The Buffalo Bills fired the wrong guy on Monday. I'm not going to say Sean McDermott deserved to keep his job after Sunday's disappointing season-ending defeat in the Divisional Round - at a certain point, McDermott had to find a way to get this group over the hump - but how in the world do you fire McDermott only to keep GM Brandon Beane around? Not only did the Bills choose to keep Beane, but they gave him a promotion!
Again, McDermott was far from a perfect coach, and firing him at this point was justifiable, but I'd argue that roster construction, not coaching, is the reason the Bills find themselves where they are. That is Beane's fault, and Beane's fault only. These mistakes have cost the Bills to this point, and can continue to cost them down the road, especially knowing that Beane isn't going anywhere.
Biggest Brandon Beane draft busts
WR Keon Coleman (2024)
The Bills originally had the No. 28 selection in the 2024 NFL Draft but traded back twice before selecting Keon Coleman with the first pick of the second round out of Florida State. The two receivers selected in Buffalo's original positions, Xavier Worthy and Xavier Legette, haven't exactly lit the world on fire, but an argument can be made that both wideouts would've been better selections than Coleman, whose roster spot is likely on thin ice ahead of the 2026 season.
Coleman was benched multiple times for disciplinary reasons during the 2025 season, and he's been mostly unproductive on the field thus far, totaling 960 yards in his first two seasons. Coleman was selected to be a difference-making receiver, but he's been anything but. Knowing that Ladd McConkey was selected the pick directly after only makes this sting even more.
CB Kaiir Elam (2022)
The Buffalo Bills needed a cornerback in the 2022 NFL Draft, so they traded up to select the best one available in their minds, Kaiir Elam, out of Florida. Elam wound up starting a total of 12 of the 29 games he appeared in during parts of three seasons with Buffalo and had two interceptions, both of which occurred in his rookie year.
An injury did play a huge role in Elam's failed tenure as he was limited to just three games in 2023, but by the 2024 offseason, Beane had seen enough in the cornerback and traded him for a pair of day three selections. Not only was Elam never a fit, but the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo's biggest rivals during the Beane era, traded up to acquire Trent McDuffie, one of the best corners in the game, two selections ahead of the Bills' Elam pick. Had Beane shown more aggression, perhaps the Bills could've ended up with McDuffie. They certainly could've used him. The cherry on top is that the Bills drafted Christian Benford, a better player at the same position, in the sixth round of that year's draft.
RB Zack Moss (2020)
The Bills felt as if Zack Moss, a bigger running back, complemented their starter, Devin Singletary, quite well, so they took him in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Running backs are traditionally undervalued compared to other positions, so knowing that the Bills used a valuable third-round pick to select a running back who'd never start a single game for the team hurts in hindsight.
Moss had 917 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in 31 games across parts of three seasons before getting traded to the Indianapolis Colts along with a pick for Nyheim Hines, who had just six carries down the stretch of the 2022 campaign with Buffalo. Several impactful players, including Mike Onwenu, Alex Highsmith and L'Jarius Sneed went after Moss in this draft, adding insult to injury.
Worst Brandon Beane free agency signings
LB Von Miller (2022)
By handing Von Miller a six-year, $120 million deal ahead of the 2022 season, Beane was expecting the former Super Bowl MVP to play a huge role in getting the Bills back on top. Sure, Miller did get off to a good start before tearing his ACL in his first season with the Bills, and it's not as if Beane could've predicted a serious injury occurring right away, but Miller was a 33-year-old with injury concerns before the deal was signed. It was rather easy to see a major injury coming.
Miller was never the same after the torn ACL, and he was eventually released ahead of the 2025 season. Fittingly, Miller appeared in all 17 games and had 9.0 sacks with the Washington Commanders this past season, two more than Gregory Rousseau, who led the Bills with 7.0.
WR Curtis Samuel (2024)
The Bills signed Curtis Samuel to a three-year, $24 million deal ahead of the 2024 campaign, hoping he'd solve their prolonged issues at wide receiver. Samuel was a solid contributor with the Commanders, so there was reason to believe this signing would age decently, but he's been a complete non-factor with the Bills.
He had just 253 receiving yards in 14 games in 2024 and had seven receptions for 81 yards in six regular season games in 2025. Injuries did play a role, but he didn't do much when healthy. He hasn't exactly done much in his playoff career either, totaling 83 yards in four games, 68 of which came in one game. Samuel has been mostly a non-factor when it's mattered most. With limited cap space to work with, the Bills needed Samuel to be much better than he's been, and it's entirely possible we'll see Beane admit his mistake by cutting him this offseason.
Stefon Diggs trade has not aged well at all
I don't necessarily blame Beane for trading Stefon Diggs in the 2022 offseason, knowing he was looking for a big contract and was an older wideout showing signs of decline, but the return, headlined by a second-round pick, looked a tad light at the time, and only looks worse now based on how the two sides have done since the deal.
Despite being 32 years old and coming off a torn ACL, Diggs finished this season with over 1,000 yards for the New England Patriots. The Bills' leader in that category was Khalil Shakir with just 719 receiving yards. Diggs would be the best wideout on this Bills team by a wide margin. Trading him only made sense if Beane upgraded, which he has failed spectacularly to do.
Things are only getting worse under Brandon Beane
2024 offseason was laughably bad
Beane has made several critical mistakes over the course of his tenure, but things look like they're only getting worse. Last offseason is a prime example of that. Rather than attempt to get better, the Bills essentially doubled down on their underperforming roster, handing extensions to five different supporting cast players.
The deals handed to Greg Rousseau and James Cook were fine, but can the same be said about Khalil Shakir, Christian Benford and Terrel Bernard? Shakir might be the Bills' best receiver, but that says more about the Bills' roster than it does Shakir. Benford was 87th out of 114 in coverage among qualified cornerbacks this past season, and Bernard was 73rd out of 88 in overall grade among linebackers according to PFF. Those three players all signed four-year deals worth more than $40 million. The players might be fine in a vacuum, but keeping them on the deals they did hamstrung them cap-wise.
To top that all off, the most expensive signing the Bills made was handing Josh Palmer a three-year, $36 million deal. Only half of that was guaranteed, and an ankle injury hampered things, but Palmer had just 303 yards and was held without a touchdown in 12 games. He didn't exactly help a wide receiver room that was in dire need of a difference-maker.
2025 trade deadline was a fireable offense
Arguably the worst thing Beane has done, though, was sit on his hands at the 2025 trade deadline. Sure, they had limited cap space (thanks to Beane's mismanagement) and I'd argue there weren't any major difference-making receivers available, but the Bills did absolutely nothing. How is that defensible?
With teams like the Chiefs, Ravens and Bengals struggling, this was Buffalo's best chance to make a run. Yet, they allowed players like Jakobi Meyers and Rashid Shaheed to end up elsewhere. I'm not going to call either of those players stars or close to it, but they would've been upgrades in the wide receiver room.
The Bills didn't add a single receiver, other than signing Brandin Cooks after he was released by the New Orleans Saints. They didn't add a single defensive player to help them against the run. They didn't do anything of note. That, for a Bills team trying to compete with obvious flaws, is squarely on Beane.
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