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On Tuesday, free agent running back J.D. McKissic agreed to a a two-year, $7 million deal with the Bills. Twenty-four hours later, McKissic reversed course and signed the same contract to remain in Washington.
Bills General Manager Brandon Beane expressed his frustration with the Commanders.
“That was tough,” Beane said, via video from Ben Standig of TheAthletic.com. “Obviously, he was a guy we targeted. In this business, in general, when you have an agreement, it’s good. But until there’s ink on the paper. . . . His agent did a great job. There were some things that went down with the other organization, which is painful. They chose to do what they did, and I couldn’t stop them.”
Beane spent six seasons in the front office of the Panthers when Washington coach Ron Rivera was the head coach in Carolina, and Beane overlapped one year in Carolina with Commanders executive vice president of player personnel Marty Hurney.
The Commanders didn’t offer McKissic a contract until he agreed to join the Bills. When McKissic learned Washington was willing to match Buffalo’s offer, he decided to stay.
“Once you have an agreement, the agent is supposed to say, ‘It’s over,’” Beane said, “and this agent did that. This agent told the other club, ‘It’s over.’ But the other club didn’t back off.”
In the past two seasons in Washington, McKissic had 256 touches for 1,563 yards and seven touchdowns.
