The man charged with building the Bills into a true contender has made his first big hire.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane has hired Joe Schoen as Buffalo's new assistant general manager, the team announced.
Schoen comes over from Miami, where he served as the Dolphins' director of player personnel from 2014-2017 after being promoted internally from assistant director of college scouting. Schoen spent his first five years with the Dolphins serving as one of the team's national scouts, and cut his teeth in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers, where he interned in the team's ticket office in 2000, served as a scouting assistant in 2001 and later as a Southeast and Southwest scout.
Schoen brings his most valuable experience from working under Dolphins VP of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, who has overseen a quick turnaround in Miami headed by coach Adam Gase. Under Tannebaum's direction, Miami has landed a handful of key pieces in recent drafts, including running back Jay Ajayi, wide receiver DeVante Parker, offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, and corners Tony Lippett, Bobby McCain and Xavien Howard. Schoen's time in Carolina -- the two worked in the same organization from 2001-2008 -- also likely carried plenty of weight with Beane, who comes from the same background.
With years of scouting experience under his belt (and obvious payoffs with some of the aforementioned selections), Schoen looks to be Beane's go-to guy when it comes to player evaluation in Buffalo.
