AP writer John Wawrow.