Tom Brady is no longer a New England Patriot. Brady and the Patriots have utterly dominated the AFC East — really the entire league — for two decades. Of course, Bill Belichick remains at the helm, so don’t expect the wheels to fall off in New England.
But Brady’s departure signals that the AFC East is suddenly an open competition. The Jets, Dolphins and Bills have combined for just two division titles since Brady took over (and one of those came during the season Brady missed with a torn ACL). The only time a team took the AFC East from Brady was the Jets in 2002. TWO THOUSAND AND TWO.
The Bills, the only team to not win the AFC East during Brady’s reign, have been plotting for this very moment. The franchise hired Sean McDermott as head coach in January of 2017 and just after the 2017 draft, the Bills hired Brandon Beane as general manager. The two had worked together with the Panthers since 2011. This was no arranged marriage destined for failure — this was a legitimate partnership.
If McDermott and Beane were to turn the Bills around, they first had to end the franchise’s seventeen-year playoff drought. Nine wins and one miraculous Andy Dalton touchdown later, Buffalo was playoff bound. It took McDermott and Beane one season to end the longest postseason drought in professional sports. If they could do that, imagine what they could do over a few years.
We don’t have to imagine anymore. The Bills have executed a world class rebuild over the past three years. In Josh Allen, they found whom they believe to be their franchise quarterback. Around the young QB, Buffalo has constructed a Super Bowl caliber roster for the modern NFL. Tre’Davious White and Micah Hyde anchor an elite secondary. Dion Dawkins and 2019 free agent acquisition Mitch Morse are the lynchpins of a solid offensive line. Brian Daboll is one of the game’s most creative offensive play-callers.
In 2019, the Bills went 10-6 en route to another playoff berth. They came close to earning a playoff win, but couldn’t quite finish off Deshaun Watson. It was a classic example of a young team that broke out a year earlier than expected. Beane doesn’t believe in being “one player away”, but it was no secret that a bona fide wide receiver would do wonders for Allen and the offense.
After two years of calculated, low-cost moves, Beane pounced on a star. The Bills acquired Vikings’ star receiver Stefon Diggs in exchange for multiple draft picks, including a first-round pick in 2020. Diggs is a near-perfect fit in the Bills system. He fills the last substantial hole the Bills had on offense, while the defense is already elite.
Initially, it seemed like the Bills gave up too much for Diggs, especially in the aftermath of the Cardinals’ heist of DeAndre Hopkins. In reality, the package lines up with the typical cost of an elite receiver. Even if the Bills slightly overpaid for Diggs, they had reached the point in their rebuild where they had to make an aggressive move. With upwards of $80 million in cap space and Allen’s rookie contract dwindling, now is the time to go all-in. McDermott and Beane knew it and seized the opportunity.
Though the Bills’ future is entirely dependent on Allen’s development, even I, a certified Josh Allen hater, must admit that this is an extremely exciting time to be a Bills fan. In fact, it is quite literally the most exciting time to be a Bills fan in my lifetime. After seventeen long years in the wilderness, there is real hope in Buffalo. McDermott and Beane turned around a franchise that many thought was irreversible. With two playoff appearances in three years, the Bills expectations must rise. Their mantra of “Playoff Caliber” has given way to “Championship Caliber“.
The Bills have spent the past three years quietly building a team that could put up a fight with the mighty Patriots. With Brady out of New England. the Bills are arguably the division favorites in 2020. It’s genuinely hard for me to fathom Buffalo hosting a playoff game, but the Bills have a legit opportunity do so in 2020. The Bills Mafia has waited a long time for this moment. In the words of Stefon Diggs himself: “It’s time for a new beginning”.
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