It isn’t just fans who appear to be unhappy with the approach Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane took to the trade deadline on Tuesday. Even former players are taking issue with the Bills’ stagnancy.
One of Beane’s former players, running back LeSean McCoy, didn’t mince words in his criticism.
LeSean ‘Shady’ McCoy Takes Aim at Bills’ GM
It isn’t all that easy to pull off a trade in the NFL. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango; sometimes, you can’t always find a dance partner. Maybe that was the case with the Bills ahead of the trade deadline earlier this week, or maybe Beane didn’t feel like the roster needed much bolstering.
The 49-year-old, who has been at the helm for the Bills since being hired in 2017, blamed fantasy football and the Madden video game franchise for how younger, newer general managers approach the trade deadline.
To say McCoy was displeased would be an understatement.
“So give Josh the fries at the bottom of the bag type weapons .. thank god for COOK,” McCoy wrote in a post on X.
So give Josh the fries at the bottom of the bag type weapons .. thank god for COOK https://t.co/wp1Fpm7XOq
— LeSean Shady Mccoy (@CutonDime25) November 6, 2025
McCoy, a former second-round pick, amassed over 15,000 yards from scrimmage and 90 total touchdowns across a 12-year NFL career. Four of those years were spent with the Bills, and two were under Beane. cole
No Help Is on the Way for Josh Allen-Led Bills
To say that the Bills are perhaps placing too much on the shoulders of Josh Allen could certainly be arguable, but that doesn’t mean the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player can’t handle it.
The Bills signed wide receiver Josh Palmer in free agency on top of spending premium picks on pass-catchers in back-to-back years.
They spent a first-round selection on tight end Dalton Kincaid in 2023 and a second-round pick (No. 33 overall) on Keon Coleman.
On top of that, Khalil Shakir is in the conversation as one of the best slot receivers in the league.
Through eight games, Shakir leads the team in receptions, and he’s just 12 yards behind Kincaid for the most yards on the team as well.
Factoring in James Cook, who has blossomed into one of the league’s top running backs, the Bills could be doing much worse for themselves offensively. Cook is just 28 yards behind Jonathan Taylor for the most in the league with one less game played, and Taylor has been mentioned in Most Valuable Player conversations with the campaign he’s had.
Shakir and Coleman have PFSN WR Impact scores of 82.5 and 72.4, respectively, while Cook’s PFSN RB Impact score of 95.4 is the best in the league. It’s easy to be enamored with the prospect of acquiring a shiny new toy, but maybe the Bills don’t need one after all?