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Case Keenum is not coming to the Buffalo Bills to start football games.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t happy to be in the fold.
Keenum, 34, was traded by the Cleveland Browns to the Bills for a seventh-round pick this spring. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane valued Keenum’s ability enough to trade something for him rather than adding a cheaper alternative or waiting for him to potentially be released.
The quarterback appreciated that.
“It does. It feels great to have a team want you to come,” Keenum told the Buffalo News. “I think that’s when you look at a trade, you know, it’s less about being traded away. It’s a team that wants you. It’s a fresh start. A great city. I think Buffalo has exceeded my expectations in a lot of different ways, including off the field, out of the building. It’s been great.”
Acquiring Keenum was not just about his talents, though. The Bills, head coach Sean McDermott included, have often touted the importance of making a player fit into the quarterback room. They want the QBs to get along.
“The personalities that are in that room, the experience that’s in that room, has to fit together like a puzzle,” McDermott said via video conference. “Those other two players have to support Josh (Allen), but at the same time, get themselves ready to go.”
The other of the two being Matt Barkley. A former Bill himself that was well liked by fans and in the locker room by teammates. He was re-signed this offseason.
Barkley is another example of how Buffalo’s front office wants the players around Allen to support him both on and off the field.
Speaking of Allen, he also gave the personal seal of approval on Keenum along with McDermott.
“Golf, humor and personalities, we match up pretty well,” Allen said via video conference. “He’s a great dude, he’s been around the league a long time, he knows a lot of different things. Been in multiple offenses, he knows how to deal with guys, so I can lean on him heavily about things that I see, things that he sees.”
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