The Bills fired coach Sean McDermott two days after an overtime loss to the Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs. That’s not stopping McDermott from rooting for his former team — or from believing that they can get farther in the first year after his exit than McDermott took them in nine seasons on the job.
“With what they’ve done, the moves that Brandon Beane has made, and the activity they’ve had on the roster, just so over the last, you know, ‘X’ amount of months has, I think, been very important,” McDermott told Rich Eisen on Friday. “And so I think, if you’re betting on the Super Bowl contender, they’re certainly one of them. I don’t see why, you know, why you wouldn’t bet on them? Because the games, at the end of the day, have to be played, right? It’s one thing on paper, but it’s another thing to play the gams.”
Eisen asked whether this means McDermott envisions a Rams-Bills Super Bowl, which would be a rematch of their Week 5 Monday night showdown.
“It';; be Bills-Rams,” McDermott said. “It’d be a great Super Bowl. Those Rams. Listen, people ask me all the time, ‘Hey, do you still root for your old team?’ And I said, ‘Why wouldn’t I?’ Right? Of course I do. I mean, the impact that you want to have as a head coach on a team and a community, that’s one thing. But, man oh man, the impact that that team, that building, and that community had on me and my family, we’ll remember that for the rest of our lives, Rich, and that’s part of sports, right? The wins and the losses are important, but it’s, like, the impact you leave, or that is left on people and the fan base and them on you, and that’s the real part of sports.”
In the NFL, the real part of the game is that plenty of coaches are shown the door, after every season. McDermott was one of 10 who left, voluntarily or otherwise, after the 2025 season. And he’s clearly hoping that, after the 2026 season, he’ll have a chance to fill one of the inevitable vacancies to come.
Which means that his freedom to root for the Bills and only the Bills may be short-lived. Come 2027, McDermott could be coaching another team in the AFC — and possibly another team in the AFC East, if there’s eventually an opening with the Jets.
Bills Clips
Carl Spackler is having his day.
With the Bills ripping up the grass at their new stadium after only two preseason games and installing a new one for the regular-season home opener, various grass experts have sounded off. Tim Graham of The Athletic has collected and published their comments.
The legendary George Toma said this as to the failed field: “That hurts me. That’s terrible to happen at all, but so soon? Somebody fell asleep.”
Another “award-winning sports agronomist” with extensive experience installing pro and college surfaces, but who requested anonymity for apparent fear of Big Sod, said that it was “the worst sod I’ve seen in the NFL in my career. I can’t even imagine how that could have happened.”
Added Tony Dick, sports management professor at Baldwin Wallace University and former Cleveland Browns assistant head groundskeeper: "[N]atural turf is safer in a perfect setting. But if you have the situation like you have in Buffalo — and I went back and watched the film — you cannot tell me that field was safer than the artificial turf they just left. . . . I’m never putting Josh Allen on a field in that condition.”
The Bills had this to say about the issue, via Graham: “We have consulted with the NFL and an independent expert who works with multiple NFL teams. These consultants recommended utilizing this three-week window before the home opener to install the sod. The NFL inspects every field and determines whether it meets league standards. We are confident that they are the appropriate group to ensure the field performs at the necessary level.”
Still, the unnamed agronomist is skeptical. “They will have a difficult time,” he said. “There’s so much going wrong, and there’s so little time. If that field makes it through the second game, I’ll be shocked.”
Professor Dick offered a prediction: “You might have artificial turf back in there within three years, just because it’s safer than whatever that was.”
The first test of Sod 2.0 is only 13 days away. That’s when the Bills host the Lions, the first of three Buffalo games in three weekends.
The Bills announced their practice squad additions on Monday.
They include quarterback Shane Buechele, who the Bills cut on Sunday. He rejoins a quarterbacks room with Josh Allen and Kyle Allen.
Buechele played the entire game in the preseason finale, completing 26 of 38 passes for 196 yards.
The Bills added three players who were not with the team in training camp, as wide receiver Greg Dortch, linebacker Shaq Thompson and offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. agreed to join their practice squad.
Willis was the 10th overall pick in 2020 whom the Bears released Sunday. He missed the 20205 season while rehabbing.
The other players on the Bills’ practice squad are offensive guard Nick Broeker, defensive lineman Travis Clayton, defensive back Te’Cory Couch, running back Frank Gore Jr., wide receiver Stephen Gosnell, inside linebacker Keonta Jenkins, outside linebacker Andre Jones Jr., offensive tackle Chase Lundt, wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin, wide receiver Trent Sherfield Sr., safety Geno Stone, cornerback Kani Walker and cornerback Anthony Kendall.
The Bills announced several roster moves on Saturday and they finished off the work of paring their roster to 53 players on Sunday.
Their moves included trading center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger to the Colts and moving two players to injured lists. Wide receiver Tyrell Shavers will move to the reserve/physically unable to perform list and defensive lineman Zane Durant has been placed on injured reserve.
Defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis was moved to the suspended list for the first three games of the season.
The Bills have also waived or released offensive linemen Nick Broeker, Chase Lundt, and Da’Metrius Weatherspoon; linebackers Jimmy Ciarlo, Keonta Jenkins, and Andre Jones; defensive backs Te’Cory Couch, Anthony Kendall, Toriano Pride, Geno Stone, and Kani Walker; wide receivers Stephen Gosnell, Ja’Mori Maclin, Trent Sherfield, and Max Tomczak; running backs Frank Gore Jr., Ben VanSumeren, and Ian Wheeler; quarterback Shane Buechele; defensive lineman Travis Clayton; and punter Mitch Wishnowsky.
The Bills will not be keeping three quarterbacks on the 53-player roster.
Buffalo is releasing third string quarterback Shane Buechele, according to Adam Schefter.
Buechele played the entire game in the preseason finale and turned in a solid outing, completing 26 of 38 passes for 196 yards in a 28-27 win. But the Bills are set with Josh Allen as their starter and Kyle Allen as the backup.
The Bills will likely bring Buechele back on their practice squad if no other team adds him to the active roster.
The Colts are adding an offensive lineman to the roster on Sunday.
Tom Pelissero of Netflix reports that the Bills have agreed to trade center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger to Indianapolis. The Bills will also trade a 2027 seventh-round pick with the Colts sending a 2027 sixth-rounder back to Buffalo.
Van Pran-Granger was a 2024 fifth-round pick by the Bills and he played in 31 regular season games for the team. He started two of those contests and also appeared in three playoff games.
Tanor Bortolini is the starting center for the Colts and Van-Pran Granger will likely be slotted into a backup role with his new team.
When the Bills played their first preseason game at their new stadium two weeks ago, a “massive clump” of sod went flying, “roots, dirt, and all.” One unnamed player even said, “The field is ass right now.”
So, basically, the grass is ass — and the Bills are getting out something more than a lawnmower.
Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News reports that the entire surface will be replaced before the Week 2 Thursday night home opener against the Lions.
It will be the first of three straight home games for the Bills.
The Bills aren’t conceding that the current field, which passed pregame inspection for Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Steelers, is enough of a problem to require replacement.
“You can be happy with the performance and playability and still make the change,” Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli told Lysowski. “As an organization, we’re committed to having the absolute best possible playing surface for the players. If it’s even slightly better, we’re going to make the change and err on the side of performance.”
The issue was divots. The goal will be to reduce their frequency and size.
“It’s not a cure-all,” Bills senior director of grounds Aaron Ramella told Lysowski. “We’re still going to have divots. It’s a living grass field. We’ll be better than where we’re at now. There will be a random push or random divot. That’s football. We’re not playing on a rug anymore.”
That’s the best news. But one of the realities (and expenses) of a grass field is that it takes effort (and money) to make it high-quality. Although an overwhelming majority of players prefer grass to artificial turf, most would prefer a fake field to shoddy sod.
The Bills announced their first wave of cuts on Saturday afternoon.
The list includes the previous reported release of wide receiver Mecole Hardman, but not the release of punter Mitch Wishnowsky. The Bills have reportedly decided to go with rookie Tommy Doman over Wishnowsky.
Buffalo is also parting ways with linebacker Cade Denhoff, cornerback Jordan Dunbar, guard Bruno Fina, linebacker Theron Gaines, center Sincere Haynesworth, defensive lineman Zion Logue, cornerback D.J. Miller, safety Wande Owens, wide receiver Dante Pettis, linebacker Otis Reese, wide receiver Quentin Skinner, and tight end Shane Zylstra.
If Wishnowsky’s reported release is included, the Bills are left with 23 more moves to make to get to the 53-man limit on Sunday.
As the Bills pare down their roster from 90 to 53 players, they’re getting rid of a well-known veteran wide receiver and picking a winner in their punter competition.
Wide receiver Mecole Hardman is being released, according to Jeremy Fowler. Hardman, best known for scoring the game-winning touchdown for the Chiefs in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII, signed with the Bills late last season and caught a touchdown pass for them in their playoff loss to the Broncos. He will now be a free agent.
The Bills have also decided to cut veteran punter Mitch Wishnowsky, according to Tom Pelissero. Wishnowsky was in a training camp competition with seventh-round rookie Tommy Doman, and it appears that Doman has won.
The Bills and all other teams must be down to 53 players on the active roster by 6 p.m. ET tomorrow.
The Bills did not play most of their starters against the Steelers on Thursday night, but they did have Maxwell Hairston in the lineup at cornerback to open the game.
Hairston has dealt with a groin injury in camp this summer and did not play in the team’s first two preseason games, which is why head coach Joe Brady decided to have him on the field along with second-round pick Davis Igbinosun.
“I thought it was important for Maxwell, he hasn’t had an opportunity,” Brady said, via the team’s website. “I thought it was just good for him to just be able to come out, go through it, get a feel for the environment and game, all of that. That was the biggest reason for it.”
Brady went on to say that Hairston will also be on the field at corner with Christian Benford when the Bills line up for their first defensive snap in Week 1.
“He’s our starting corner. Maxwell’s got exactly what we look for in a corner,” Brady said.
Hairston also missed time with injury as a rookie and Igbinosun got good reviews for his camp work, so the current plan may not prove to be the final word on how the Bills line up in the secondary this season.
