The Buffalo Bills made an A+ move when they traded up to land quarterback Josh Allen back in the 2018 NFL Draft. But not everybody gave the trade a passing grade at the time.
The Bills traded their own 12th pick plus the 53rd and 56th picks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in order to move up a mere five spots to select Allen. The Wyoming alum was considered a tantalizing, but incredibly raw prospect at the time.
During his press conference Tuesday at the NFL combine, Bills general manager Brandon Beane recounted the criticism his front office received for using so much draft capital to secure Allen.
“I mean, we got criticized a little bit for how much we gave up for Josh. And I’m like, ‘Well, if he doesn’t work out, I’m not going to be here anyway. And if he does work out, nobody’s gonna give a s–t,’” said Beane (profanity edited by LBS).
Quote of the day from Brandon Beane:#BillsMafia @BuffaloPlus pic.twitter.com/sjmWSBz4CC
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) February 27, 2024
Allen has certainly worked out for the Bills — and then some.
Contrary to Beane’s belief that a successful Allen trade would be met with indifference, it’s now become one of the most lauded moves in franchise history. In three of the last four seasons, Allen has finished top-5 in MVP voting.
The 27-year-old QB has also led the Bills to the playoffs in five consecutive seasons. Buffalo has also won their division for four straight years, which has only happened two other times since the franchise began in 1960.
The Bills’ two previous division-winning streaks — 1963 to 1966 and 1988 to 1991 — yielded three AFL championship game appearances, and two Super Bowl appearances.
Allen and the Bills have yet to break through the AFC postseason bracket with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs standing in the way. But there probably isn’t a single person in Buffalo who still regrets giving up two second-round picks for Allen.
