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Alaina GetzenbergESPN
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bills general manager Brandon Beane expressed his frustration with the Washington Commanders after they offered running back J.D. McKissic a contract this week, despite McKissic already agreeing to terms with Buffalo.
“That was tough. Obviously, he was a guy we targeted and, in this business, in general, when you have an agreement, it’s good,” Beane said Friday. “But until there’s ink on the paper, and his agent did a great job. Doug Hendrickson and CJ LaBoy did a great job. There were some things that went down with the other organization, which is painful, but they chose to do what they did, and I couldn’t stop it.
“I’ve had it before where the agent has agreed with you on something and then someone else calls and says, ‘Hey, what if I add a million dollars? Or what if I do this? What if I guarantee this?’ Once you have an agreement the agent’s supposed to say it’s over. And this agent did that. And this agent told the other club it’s over. But the other club didn’t back off. If you read my …” Beane said before trailing off.
Beane was visibly exasperated about the situation.
The Bills thought they had landed a running back who would add to their offense, agreeing to terms with McKissic on Tuesday. Instead, the Commanders swooped in, and — after initially not offering McKissic a deal — gave him a two-year contract worth up to $7 million, similar to what the Bills were offering.
A source told ESPN’s John Keim that the Commanders were under the impression they would have the chance to match any offer to McKissic, and said they never received that chance. Nor did they make an offer to him before the legal tampering period.
McKissic, who wanted to return to Washington, agreed to the deal with the Commanders on Wednesday.
Beane has significant history with a number of people in the Commanders’ front office and coaching staff, especially executive vice president of football/player personnel Marty Hurney and coach Ron Rivera. That dates to Beane’s 19-year tenure with the Carolina Panthers, during which he held a variety of positions and learned directly from Hurney, whom Beane considers a mentor.
When asked if the McKissic situation and having a close relationship with people in Washington complicates things, Beane said, “Yeah, it does.”
Earlier this week, defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis’ agent, Alan Herman, told ESPN that Washington senior vice president of football administration Rob Rogers told him the team wasn’t going to release Ioannidis, despite the team ultimately doing so. The situation angered Ioannidis’ representatives.