After their 2025-26 season ended in utter disappointment, the Buffalo Bills made the difficult -- but probably necessary -- decision to fire longtime head coach Sean McDermott.
McDermott had been the team's head coach since 2017, but ownership in Buffalo determined that he was the reason the team was not finishing well in the postseason, especially disappointing in a year with no Patrick Mahomes -- the longtime kryptonite of this Bills team -- in the way.
The Bills promoted Joe Brady to be their new head coach after a rather extensive search that ended just recently, but Brady's familiarity with the personnel offensively will hopefully completely unlock that unit in 2026. What does general manager Brandon Beane need to do to make sure that happens? The offseason plan for this Buffalo team could not be clearer.
Bills desperately need to get more help at receiver after hiring Joe Brady
Even though Josh Allen isn't giving up on Keon Coleman, it sure felt like owner and team president Terry Pegula was over the experiment there. The former second-round pick came under a lot of fire this past year and was benched on multiple occasions, raising some long-term concerns about the wide receiver position.
The Bills also didn't get anywhere near the level of contributions they'd likely hoped for from free agent pickup Joshua Palmer, who was brought over from the Los Angeles Chargers.
The leading receiver on the team and the clear top target for Josh Allen was Khalil Shakir, who is a fantastic player in his own right. But he's probably best served as a secondary option.
Joe Brady has been a fantastic offensive coordinator for quite some time, but he really put himself on the map with the way he was able to run the vaunted LSU offense back in 2019. It certainly helped to have Joe Burrow running the show and players like Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Terrace Marshall on the same team.
The Bills aren't going to get Ja'Marr Chase or Justin Jefferson for Josh Allen to throw the ball to, but the key to unlocking this team's championship window is very clearly additional help at the wide receiver position.
Will the Bills be big players for someone like AJ Brown? Will they try to strike an inter-conference trade for someone like Tee Higgins?
It's going to be fascinating to find out what the strategy is, but the Bills clearly need a couple of playmakers. Even if they are willing to run it back with Coleman, what can they realistically plan for with his role going forward?
This team needs to invest in the wide receiver position big time, and should be considered one of the biggest threats to make a splash at that spot.