Latavius Murray Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Bills GM made unusual guarantee to land Latavius Murray in free agency

Originally posted on Sportsnaut | By Jason Burgos | Last updated 5/2/23

Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane made Latavius Murray’s representation a very interesting promise that helped land the veteran running during the NFL Draft.

During the Bills’ run of recent success, there has one been once consistent weakness: an underwhelming running attack. Despite their best hopes, Devin Singletary never developed into the type of player who could bring legitimate balance to an offense that has one of the best passing attacks in the sport.

That is why many assumed the Bills might address that issue in the offseason. However, during the height of NFL free agency, the team chose not to invest in big-name talent on the open market. That is why the NFL Draft seemed like the next best route to identify a running back who could finally be an impact player for them.

Heading into the three-day event, conversations between the Bills and Murray had already started, and it seems a last-minute conversation and promise made by the team’s GM were able to finally lock up the deal on Saturday afternoon.

“That was actually done while we were still drafting. I reached out to his agent on Saturday and I was like, ‘There’s still some backs I can draft, but I could use some picks elsewhere at some different positions if you’ll go ahead and do this deal. I won’t draft a running back.’”
– Brandon Beane to NewYorkUpstate.com

It is an unusual promise to make but a worthwhile risk if Beane felt confident the veteran was far better than any player left on the board. With the Buffalo starting running back spot wide open heading into camp, Murray may have seen the guarantee of even less competition as better odds for him to land the RB1 spot in the depth chart.

This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission.

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