The Buffalo Bills once again found themselves in a state of flux when they fired Rex Ryan after a Week 16 loss last season. Ryan’s boisterous attitude fell out of favor and was ultimately fired as touchdowns fell into the hands of opposing receivers at New Era Field.

General manager Doug Whaley remained on staff but the writing was on the wall in regards to his ultimate dismissal. Whaley was Buddy Nix’s assistant general manager prior to the Pegula family purchasing the Bills. He lasted through Doug Marrone’s short stint and a transition from EJ Manuel to Tyrod Taylor. He couldn’t possibly survive another makeover.

But when Sean McDermott was hired as head coach, Whaley was cast to the shadows. McDermott was the public voice of the team and given personnel say in matters over Whaley.

Whaley’s bold strategy of swinging for the fences backfired. He rewarded Marcell Dareus with a six-year contract worth $96 million loaded with upwards of $50 million in guarantees. He was suspended and arrested for drag racing afterward. Whaley then traded the team’s then-best linebacker, Kiko Alonso, for LeSean McCoy, and was ultimately forced to give him a contract extension worth $$40 million in order to entice the star to play for the Bills.

He overpaid for Charles Clay, giving him an offer sheet that the Miami Dolphins couldn’t match in order to sign him. But his most egregious action as GM was signing Percy Harvin to a $5 million deal. Harvin played in two games before retiring. Whaley lured him out of retirement, but only to reward him with another $1 million for essentially zero on-field production.

It took just one year for that to blow up, as Buffalo couldn’t compete in the 2016 season’s free agent frenzy. Whaley’s wild spending spree put the Bills over the salary cap due to his ridiculous spending spree.

“Right now it’s pretty restrictive. I believe we’re over the cap,” said Whaley. “So (Senior VP of Football Administration) Jim Overdorf is going to be working really hard and work his magic. We have confidence that we’ll be able to put our best foot forward and try to get this done (with Incognito and Glenn).”

Following the NFL draft, Whaley was fired and the Bills hired Brandon Beane, a familiar face to McDermott. The pair worked together for the Carolina Panthers and developed a strong friendship during their tenure there.

McDermott has already begun his ‘culture change.’ Buffalo decided to let Stephon Gilmore, Nickel Robey-Coleman, Corey Graham, Aaron Williams, Robert Woods, Justin Hunter, Marcus Easley, Marquise Goodwin, Lerentee McCray, Dan Carpenter and Garrison Sanborn walk…along with the ping pong table.

In came Jordan Poyer, Mike Tolbert, Micah Hyde, Patrick DiMarco, Stephen Hauschka, Ryan Davis and Andre Holmes – all of whom who have made an impact this season – with the low cap space McDermott was left with.

Beane got to work quickly and looking back, it’s easy to see how his interesting path to becoming a general manager is, in theory, a very good one.

He was with Carolina for 19 years where he started in the media relations department, moving up the ladder with various football operations jobs and absorbing every bit of information he could. He’s credited with executing in-draft trades from the Panthers’ war room and headed up the salary cap.

The 39-year old wasted no time simply ripping the band-aid off of the Bills. If this were going to be a true culture change in the sense that he and McDermott intended, it would be deliberate.

At first, it seemed insane. Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby traded for Jordan Matthews, E.J. Gaines and draft picks. Shortly after, Reggie Ragland was dealt to the Kansas City Chiefs for a Day three pick. Marcell Dareus was sent home prior to Buffalo’s preseason game in Baltimore for violating a team rule. Nobody was safe and if you weren’t buying into the culture, you weren’t a part of the team.

Beane finally made the move, unloading Dareus and his massive contract to the Jacksonville Jaguars just days before the NFL trade deadline. He received a conditional sixth-round draft pick in order for the Jaguars to take their problem on their hands. Dareus will count $14.2 million in dead money against the 2018 salary cap and ultimately saves roughly $47 million in cap charges between 2019-21.

These moves were eye-opening and when you look at the roster makeup of the team in relation to the salary cap, it makes sense.