The Buffalo Bills extending right guard O’Cyrus Torrence as they finished training camp at St. John Fisher University got me thinking… how have Brandon Beane’s draft-and-develop contract extensions fared in his tenure as the team’s GM?
In 2025, Beane signed Greg Rousseau, Khalil Shakir, Christian Benford, Terrel Bernard, and James Cook to second contracts, and now Torrence enters that growing list of homegrown talents secured long term by the organization.
Let’s take a full scale look at how the deals
have ultimately fared to create a barometer of sorts for Beane and Co. on these financial decisions. Due to my love of the NFL Draft, I’ll run through each player based on draft year.
And I’ll label each outcome as “successful, OK, and bad.”
Josh Allen
No lengthy description needed, and he’s gotten multiple long-term deals in Buffalo. He’s worth every penny. And then some.
Verdict: Successful
Taron Johnson
Johnson’s initial extension in Buffalo was a three-year, $24 million pact in October 2021, and the super pesky nickel corner rewarded the Bills with durable play that culminated in a second-team All-Pro distinction in 2023. The more recent three-year, $30M extension with $17.8M guaranteed wasn’t nearly as fruitful, but Beane’s original decision to lock up Johnson in 2021 was very prudent.
Verdict: Successful
Ed Oliver
Because Oliver was a first-round pick, the Bills had time to take a little longer with this decision thanks to the fifth-year option being secured the year before. However, after his fourth NFL season, the defensive tackle signed a four-year, $68M with $45M in total guarantees, a deal on which he’s still playing.
When healthy, Oliver has become one of the Bills best defensive players, even if he’s never reached true routine game-wrecker status. It’s not a slam dunk of a verdict here, but I’m going with this as a successful extension, as the $24.5M guaranteed at signing in Oliver’s extension now ranks as the 22nd-most among defensive tackles.
Verdict: Successful
Dawson Knox
Knox signed a four-year, $53.6M extension in early September 2022 after a nine-touchdown third season with the Bills. His 49 receptions during the regular season in 2021 remain a career high. While Knox has become a consummate three-down pro at tight end, a fantastic mentor for Dalton Kincaid, and one of the key camaraderie pieces on the team, the $31M in total guarantees he received in the initial extension would’ve ranked fifth among all tight ends today (!)… had he not agreed to renegotiate his deal after 2024. The three year, $20M extension Knox signed in 2026 is more commensurate with his production.
Verdict: OK / Bad
Greg Rousseau
While the $80M total price tag on the four-year Rousseau extension may have seemed lofty, one year later his $38.7M fully-guaranteed-at-signing figure is now the 13th-highest among edge rushers. Rousseau has been developed very well — albeit not unbelievably — by the Bills since he was the club’s first-round pick in 2021 after opting out of his final season at the University of Miami due to COVID and entering the league at 21 years old.
Has he regularly been a menace? Not really. He’s another consummate three-down player from the McDermott era who’s absolutely a good player and at times a great player but has yet to become a genuine star or superstar.
Verdict: Successful / OK
Spencer Brown
Brown signed his September 2024 contract worth a grand total of $72M across four new years. And while that $72M is still the sixth-most among right tackles, the $19.8M guaranteed at signing is 17th-highest at the position. Brown has become one of the best young right tackles in the NFL and core piece of Buffalo’s sturdy offensive line. This is an extension Beane is likely thrilled he got ahead of.
Verdict: Success
James Cook
Speaking of that, given what we’ve seen recently with new money for Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor, and Jahmyr Gibbs, the Bills front office probably can’t be more relieved the Cook extension got done when it did, in August 2025. The $15.2M Cook received in his four-year, $46M deal is now the 17th-highest among running backs. Robinson, Taylor, and Gibbs got $37.5M, $19.3M, and $17.8M fully guaranteed at signing respectively.
Oh yeah, and Cook led the NFL in rushing in 2026 and has yet to reached 1,000 career touches in the NFL.
Verdict: Success
Terrel Bernard
I’ll keep this one short because, when healthy, Bernard has been a quarterback of the defense and one of the better, splash-play creating coverage linebackers in football. His 2025 was plagued by injury, as has sizable chunks of the past few seasons. It’s not necessarily fair to Beane nor Bernard, but that is the nature of the beast in the NFL.
The four-year, $42M deal Bernard signed in 2025 featured $14.1M guaranteed at signing, which is the 24th-most at the position. It’s hardly an expensive deal, relatively speaking. If Bernard can stay healthy in 2026, this verdict could jump all the way to the successful label.
Verdict: Bad
Khalil Shakir
I’ve loved Shakir since his time as a prospect coming out of Boise State, and he’s developed into an elite-level YAC receiver with reliable hands as a professional. Shakir’s four-year, $60.2M extension seems sizable, yet the $18.1M guaranteed at signing is now the 43rd-highest (!) among all receivers.
Massive win here.
Verdict: Successful
Christian Benford
Benford deserves more love as one of the better outside cornerbacks in football, and Beane likely loves he got ahead of the eruption at the cornerback market.
Benford’s four-year, $69M deal includes a mere $18.8M fully guaranteed, which is now the 31st-most at the cornerback spot. Crazy, right? And Benford will only turn 26 in September. He’s not nearly as flashy as other top corners, doesn’t have an early-round draft pedigree, and didn’t play at a Power 4 school. But he has seven interceptions and 29 pass breakups in the regular season in his first four years in the NFL and is a tackling machine on the outside.
Verdict: Successful
Total Tally
Succesful: 7
Succesful / OK: 1
OK / Bad: 1
Bad: 1
What do you think about Beane’s track record of contract extensions?
