Under the leadership of GM Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills organization has drafted very well and added cornerstone players to their roster. It's no secret that some of the team's initial building blocks are now entering the final years of their respective contracts. It has prompted outside observers to wonder when and if extensions are being prepared, negotiated or otherwise for players like Tre'Davious White, Dion Dawkins and Matt Milano from the regime's initial draft class.
In an appearance on Bills flagship station, WGR Sportsradio 550, Beane confirmed that there are young players on their roster whom they'd like to sign to extensions to keep them in the fold, but that the timing and the terms have to be right for all parties involved.
"We'd like to get guys done or re-done if we can," Beane said. "That's the ideal way. When it's time to sign a guy or re-sign a guy that you have on your roster, it always takes two to figure it out. The best deals are win-win. A win for the player and a win for the Bills and so sometimes we want to sign a guy or re-sign a guy here and the agent just feels that the market is higher than where we see the value and those deals don't get done or vice versa. They might feel that this is not necessarily the right spot for them or they want to wait. Sometimes guys just want to see what free agency yields over here or how the market shakes out just to get a little more clarity on it."
Beane believes the likelihood of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is also part of the reason some player agents have their clients in a holding pattern, whether it's pending free agents, or players entering the final year of their contract who might be in line for an extension with their current club.
"I think a lot of people are waiting to see if a new CBA is ratified and what that would do to the cap, the here and now, and also what it would start looking like in 2021 and beyond," he said.
Buffalo's personnel boss assured that as a club, beyond their free agent class this year, they also evaluate all of their upcoming guys that will have a year left on their contracts and decide if they're in a position to re-up their deals.
"You guys know some of the names and we'll definitely look to re-sign some of them and see if we can figure out their value, but again it takes two get a deal done," said Beane.
Pro Bowl cornerback Tre'Davious White is obviously a primary name on the list and Beane acknowledged that White is a player the Bills want on their roster long term.
"Any guy that's been in Tre's situation that we want back and obviously Tre' is a guy we love and we want back, you do look and try and find what the value is and it's hard," said Beane. "It can sometimes be hard for agents too because they're trying to look at what the market is today versus what's it going to be in two years. Do they want to play it out? Do they want security now?
"Some guys are truly fine with playing it out and seeing where it goes in two years. Some guys want the security. Then it's up to us to figure out where we see his market value, and you know is he the number one corner in the league? Or the number two corner in the league, etcetera? And that's at whatever position you're talking about so I think you have to take each player individually, case by case.
"And obviously next year Josh (Allen) and Tremaine (Edmunds) would fall into that bucket as well. And we'll have that decision at that point on those two guys. But Tre' is a guy we love and we definitely want him to be here as a Buffalo Bill for a long time. At the right time the deal will happen. Deals get done when they're supposed to get done and that's kind of always been my stance."
For now, the primary focus appears to be Buffalo's pending free agent class with players like DE Shaq Lawson, CB Kevin Johnson and others like DT Jordan Phillips, who Beane has indicated is likely to test the market first later this month.
"We're still having conversations with their reps," said Beane of the team's free agents. "But other than that we'll have to wait and see what happens the next two weeks."
