Challenges facing Bills, Brady — and how to overcome them

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It took time for Josh Allen to process the end of the Buffalo Bills’ 2025 season — an overtime loss to the Denver Broncos in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.

“I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say I’m still sick to my stomach about how the season ended,” Allen said almost two weeks after the loss. “Again, we live in reality, and it is what it is now, and we have to come to grips with that.”

Moving on in pursuit of the franchise’s first Super Bowl title will look different in the upcoming season. Coach Sean McDermott is no longer there. Instead, the reins are in the hands of president of football operations and general manager Brandon Beane and new head coach Joe Brady.

Gone are long-time staples on the defensive side like McDermott and coordinator Bobby Babich, and new offensive coaches are being brought in to help Brady, like coordinator Pete Carmichael and offensive line coach Pat Meyer.

The Bills are taking steps to address what didn’t work last season to reach the NFL’s grand finale.

The Bills head into yet another crucial offseason with a first-time coach — the youngest in the NFL at 36. How Beane and Brady go about building around Allen will go a long way toward trying to achieve what they haven’t. The process of doing just that starts with looking back at how they fell short and how Beane, Brady & Co. can fix it.

Wide receiver

In January, Beane discussed the issues the team faced at wide receiver. He took accountability for his role in the position group not coming together. He also pointed out the limitations that come with the Bills’ recent late draft positions.

Receiver Keon Coleman, the 33rd pick in the 2024 NFL draft, has become a focal point — including his off-field issues. After McDermott was fired, owner Terry Pegula pinned the decision to draft Coleman on the coaching staff.

Beane praised Coleman’s last offseason, training camp and Week 1 performance against the Baltimore Ravens, while acknowledging his in-season decline in production and play.

“He obviously got off the rails a little bit with the maturity stuff, the time factor, and that was disappointing,” Beane said. “What happened was you do it a couple times, you get suspended a game. Now it’s like how do you get him back in? Who do you put him back over? And every game he’s missing, the trust and the camaraderie is kind of dropping for him. Like that’s just the truth. And I don’t know that fully ever recovered.”

For Coleman specifically, Beane believes he can play, and Brady loudly threw his support behind him. If Coleman is on the roster for the 2026 season, Beane suggested playing the receiver more in the slot. (Of the 583 regular-season routes Coleman has ran, 473 have been on the outside.)

The WR additions the Bills made last season were impacted by injury, most notably Joshua Palmer, who missed time in the spring with a heel injury, had a groin injury in training camp and then injured his left ankle, knee and hip in Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons and never fully recovered. He was limited in the routes he could run.

The Bills had 11 groups of active receivers in the regular season and playoffs on game days. Receivers Curtis Samuel and Elijah Moore were active or inactive based on needs at the returner position and Samuel dealing with injuries. Moore was released on Nov. 26.

In Beane’s mind, a part of the issue was not picking a group at receiver and sticking with it.

“[The up and down is] not going to foster a healthy dynamic of trust,” Beane said of the multiple receiver groups.

Expect a more consistent approach in 2026 to the receivers, a group the team plans to address this offseason. The group will have to embrace Brady’s philosophy of prioritizing players’ contribution on the field whether the ball is coming to them on that play or not.

After looking into making a big swing at the position at the Nov. 4 trade deadline but failing to do so, making a significant move at the position this offseason is a possibility.

Defensive overhaul

For nine seasons, the Bills defense was led by McDermott. Much of what that unit did was successful, but it also had its flaws. Brady is significantly overhauling the unit by hiring Jim Leonhard as coordinator.

“There is going to be change; it’s been a system that they’ve played in for a long time,” Leonhard said.

McDermott ran a 4-3 defense, while Leonhard has been part of more of a 3-4 look. As Leonhard pointed out in his news conference, those fronts have become more fluid in today’s NFL. Adapting to fit Leonhard’s vision is in motion with a meeting between Beane and the rest of the scouting staff taking place last Wednesday.

“There are unique skill sets all around the NFL, where guys don’t quite fit in your traditional box. … That’s where I’ve had the most success in my career as a coach was finding those guys that fit in a little bit different role,” Leonhard said. “… Their main value is the versatility that they bring.”

There are questions of what that will translate to for certain players on the roster, while Brady and Leonhard emphasized adapting to the players’ strengths. One example is nickel corner Taron Johnson, who has two years left on his deal, but would create significant salary cap savings if designated as a post-June 1 cut — $8.7 million this season. Leonhard said he has spoken with Johnson and there is excitement for whatever his new role could end up being.

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Having success in the playoffs and a consistent pass rush were the biggest downfalls of the unit under McDermott. The unit allowed the third-fewest points per game (20.2) in the regular season during his tenure, but 28.7 points in road playoff games (1-7) and a pass rush that especially didn’t show up in the playoffs. Last season, the Bills were 27th in pass rush win rate (31.4%) and tied for 20th in sacks (36). The unit finished among the worst in the league in rushing statistics.

Brady is giving Leonhard a significant amount of autonomy, which is part of what excited him about the job. The approach he’ll bring starts with stopping the run and forcing teams to become predictable.

“We’re going to be an attacking defense up front and in the back end,” Leonhard said. “…The biggest stat in football is turnovers, so we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to fly around.

“We’re going to cause issues for offense, and we’re going to force them to react to us.”

Areas to watch

Roster consistency: Brady will have final say on the 48 players active on game days, per Beane — something that he wanted to carry over from McDermott. But the general manager and coach will collaborate and discuss who is up for games with an eye on preparing players who might need to step in for the postseason.

Injury rate at practices: One thing that will remain largely the same is the team’s strength and conditioning and athletic training staff despite a high number of in-practice injuries. The goal remains to avoid self-inflicted, soft tissue injuries, per Beane.

Dalton Kincaid’s health: The offense averaged 30.2 points and 389.3 yards per game with Kincaid playing compared with 23 points and 346.8 yards without him.

It’s the reason they are set to pick up Kincaid’s fifth-year option, per Beane, despite him missing time after reaggravating a torn left PCL from 2024. The Bills limited him to not play more than 38% of snaps after Week 5, but that was in part to keep him healthy enough to play in the postseason (played 48.7% and 45.2% of offensive plays).

Kincaid will not have surgery this offseason, and they would like to see him on the field more in 2026.