Bills owner Terry Pegula claimed today that wide receiver Keon Coleman, Buffalo’s disappointing second-round pick in 2024, was a draft pick General Manager Brandon Beane went along with only because the coaching staff wanted him.
One problem with Pegula’s claim: The Bills themselves published video evidence that says otherwise.
A YouTube video released by the Bills after the 2024 draft shows how much Beane liked Coleman, with Beane saying repeatedly that he wanted Coleman on the Bills.
It started at the Scouting Combine, when Coleman met with the Bills’ staff and Beane came away impressed with him as both a player and a person.
“You’re smart, you know ball, and you’re quite a character,” Beane said after that meeting.
Then, on the field at the Combine, Coleman ran a slower-than-expected 40 time. When two Bills staffers pointed it out, Beane dismissed it as any kind of concern and said he hoped it would make Coleman drop on other teams’ draft boards so the Bills would have a better chance at him.
“I’m glad he ran that,” Beane said of Coleman’s slow 40. “It’ll help to get him.”
The Bills used the first pick on the second day of the draft on Coleman, which means they had all day to trade down if they had wanted to. Beane, however, said he knew when he went to bed after the first day of the draft that he was going to keep the pick and draft Coleman unless the Bills had received some kind of extraordinary trade offer.
“When I went to bed that night it was like it’s Keon unless someone just blows us away. We didn’t feel anything was attractive enough for us to pass up on Keon,” Beane said.
Pegula and Beane may want to blame former head coach Sean McDermott for the decision to draft Coleman, which in hindsight looks like a mistake. But at the time, Beane couldn’t have been more clear that Coleman was the guy he wanted in Buffalo.
Bills owner Terry Pegula decided to fire coach Sean McDermott due to chronic inability to parlay playoff appearances into a Super Bowl win. During Wednesday’s press conference, Pegula was asked whether the attempt to upgrade carries risk.
“There is definitely risk,” Pegula said. “We’ve got to make the best decision. So that’s a fact.”
Does the job carry pressure, given the circumstances that led to McDermott’s termination after seven straight postseason berths?
“I don’t know about pressure right now, but there’s a lot of people that want to look at taking this job,” Pegula said. “There’s a lot of interest.”
Is the ultimate message to the next coach Super Bowl or bust?
“We can’t say that to somebody coming in,” Pegula said. “We’re making a change, and you know, it’s ‘do your best job.’”
Some things don’t need to be said. The sudden pivot (as Pegula explained it) after the playoff loss to the Broncos happened because Pegula wants to break through the playoff wall. Doing as well as McDermott has done is a given. Getting farther is the mandate.
So, no, there’s no pressure at all.
That doesn’t make it a bad job, relative to the various perennially dysfunctional teams still searching for coaches. The Buffalo job carries a high potential reward. It also carries high risk.
The fact that the Bills will have no shortage of candidates doesn’t change that. In the end, there are only 32 NFL head-coaching jobs.
Only one vacancy has Josh Allen. Along with strong urgency to get Allen to a Super Bowl. And to get the Bills their first ever Lombardi Trophy.
So, no, there’s no pressure at all.
During Wednesday’s press conference regarding the recent changes in Buffalo, owner Terry Pegula addressed quarterback Josh Allen’s reaction to the decision to fire coach Sean McDermott.
Pegula said Allen didn’t know in advance. Adding that he spoke to Allen after the fact, Pegula declined to share the contents of the conversation publicly.
Later, Pegula was directly asked whether Allen was “on board” with the move.
“The starting quarterback will be part of the team to help select a new coach,” Pegula said. “He’s going to be working with us. And anything else — his feelings — I want to keep that private. I don’t want this in Josh’s head. This was my decision. And I know I didn’t answer your question, but I did, I hope, in a roundabout way. His personal opinion, I keep personal.”
While Pegula’s “roundabout” answer isn’t entirely clear, he seems to be saying Allen was on board with the move. If Allen wasn’t OK with it, Pegula wouldn’t be concerned with the decision being “in Josh’s head.” Pegula would be concerned about persuading the quarterback that it was the right move.
Ultimately, time will tell whether it was the right move. It all depends on whether they hire the right coach.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen was listed with three injuries on the team’s injury report last week and one of them may need to be addressed early in the team’s offseason.
Allen injured his right foot late in the regular season and it affected his practice availability at times, but Allen did not miss any game action as a result of the issue. During a Wednesday press conference, however, General Manager Brandon Beane said that Allen may need to have “something done” to his foot to repair the injury once and for all.
Beane added that any procedure is not expected to have any impact on Allen’s ability to participate in OTAs during the team’s spring workouts.
Allen was also listed with knee and finger injuries heading into the loss to the Broncos. Allen was 25-of-39 for 283 yards while running 12 times for 66 yards in the game. He also threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.
During a Wednesday press conference to discuss the firing of Sean McDermott, Bills General Manager Brandon Beane was asked a question about the perception that he has not done enough to provide the team with talent at the wide receiver position.
The question included a mention of 2024 second-round pick Keon Coleman, who has failed to develop into a consistent threat and found himself benched at times for disciplinary reasons over his first two seasons. Before Beane could answer, Bills owner Terry Pegula cut him off and provided an answer one rarely hears in those types of settings.
“Can I interrupt? I’ll address the Keon situation,” Pegula said. “The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him, but he wasn’t his next choice. That was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of this coaching staff who felt strongly about the player. He’s taken, for some reason, heat over it and not saying a word about it, but I’m here to tell you the true story.”
Beane’s own answer touched on changing offensive approaches based on how defenses guarded them and the need to allocate resources differently once Josh Allen’s contract went to the top of the market. Beane pointed to building an offensive line to protect Allen and has also helped James Cook become one of the league’s leading rushers, but did not directly address Pegula’s comments about the Coleman pick.
Coleman remains under contract for two more years in Buffalo, but the nature of Pegula’s answer would make it unsurprising to learn that the Bills will move on without him once they find their next head coach.
