B (1:46)

Yes, he's doing great.

C (1:48)

All of the podiums and where GMs, players, all of those will. Coaches, they will speak over on that side. But look, we got. We've got a plug. We've got outlets. We have a table with chairs. We're going to bring people here. We're right next to Yahoo Sports.

B (2:02)

Yeah. So they're behind us.

C (2:05)

Our backdrop is the back of the back of theirs.

A (2:09)

Hey, we are. We are moving up. It is funny because you guys. You guys talk about how everyone's there, but there's literally, like, nobody behind you. There's nobody.

B (2:17)

No, yeah, no, they're all setting up.

A (2:19)

But you're just early.

B (2:20)

We're early. We are early.

C (2:23)

I'm never wrong. I'm just early on takes.

A (2:27)

That is the Dan Fates way. All right, let's get into what we want to see this week as this kind of sets the scene. Let's start with Brandon Bean and his plan as we are approaching this is Brandon Bean season right now, the combine, obviously a huge deal for what the Bills want to do, the prospects that they're looking at. But, Mike, what do you want to see out of Bean in his plan this week?

B (2:46)

Well, the plan is. Is a lot because we're talking about free agency comes first. Well, first of all, it's deciding on your own players and then free agency with other players, then the draft. I'm going to say right now this is the biggest off season for Brandon Bean since his first one, which would be 2018.

C (3:02)

Yes.

B (3:02)

In drafting Josh, drafting Josh Allen, making those moves. Look, they made the move. Sean McDermott's gone. Fine. Joe Brady gets elevated. Help him with the offense. New defensive coordinator, like, he's got a lot on his plate and a roster that has issues. So big year for him. The plan is going to be, is it a big swing? Is what we're going to ask him. Is it a big swing? Is it multiple moves? Certainly on defense, like what. What is the general plan? I don't think he's going to tell us exactly what he wants to do.

C (3:31)

Correct. Even though we're in this building, we're not in that building.

B (3:34)

Yes.

C (3:36)

To me, I also think of this, and I know we kind of joke around and do make a little bit light of it, but, like, over the next few months, I think we are going to hear more about. It was Sean McDermott's fault. It was Sean McDermott's fault. That page has to be turned. And now it is on Brandon Bean to retool this roster. Terry Pula may have said at that press conference that they have a great roster and good coaches. That's not the case. I think reality is setting in this offseason on what they have to do and. And to make an impact. And I think we were kind of talking about, you know, tomorrow we will talk to Brandon being one on one. We'll hear from him. We'll also hear from Joe Brady one on one. We'll have those also coming up. Tons of content throughout the week. But is he aggressive this offseason to make a swing? Whether that is a trade, whether that is moving up, whether that's just taking a wide receiver in the first round, which is something he's never done.

B (4:25)

Jenna, what do you want to hear from him?

A (4:27)

I. I was actually. Funny, I was just thinking about that because I'm. I'm curious what the tone he will have tomorrow because it is the off season, like, a lot of times for these coaches and for the players and for the front office, it's like a little bit more of like a relaxed. But obviously there is that much more pressure on being this year with the off season changes that this team has made. Is he, like, you know, super aggressive? Talk about, yeah, you know, we're gonna do this and that. I don't expect that, but I am curious the angle of what she would come. Because, Mike, we know how much pressure has already been on the steam just because of the expectations, but now with the moves made, it feels like that's been ratcheted up even that much more pressures on beam.

C (5:07)

We've talked about, oh, whoever the coach comes in has to get over that proverbial playoff wall, that floor that Sean McDermott has set. And we have said, like, hey, these are big shoes that. That Joe Brady's going to have to fill. I don't think anybody's under more pressure right now than Brandon Bean. It is Brandon Bean, then it's Joe Brady, then it's Josh Allen and the rest of the team. But I agree with you, Jenna, that this is a big off season for Brandon Bean.

B (5:32)

And Jenna, I love what you said about tone, though, because there have been times Brandon Bean set the right tone, you know, and I think that was back in his aggressive days. I think he got off track last year, and then this year he had one interview where he talked about blocking out the noise. Some people didn't take that well, but I understand why he wants to block out the noise. But I think the tone of the way he talks of the job at hand, I think it's important to send that message to Bill's fans. Not necessarily telling him what he's going to do, but almost like a bit of a humbled approach, like, you're the man standing now, so it's on you.

A (6:12)

Yeah. I am curious because in past years, he's talked about how, hey, we're shopping at the sales rack, like, we can't go after a big. I. Dan, I agree. I. I don't want to hear that either. But that kind of set the tone for the off season of having lower expectations on what they do. Now, will he say that tomorrow? We don't Know, but obviously, Mike and Dan will be out there doing interviews with Brandon Bean as well as Joe Brady. And I think that brings up the next point of, like, this is really the next step for Joe Brady as being. You know, he was introduced as the Bill's head coach, but now it's like, all right, dude, you are the coach. You set up your staff. Now it's the NFL world meeting in Indy, and it's going to be a taste of, like, that next step forward for. For Joe Brady and. And Dan. Like, what do you think that will look like and feel like and. And what do you think his influence will be here?

C (7:00)

It's not new because Joe Brady has been here at the combine. He was here as a quarterbacks coach. He's been here as an offensive coordinator. But it's a little bit. It is different. Like, there's no other way to get around it. Like, it's like they talk about the playoff games. Oh, it's just another game. But it's not like you're in a different role here. This means more now because of your role. It's like you. You're the babysitter, and you're able to do, like, dinner, so. So the parents can leave the house to do dinner, and then you get another time where it's like, hey, we're gonna. We're gonna do an overnight, and the babysitter's gotta get the kids to bed. And now it's like a weekend. Like, you're fully in charge of this house for the weekend.

A (7:35)

No, Dan, no. You go from being the babysitter to then having your own kid. That's how I look at this. It's not even the same, but you

B (7:43)

can tell Dad's got kids. Yeah. This is where his mind goes.

A (7:47)

You're right.

C (7:48)

You're right. You go for the babysitter to having your own kids. Way better analogy.

B (7:51)

Yeah.

C (7:51)

Hand up.

A (7:52)

And we work together. It's okay.

C (7:54)

Yeah.

A (7:54)

Well, Jenny, we're in alignment, guys.

B (7:58)

Oh, it's the word of 20, 26. Alignment. But look, this is not the Super Bowl. This is the combine. But I think the most popular people for NFL people around the league to go hear from are the new head coaches. Yeah, because they haven't seen him in this setting before. Right. So whoever it is, you know, Clint Kubiak's going to have a lot of people around him, and you stand there and answer questions, and Joe's pretty good answering the questions. He's fine. But it's going to come from all around the league. He's going to hear things that he might have heard five other times with Buffalo media that he hasn't heard there. And then there's going to be the national guys who want to get him aside. Then they're going to bring him over to NBC Sports, or they're going to bring him to CBS or they're going to bring him to espn. Yeah, he's going to do all that as the head coach of the team, representing them. Not in Orchard park, where he did really well in that setting, but now it's here with really all NFL media here. So I think he'll be fine. I don't think he's. I'm not talking about, like, nerves. I'm just saying is. It's different. And it. It hits you when you're here that this is big.

C (9:02)

He's also going to be involved in conversations in meetings that he hasn't been a part of before because he was mainly in. On the offensive ones.

B (9:10)

Obviously, when you say conversations, tell people what you're. You're talking about here, so they'll get

C (9:15)

to be able to bring in prospects and have 15 minutes. Yeah, it's like speed dating like that. You've seen the clip of Keon Coleman saying Tiger. Wish I was, you know, like. Like all of those kind of moments he was only in on the ones on the offensive side. Now he's going to be involved in the ones on the defensive side, and he's going to have that influence that he hasn't had before.

B (9:36)

Yeah, he's going to be the first one to talk, or at least the second one.

C (9:39)

Right. So he's going to get to see all of that stuff and, you know, kind of have the curtain pulled out and to see all of that goes into being the head coach. Now Brandon Bean had. And everybody has kind of applauded, and that was kind of the narrative of the CEO approach, that he had this mindset and plan for the entire team that goes into effect now.

B (10:00)

And, Jenna, I want to ask him, or we want to ask him about the role he'll have in personnel. And I'm curious what you think, because we know Sean McDermott had. If a coach is going to have a role, I would think Sean would have some sort of a role. But he was a coach for a long time. Yeah. And have been on the defensive side of the ball. I'm curious what you think either they'll say or what you think will happen with Joe Brady's influence. We know he pounded the table for Keon Coleman. So I wonder what kind of influence he'll have.

A (10:29)

I am so interested in that because we've heard the word and I know we joked earlier about alignment, but we heard a lot about that. And, you know, when Shawn McDermott came in, his influence and Brandon's was in lockstep because they were hired together. The way the power structure of the organization was, now with it being different, I'm really curious to hear what they have to say, what Joe Brady says about how much influence he will have on the roster. Because you're right like that with the power dynamic shifting, that could mean the influence on the roster shifts as well. So I would be. I'm really interested to hear what Joe Brady has to say with that because that does kind of set the tone also for what the off season looks like. Because if there's, you know, two guys making big decisions and obviously one with the ultimate say or it's really more one guy making all of decisions and one guy getting a little input, that changes how you build a roster and the philosophy around it. But, you know, we have.

C (11:24)

Jenna, that goes back to the pressure. Like that goes back to the pressure that, you know, how much is being feeling able to delegate still? Or does he feel now as the head of football operations or the president of football operations, he needs to take more on his plate and take some of that off the young rookie head coach.

A (11:45)

I don't know, Mike, if we'll hear about it, but to me, the control factor, I am. So I, you know, we keep saying curious and interested, but I am genuinely wondering how much control is it Bean? Is it Brady? Is it both of them and what that will look like? Because it seems like there's been, you know, just with the changing, like I said, and the promotion of being the control factor, I feel like will be different for this team than it has been in a long time in Buffalo.

B (12:15)

Yeah, and even, you know, Brandon Bean has said it's, you know, he'll say we're all together, he's got the scouts and. And you do have to listen to your scouts, that you got them out there. But he's kind of said, like, even about Keon, that he, he went with the. The idea about the way everyone felt about it. Now it hasn't worked out great. So, you know, there's a lot of people that are going to take a little piece of that as opposed to standing up and saying, it's mine. And that's an offensive guy. When Sean McDermott was the head coach and now that guy who's with him on offense, is now his head coach. So I think Joe Brady will definitely have an influence on what they do in free agency and what they do. But I think ultimately the way it's set up, it's Sean Mc. It's. Sorry, it's Brandon Bean's call. So we'll see, we'll see what he says and then what he does.

C (13:07)

And this goes back to what you always said. Like, you knew what you had with Sean McDermott and there was, there was stability, and whether or not it was good enough is a different conversation. But you knew when you came to the combine or you knew when it came to defensive expectations, standards, process, you. You knew what you had. We're sitting here right now saying, like, who has final say? Does. Does Bean feel more empowered because he's under pressure, because there's more heat, the, the, the, the temperature of his seat has been turned up, or does he delegate to, to Joe and his CEO approach? And that's stuff. That one we won't know. We won't know how Joe evaluates defensive players. We probably won't know until after this season because all these things that we've talked about, we were just on a plane, right?

B (13:55)

Yeah.

C (13:55)

And the guy's like, you know, I didn't really like the Joe Brady hire at first, and now that some times passed, I've really come around on it. It's like nothing has changed.

B (14:03)

Well, it's just they. People start to get more comfortable with it.

C (14:06)

Right.

B (14:07)

But it won't change to the end. But Janet, to your point, the difference now is the guy running the defense and the guy as the head coach, the guy who was on equal footing with Brandon Bean, both directing directly going to the owner. That guy's gone now. The defensive coordinator and the head coach both report to the general manager. So the structure is different in terms of the organization then the question is how does that play out in terms of the roster in a big year with the roster including, you know, defensive players and wide receiver.

A (14:39)

Yeah, look at guys. We went almost like 15 minutes without talking about wide receiver. Look at us. We should be proud. But we're stop. You guys are in Indy. We've talked so much about wide receiver over the last couple of seasons, but this is an opportunity to see the next, you know, up and coming class. And what do you expect to see in that arena and just kind of the feel you think with there being so many talented receivers in this draft,

C (15:10)

I expect to hear that every single one would love to catch passes from

B (15:14)

Josh Allen with the bells.

A (15:16)

I know you joke, but, like, if you're a receiver, you would love that.

C (15:20)

Yeah, yeah, that's what. That's what I'm expecting to see. Jenna.

B (15:26)

No, but you're right.

A (15:28)

I don't think you can dog on a guy for being like, yeah, it'd be rad to catch passes from Josh Allen.

B (15:33)

Here's what I think we're going to hear. I think this team does have a lot of needs, and I think they're going to push back a little bit on having to get a receiver at the top of the draft. I think that's what a lot of fans are going to be focused on. Who are you picking at? What are we, 26. 26.

C (15:51)

Right.

B (15:51)

Or are you moving up or whatever they're doing? Whereas there's a very, very real chance that that is not a wide receiver at 26. You know, there is. There is a very real chance.

C (16:04)

It's not for sure.

B (16:06)

Well, I know now that would be saying, are you. Where are you getting that receiver? They might have already gotten one in free agency. Right. Or made a trade. Because all those things can happen. Because believe me, everybody here is going to be talking about Brian Thomas Jr. And they're going to be talking about can't.

C (16:22)

That would not the.

A (16:23)

Them.

C (16:24)

That would be illegal.

B (16:25)

Yes, that'd be the. Well, I don't mean Brandon Bean can't stand up at the podium and go, I'd love to have Brian Thomas Jr.

C (16:31)

That would be awesome.

B (16:32)

I would have listened to Mike Catalano. I would have made him one of my draft picks.

C (16:35)

That would have been awesome.

B (16:37)

But no, Jenna, I think it's going to be fascinating to see because all these guys are going to look good. You're going to see Concepcion and he's fast and he quick twitch moves and he's born in Rochester, New York.

C (16:49)

I can't wait to ask him what

B (16:50)

he loved about his favorite memory at 3 years old.

C (16:54)

Where did he have his first garbage plate? Like, I can't wait to ask him all of those things.

A (17:00)

His Rochester connection. But yeah.

B (17:02)

Yes, it is. So I think. I think they. I won't say dance around the receiver question, but I think they're going to make sure that it's known that there's no guarantee and there shouldn't be like it. Depending on what players are there. They just need to address the position.

C (17:17)

They will say that it is not a glaring need.

B (17:20)

Oh, they better not say that.

C (17:22)

And they will be lying.

B (17:23)

Yeah, it is a glaring need. It just may not be what do I say, Jenna, here's one of my things. It doesn't have to be the priority, but it has to be a priority. That's another one of my dad things to say.

A (17:36)

I do like that I feel like they could go it, but realistically you're right. Like if they don't go wide receiver first round, they could do pass rusher, they could do even linebacker. Like there's other things. Yeah, yeah, there's other. Also safety. Yeah. Safety is another one. There's a lot of safeties in this draft that I really liked.

B (17:54)

Yeah. That I'm like doing a lot of reason.

C (17:56)

It has been crunching film.

B (17:59)

She's gonna do her own mock draft.

A (18:00)

I do it for the Buffalo plus fan because, you know, I hate this type of stuff and the conjecture of it. But I've been, I've been looking at the, the film.

B (18:10)

She's been really researching. It's been great.

A (18:13)

Yeah, no, I actually have been. All right, let's talk because we talked a lot about the offense, just in, in general with the defense. Like we, there's so much unknown with Jim Leonard's new scheme. Like, how do you think, what do you think in terms of assessing these prospects and what fits best with a new look? Bill's defense in terms of coordinator.

B (18:34)

Kind of fascinating to hear. Jim Leonard, and if you listen, we've, we've played it before where he talked about he has very specific thoughts on the types of players he wants and they knew that when they got him. So do we know 100% what that is? There are certain traits that he really believes in. There are certain players he feels fits his scheme. That doesn't mean every guy who was on the roster is gone. Because some players can adapt to whatever the scheme is that you want to run, but I think they go into it not just. It's not like giving Jim Leonard control of the whole roster, but come on, you hired the guy.

C (19:12)

I agree.

B (19:13)

Let him tell you the type of players he wants to run it. I think some of that is really going to come in free agency, and it may not be the biggest names in the world, but you need dudes who know how to run your defense. Then you need to draft players who can really excel in your defense. I, I, there's going to be a lot of new faces, but I think that's kind of the way they're going to play that.

C (19:31)

Not only is it a massive off season for Bean, and we've talked about this, but I think about Shawn McDermott's first draft where he kind of got those guys that really helped solidify, set the foundation. Yeah, you know, it's the Dion, it's the Milano, it's the Tray White. And I think of that for Jim Leonard this year.

B (19:53)

Yeah, getting his guys. Also a one free agent signing that nobody paid attention to in Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, who is a small little ripple. Oh, Micah Hyde, not a bad player. They turned out to be the key guys on it. That's the kind of free agency signings that I want to see from the

C (20:10)

Bills because Joe Brady has already put such a big impact on this offense. It's been his offense. You can say how much Sean McDermott had and you can blame him for all the bad and credit Joe Brady for all the good and that's fine. But Keon Coleman's an example of Joe Brady wanting a guy. I wonder where that comes in with Jim Leonard for saying, this is the guy that I need for my defense. If I want to run my style of defense and I want to have this type of identity and this foundation on that side of the ball, I need somebody that does this, this and this, and this guy checks all the boxes. That's where I'm really looking at this for a foundational draft for a Bill's defense that while it wasn't all bad, they wanted to turn it over. They wanted something new. And that starts, you know, a lot of it starts here.

B (20:58)

And Janet, you hired the guy, you knew who he was. Give him at least the idea of the players that he wants to run his defense, right?

A (21:08)

Yeah, for sure. I mean, you, you made the decision to bring him in. You got to give him the tools to get what he wants to get accomplished, accomplished. Guys, I'm. I'm so interested in like what the vibe will be around the Bills just from like the NFL world. Like, this is really the first time after all these big seismic changes for Buffalo, that'll be an event where there's so many people, like media wise, just. And other teams, GMS and things like that. Like, what do you think about that aspect of it? Because it's, it's. It doesn't have anything to do with the prospects, but it does speak to kind of like the, the after effects around the league.

B (21:43)

It is a gossip session. Here it is, everybody talking. Some will be on the record. We'll interview people. I'm going to do some pointing. We'll interview people over there, over here, and then to Elmo's, which I think is like there or any other place, because People talk, talk, talk, and sometimes they'll tell you a lot, sometimes they'll tell you more, depending on what it is. I think the Bills are going to be a big topic amongst people who have been around the league, especially when they're talking to us, because some people will be like, what's going on there? That was the impression we got right, when all the changes happened. I think of the. Of the teams in the league that, you know, not like. I mean, Seattle won, New England's been a big topic. It's all. But I think the Bills are a fascinating topic around the league.

C (22:32)

I also think enough of the shock has worn off that now they're just going to try and see. They're going to view Joe Brady as a rookie head coach. And that is not something that Josh Allen has had. That is not something that this Bill's team has had because we already mentioned it. The foundation, the standard, the culture, the process, all of those things that Sean McDermott had. All of that. I won't say all of that. A lot of that is gone. So it's. Where are they now with a new offensive coordinator, a new head coach and a new defensive coordinator? I think there is intrigue because of the unknown, because you're not sure what this team is going to look like, not only from a coaching staff, but we've already talked about how the roster needs to be reworked and how the roster, whether or not Terry Pula thinks it's great, it's not. And I, and I bet we will hear from a lot of people. We've always talked to Chris Sims. Love him or hate him, he's got opinions. We'll talk to Matt Harmon from Yahoo Sports. He's going to be our backyard buddy. We'll talk to him about what he thinks this Bill's offense needs wide receiver

B (23:32)

wise to tell you what he knows. Two years ago, we came to him and we asked him about Keon. He didn't like Keon for the Bills, didn't like his skill set for what they needed. Went back to him last year. He was like, I told you guys, like, we were the ones making the pick.

C (23:43)

Correct? We were like, we don't like it either.

B (23:47)

And so we'll hear what he has to say about going forward for this team. I think all those are going to

A (23:51)

be fascinating, you know, and I think you guys mentioned, like, the reaction from around the league and what that will be like. You know, there was. I feel like it was like this. There was a breakup in Buffalo and it's like it's like when, you know, you have a friend group and there's a breakup and then there's the next big party. It's like people are going to be talking. It'll eventually be old news, but it's still new. Enough news that it's like, oh, we'll see. Like, the new. What's it like? What's. You know, we've all been there. You know what I'm talking.

B (24:17)

It would have been.

C (24:18)

How's he looking?

B (24:18)

It would have been. It would have been really fun if Sean was a head coach for another team now.

A (24:24)

That would have been.

B (24:25)

Yeah, that would have been fun. But, yeah, next year, that would have

C (24:30)

been like the office dinner party when Jim and Pam and Dwight brings the woman. That's what that would have been like.

B (24:39)

Yeah.

A (24:40)

It's a flat screen. Okay. Anything else, guys?

B (24:45)

No, I don't think so. We're gonna have, obviously, like we said, Brady being tomorrow. Love all that. You know, then people around the league, prospects coverage all week long.

C (24:56)

Yeah. Elmo Wednesday.

B (24:59)

Yeah.

A (25:00)

Nice.

C (25:00)

Very excited.

B (25:01)

Yeah.

C (25:02)

Flights were not bad, Jenna.

A (25:04)

We were good, I would say. I'm happy to hear that Dan gets

C (25:07)

a little nervous flying, so I'm a terrible, terrible fly.

A (25:11)

He's so dramatic. I can't emphasize that enough.

B (25:14)

Dramatic.

C (25:15)

By the way, metal tube in the sky.

A (25:18)

Yeah. It's a safe form of travel with,

C (25:20)

like, a pack of gum. It was a small plane. I was sitting next to this guy.

A (25:26)

Did you have your headphones on?

B (25:29)

Yeah. So did I. I didn't say a word.

C (25:30)

We both. We both took some naps.

B (25:32)

Yeah.

A (25:32)

Did you take pictures of each other taking a nap? No.

C (25:35)

Because we're good friends.

B (25:36)

Jenna. I. I only talk to you to bug you.

A (25:40)

No, you don't bug me. All right, all right. I'm excited for this week. I'm excited to hear everything you guys got to say, too, because I will say I have a little bit of fomo. Just a wee bit, but, yeah, I know. You guys have some fun.

C (25:53)

Send you back some shrimp cocktail.

B (25:55)

And by the way.

A (25:55)

Yeah, I. That cocktail sauce is unbelievable.

B (25:58)

We're not in Miami, I'll just tell you that. I mean, it's.

A (26:02)

It's super cold there, right?

B (26:03)

Yeah, yeah.

C (26:04)

And windy and.

B (26:05)

Yeah, yeah. We're just Buffalo plus Boulevard right here.

A (26:11)

You gotta get a backdrop.

B (26:12)

Yeah, I know.

C (26:15)

That would have been more bags to bring.

A (26:16)

That's true. That's true.

C (26:17)

I'm already like a Sherpa carrying all this stuff around.

A (26:20)

That is fair. All right. For Mike and Dan in Indy, I am Jenna Cottrell Please be sure to like, comment, subscribe and share. We'll have plenty more coverage this week from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. That's all the time for us. Thanks for watching Buffalo plus Buffalo plus.