Bills receiver Keon Coleman became a lightning rod when team owner Terry Pegula referenced him during his January press conference just after firing former head coach Sean McDermott.
But Coleman, who is entering his third season, has handled everything well, as he begins training camp.
General Manager Brandon Beane was asked about Coleman in his press conference on Wednesday and said that Coleman as exhibited signs of turning over a new leaf.
“If you know Keon through two years, right, and this is Year 3, if you know him the way I know him and the way a lot of his teammates know him, you feel a guy who’s really matured — like the light has come on, he understands some of the things he could’ve done better along the way,” Beane said. “I think back to when I was 21, 22, there’s things that I [feel like], gosh I probably should’ve done that a little bit better. So I like to remind everyone — was his first two years perfect? No. But, if you just talk to him and are around him, you feel a guy growing into his own, comfortable in his skin, and just like, I know that I can’t do the same things that I did the first two years and expect to have success on the field or in the locker room with my teammates.
“And his teammates see it. He dropped the first ball today, and I saw like three guys come over and dap him up. Josh [Allen] comes right back to him the next play — a much harder play — and he makes it.”
That play captured much of what Beane has liked about Coleman’s 2026 offseason.
“I’m very proud of where Keon is,” Beane said. “He could’ve taken the negativity from the press conference thing, the season, the benchings — whatever has happened to him, he has had a positive outlook on things. And I think not only myself, I think everybody in this organization is excited.
“He’s still got to go out there and do it. And nothing is given. But I think he’s done everything he could control up to this point.”
Coleman, who turned 23 in May, caught 38 passes for 404 yards with four touchdowns in 13 games with six starts last year. He had 29 receptions for 556 yards with four TDs as a rookie in 2024.
Bills Clips
The Bills debuted their new “Nickel City” alternate uniforms earlier this week and the feedback has been — to put it mildly — generally negative.
Quarterback Josh Allen has had enough of that, bringing up the issue unprompted at the end of his Wednesday press conference.
“And stop hating on the jerseys, guys,” Allen said after having finished an answer about the team’s mentality with a new head coach in Joe Brady and a new stadium.
Allen quickly clarified that he wasn’t necessarily talking directly to the assembled media members. But he did have a message to the larger public about the uniform and the team in general.
“I don’t know if you guys are hating, I don’t know, I don’t see anything,” Allen said. “They’re great. I honestly — speaking of new, it’s a new look, it is, I understand that. We’ve got to be new. And I think these jerseys are kind of symbolic of that. And I’m excited to wear them.
“We had a lot of people that put in a lot of hard work for these jerseys. And it symbolizes a lot of newness. And that I am excited about.”
When a reporter noted Allen seemed to be taking the issue personally, he again noted the larger theme of the season for Buffalo.
“Listen, everyone — I’ve heard a lot of comments about the jerseys. I enjoy them,” Allen said. “I think it’s very symbolic of what we want to do and what we want to be. I understand people want the old jerseys and the old helmets, and all that. But at some point, too, we are moving forward. We have to move forward and do something new. And that’s what we’re doing.”
That was effectively Allen’s mic drop, as he got up and left the podium to end his presser.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is closing in on a rushing milestone that only four quarterbacks have previously reached: Five thousand yards.
Allen, who has 4,721 career rushing yards, can become the fifth quarterback in NFL history with 5,000 rushing yards this season. If he gains yardage at his career average of 36.9 rushing yards per game, Allen would reach 5,000 yards in his eighth game of this season.
With 5,000 yards, Allen would join Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (6,522 yards) and retired quarterbacks Michael Vick (6,109 yards), Cam Newton (5,628 yards) and Russell Wilson (5,568 yards) as the only quarterbacks ever to reach 5,000 rushing yards.
Allen is already the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns for a quarterback, with 79. He has at least six rushing touchdowns in every season of his career, and if he crosses the goal line six times this year, he’ll become just the fourth player ever with at least six rushing touchdowns in nine consecutive seasons, along with Marshall Faulk (10), LaDainian Tomlinson (10) and Jim Brown (nine).
The Raiders signed defensive end Patrick Johnson, linebacker Buddy Johnson and wide receiver Deven Thompkins, the team announced Monday.
They were among the eight free agents the Raiders worked out. Running back Miles Sanders was not among the workout players signed by the team.
Patrick Johnson joins the Raiders for his sixth NFL season after spending 2025 with the Eagles, where he played in nine games. He finished with three tackles, one sack, two quarterback hits and one tackle for loss, along with five total tackles on special teams.
Johnson has appeared in 70 career games with the Eagles (2021-25) and Giants (2024) after initially entering the league as a seventh-round draft pick of Philadelphia. He has totaled 14 tackles, a sack, six quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Buddy Johnson joins the Raiders for his fifth NFL season after entering the league as a fourth-round pick of the Steelers in 2021. He has played 33 games with the Steelers (2021), Cowboys (2023-25) and Colts (2025).
Johnson has totaled four tackles and one tackle for loss on defense as well as 23 special teams tackles.
He started last season on the Cowboys’ practice squad and was elevated for one game before signing to the Colts’ active roster in Week 5. He played 12 games for Indianapolis.
Deven Thompkins joins the Raiders for his fifth NFL season after entering the league as an undrafted free agent with the Buccaneers in 2022. He has played 36 career games with the Buccaneers (2022-23), Panthers (2024) and Falcons (2025).
In his career, Thompkins has 29 receptions for 162 yards and one touchdown as well as 13 carries for 94 yards. He has seen some action as a returner in his career, posting 368 yards on 42 punt returns (8.8 avg.) and 1,005 yards on 45 kickoff returns (22.3 avg.).
In corresponding moves, the Raiders waived wide receiver Jonathan Brady, linebacker Chris Thomas and defensive tackle Laki Tasi.
The Nikefication of the NFL has continued with a new alternate Bills uniform.
The “Nickel City” combo features a gray jersey and gray pants, along with a buffalo-free helmet that has distinct spring-football vibes. (It actually looks like the product of a make-your-own-uniform option in Madden gone wrong.)
The uniform was inspired by the Buffalo nickel, which was minted from 1913 through 1938. It featured a bison on one side. Which makes the decision to remove the buffalo from the helmet even more confusing.
But it makes plenty of sense to base the uniform on a unit of money, because it’s just another money grab. Yes, for more than a few nickels, fans can buy yet another Bills jersey.
At some point, the endless money grab has to yield to the basic reality of what does and doesn’t look good. While some Bills fans will try their best to say “these look great,” do they?
Moreover, the Bills don’t need gimmicks. They’re a successful team. Leave the outside-the-box stuff for the teams that can’t generate interest by winning. The Bills are one of the foundational AFL teams. There’s a history to their helmets and uniforms.
That history has officially been turned on its head.
Jordan Devey, who played for five NFL teams over eight years, has died. He was 38.
Via Jeremy Tombs of Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, Devey died by suicide. His parents told Tombs that they believe Devey suffered from CTE.
Undrafted in 2013 out of Memphis, Devey initially signed with the Ravens but was released. He landed on the Patriots’ roster in 2013 and 2014, winning a Super Bowl ring to cap his second year in New England.
Devey spent 2015 with the 49ers, 2016 through 2018 with the Chiefs, 2019 with the Raiders, and 2020 with the Bills. He appeared in 44 regular-season games with 21 starts.
We extend our condolences to Devey’s family, friends, teammates and coaches.
The NFL Players Association released its annual Rising Stars list on Tuesday and the first overall pick of this year’s draft is one of the players at the top.
Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza is No. 1 on the list of the 10 rookies that the NFLPA projects to be future members of the Top 50 list of licensed player product sales. There is also a list of 10 players with NFL experience who have not been on the Top 50 and it is topped by Saints quarterback Tyler Shough.
Mendoza is followed on the list by Cowboys safety Caleb Downs, Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love, Titans wide receiver Carnell Tate, Eagles wide receiver Makai Lemon, Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles, Saints wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, Giants linebacker Arvell Reese, Ravens wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane, and Buccaneers edge rusher Rueben Bain.
The list of veteran players also includes Bears tight end Colston Loveland, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker, Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, Dolphins running back De’Von Achane, Bills running back James Cook, and Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez.
Veteran cornerback Levi Wallace did not play in the NFL after landing on Jacksonville’s injured reserve list last summer and he won’t be coming back to the field in 2026.
Wallace announced his retirement on Instagram on Friday. Wallace noted that he was undrafted in 2018 and went on to spend eight years in the league, which he termed a “not bad” run in the league.
Wallace signed with the Bills after playing at Alabama and started all 57 regular season and playoff games he played in four seasons with Buffalo. He spent the next two seasons with the Steelers and saw his final game action with the Broncos in 2024.
Wallace had 333 tackles, 12 interceptions, 30 passes defensed and a fumble recovery in 96 career regular season games. He also had 23 tackles, an interception and a sack in six postseason outings.
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby says four quarterbacks stand out as the hardest in the NFL to sack.
Asked in a kick.com interview who he considers the hardest to sack in the league, Crosby named Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.
“Mahomes has definitely got to be up there, Lamar is a freak athlete, he’s so quick and fast. Josh Allen is like my size playing quarterback, but you’ve got to really fucking tackle him. I’d say those three are the top,” Crosby said. “A sleeper one, too: Baker Mayfield. He pissed me off. I had two of them I should have had on him. He ducked under, got under them. I was fucking livid. Baker’s tough. I like Baker.”
Crosby never sacked Mayfield in that game (the photo accompanying this post shows one of the near-sacks that Mayfield escaped), and Mayfield threw for three touchdown passes in a 28-13 Buccaneers win. Crosby hasn’t forgotten.
In eight seasons, Josh Allen has won the MVP award once, finished second once and finished third twice. Allen has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league since the Bills drafted him in the first round in 2018.
He is headed toward joining former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Like Kelly, though, Allen has yet to deliver a Super Bowl title to Buffalo. In fact, Allen has yet even to win an AFC title. He is 8-7 in the postseason, including 0-2 in the conference championship game.
Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins was asked about expectations for Allen this season, and Dawkins said the question shouldn’t be about the quarterback.
“I don’t have any [expectations],” Dawkins said on NFL Network. “I don’t add any more extra pressure to that kid that he already has. Josh understands what he’s doing, what he’s not doing. He understands what the mindset is and what we all expect. Just like we know what Josh expects from us, as well, to help him get there. When it comes down to it, Josh is Josh, and he’s gonna be Josh. He’s No. 1 for a reason, so I don’t think that we need any more expectations than we already have.”
Dawkins said the supporting cast has to be better to help Allen get the Bills their first Lombardi Trophy.
“It seems like we need all the pieces around him to continue to get better to help him get over that hump,” Dawkins said. “Because if Josh is No. 1, he’s at his best, right? If I’m not top 10 or I’m not No. 1, that means that I’m not at my best, which means I have to do better. Dawson [Knox], Dalton [Kincaid], Joe Brady, [James] Cook, everybody -- everybody has to do better. So we’re all going to be that and do that so we can get over that hump, and we can be exactly what we want to be and stop talking about it, right? I’m ready for it. It’s time.”
Allen is 83-33 as the starter for the past seven seasons, with five division titles. It hasn’t all clicked for the team in the postseason, though, and Dawkins is hoping it’s different this season.
