Brandon Beane provides weak response to Buffalo Bills' inactivity at NFL trade deadline

The entire 27-plus minutes he spent at the podium was akin to listening to a broken record.

"The trade deadline's hard," Beane added.

Well, it didn't appear to be all that hard for those teams involved in the eight trades made on Tuesday, which were tied for the second most on any deadline day dating back to 1990.

The Bills have made plenty of pre-trade deadline deals in the past, albeit many of them have been less than inspiring and lacked anything near star talent. And as was confirmed on Tuesday, it is more than possible for teams to swing blockbuster deals for significant contributors, despite what Beane would like to gaslight fans into believing. Look no further than the Indianapolis Colts’ trade for Sauce Gardner, the Dallas Cowboys' move to acquire Quinnen Williams, and more.

This season, perhaps more than ever, the Bills appear to be just a few pieces away from vaulting ahead those with whom they remain in competition throughout the AFC. However, rather than landing a player or two that would have helped Buffalo rise above their competitors, the status quo has remained, and the Bills will forge ahead as constructed into the stretch run.

And if you ask Beane, despite his failure to complete a trade before 4 p.m. Tuesday, he remains more than confident in his roster as constructed heading into Week 10.

"I do believe we can win a championship with this roster," asserted the Bills' GM.

If he says so.

Whether or not the tack the Bills elected to take will prove to be the right decision remains to be seen. But with nine players on injured reserve, and several more missing from the Bills’ first practice of Week 10 due to their respective injuries, Buffalo’s inactivity before the deadline appears a bit negligent at this point.

For now, Beane has put his pencil down and will move forward with the Bills’ roster as it is currently constructed. And while his overall grade for this season will be determined at season’s end, his passivity on Tuesday leaves him between a rock and a hard place.

Either make the Super Bowl, or suffer the wrath of Bills fans for another failed kick at the can.

"We're 6-2 and I've seen I've been to the Super Bowl a couple times," said Beane. "I've seen us be in AFC Championship games. You don't get to AFC Championship games without having a championship roster. And I know what that looks like."

A meaningful trade before the deadline would have bought the Bills some faith from their fan base if things are to go awry over the next few months. At the very least, they could have said, "Hey, we tried."

But instead, Beane sat on his hands and did nothing, leaving a depleted roster that has experienced plenty of inconsistencies over the first nine weeks of the season to put it all together and finish the job.

It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for him.

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