Buffalo Bills: Tough but necessary to accept Brandon Beane’s plan

General manager Brandon Beane shared his vision for the Buffalo Bills in a letter to season ticket holders and it’s important for fans to give him a chance.

It’s fair to characterize the Buffalo Bills‘ 2018 season as disappointing but expected. And really, that’s the issue for a lot of fans; when can they next expect to have a good season?

People may point towards just the season before, when the Bills ended a 17-year playoff drought. However, the reality is that heading into the 2017 campaign, it wasn’t expected that the Bills would finally return to the postseason.

Which brings us to general manager Brandon Beane’s letter to season ticket holders, which he sent out earlier this week. As per Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News, the letter outlined the team’s plans, while also thanking fans for their loyal support.

At this point, thanking the fans is likely to fall on deaf ears. They’re more than aware they are one of the most passionate fanbases in all of professional sports, but when will they finally be rewarded for their dedication?

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Beane attempted to provide at least some optimism for the future, by stating his commitment to continue drafting, developing and re-signing their own players. He outlined this commitment by reminding fans the team has 10 picks for this year’s draft.

In fairness, Beane has already drafted several players who have shown some early promise and could prove to be part of the core of the team for years to come. In particular, this includes Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds.

However, Allen in particular will need more help around him. The offense was terrible in 2018, ranking 30th in both yards and points.

Of course, just drafting new players won’t be enough, with free agency offering an avenue to get more immediate help. In this respect, as per Skurski, Beane discussed the Bills’ salary cap position in his letter:

"“Our salary cap situation has improved greatly. It was a strategic move to have so much dead cap space last year in order to put us in a better situation moving forward. We will use that to our advantage.”"

However, don’t equate the Bills’ excellent financial position with thinking they will be splashing the cash and making outlandish offers to players. As Beane stressed, the team will be active but calculated in the free agent market.

The former Carolina Panthers’ GM did state that the franchise’s sole focus is to build a long-term championship contender. However, what’s clear from the letter in general, is that it will be a lengthy process and fans will need to be extremely patient.

Undoubtedly, this will annoy a lot of the Bills’ fan base, again because of how long they have gone without any real success. At this point though, it is important to note that lack of success is not the fault of Beane.

In fact, you can even offer the argument that at least Beane has a 50 percent success rate when it comes to making the playoffs as Bills’ GM. Yes, we appreciate it took a lot of good fortune in 2017, but he was still part of the team which ended what was at the time, the longest playoff drought in all four of North America’s major professional sports leagues.

Overall though, as frustrating as the letter may well be for the majority of Buffalo Bills fans to read, they have to realize Beane is invested in turning their beloved team into a genuine contender. And while being patient is the last thing they want to do after years of just that, they have to accept the front office’s plan is a necessary course of action.

What is your take on the letter Beane sent to season ticket holders? How would you rate the job he has done so far for the Buffalo Bills? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.