Buffalo Bills

The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.

The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.

Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.

The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.

The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:

Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien

Wide receiver Keon Coleman found himself in the spotlight early this offseason when Bills owner Terry Pegula pointed to the decision to draft him coming from the coaching staff rather than General Manager Brandon Beane during a press conference to discuss the firing of former head coach Sean McDermott.

The ensuing days saw Beane, new head coach Joe Brady, quarterback Josh Allen and others speak out in support of Coleman’s future with the team despite the wideout getting benched at times for disciplinary reasons. Those comments showed clear support for the 2024 second-round pick, but they also sounded similar to many others that have come off as boilerplate once the player being discussed failed to develop.

In an interview with Joe Buscaglia of TheAthletic.com, Beane insists that “it’s not all talk” because the team knows it is “not an ability thing” with the wideout. Beane said Coleman has “to come in and earn every single thing he’s gonna get” while saying the team is committed to giving him that opportunity.

“Listen, he has to go do it, but I think we feel confident that the maturity level is heading where it needs to,” Beane said. “Again, he’s got to go do it. We believe in the skill set, and that’s part of what your culture is. We all grow at different times; none of us were a made product at 21, 22. Do you wish you had to go through that with him? No, you don’t. But you hope for us, and for him, he looks back and says, ‘That was the best thing that happened to me.’ That’s what you hope. And we’re putting all our eggs in his basket to come back for year three and be a part of this group, however that is.”

Former Bills wideout Stevie Johnson recently told Kyle Odegard of Casino.org that he reached out to Coleman about honing his game ahead of his third season and anything Coleman can do to help reach his ceiling will be welcomed by the Bills. The team will get another chance to signal their commitment to the wideout in next week’s draft as going other ways with their early picks will be a further sign of their belief in Coleman for 2026.

As part of Autism Acceptance Month, the Buffalo Bills have made an announcement regarding the accommodations at their new stadium.

It will have seven sensory rooms, the most of any venue of its kind.

The sensory rooms will be accessible to all ticket holders, and they will be located on all levels of the stadium. The sensory rooms are intended to “provide a calming, supportive environment for guests who may need a personal and quiet environment, while still enjoying Buffalo’s game-day experience.”

“We’re excited to continue to provide a sensory inclusive stadium experience for our fans at Highmark Stadium and are humbled to now have seven sensory rooms for fans to utilize,” Bills senior director of guest experience Zach Rutkowski said, per the team’s website.

The Bills’ new stadium will open for the 2026 season.

A busy week for receiver KC Concepcion is continuing on Friday.

Via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Conception is visiting with the Bills.

He previously spent time with the Browns and the Dolphins this week. While Cleveland and Miami each have two first-round picks in this year’s draft, Buffalo selects at No. 26 overall.

Concepcion, who was born in upstate New York, told reporters at the scouting combine that the Bills are his father’s favorite team.

While Concepcion recently underwent a procedure to have his knee scoped, he is expected to be ready for rookie minicamp.

In his one season with Texas A&M in 2025, Concepcion caught 61 passes for 919 yards with nine touchdowns. He previously spent two seasons with N.C. State, catching 71 passes for 839 yards with 10 touchdowns in 2023 and 53 passes for 460 yards with six TDs in 2024.

Defensive end Charles Omenihu signed with the Commanders as a free agent this offseason, but he spent the last three seasons with the Chiefs and that gave him experience in trying to stop two of the league’s top quarterbacks.

Omenihu was asked to weigh in on facing Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. He didn’t hesitate before saying he thought Allen would win a Super Bowl first if the two players switched teams and that Allen’s habit of turning the ball over isn’t enough of a drawback to make up for the book that defenses have put together on stopping Jackson.

“I don’t think the league has truly figured [Allen] out,” Omenihu said on the Speakeasy podcast. “With Lamar, honestly, you bring a five-man rush on him and collapse that pocket, he’s drifting backwards and, unfortunately, he might make a play that isn’t going to be the best play for the Ravens. With Josh, he’s going to drift backwards, run around, and he’s so hard to tackle. He’s a large human being, hard to get down, he can make every throw. Every throw from no matter where he’s at. His arm strength is unbelievable. I don’t think Lamar has that big amount of arm strength like Josh does. Like I said, I think you’ve figured out Lamar. You come after him, you close all the lanes, you five-man rush him and you cover his guys, and I think you get it done. It’s been shown.”

Neither Alllen nor Jackson has made it to the Super Bowl yet, but the Bills and Ravens are currently the betting favorites to be the AFC Champion so that could change at the end of the 2026 season. If it does, the quarterback left standing will have a big leg up in the legacy building battle.

With or without a new stadium, the Buffalo Bills are always ready for prime time. With a new home to be officially christened in September, the Bills want it to happen under the lights.

Via Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News, team COO Pete Guelli said the Bills have informed the NFL of their desire to launch the new Highmark Stadium in a “prime-time spotlight.”

“We’ve already been approached by networks that would like to have it,” Guelli said. “We’re just trying to work through that. It’s really a league decision. . . . However it’s set up, we’re going to make sure that home opener is a big event.”

The prime-time packages are currently held by NBC, ESPN, and Prime Video. The opening game could happen on the Sunday night or Monday night of Week 1, or on the Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night of Week 2.

In theory, the home opener also could be delayed until Week 3. While that would result in the Bills starting the season with two road games, they’ll play eight home games and nine road games in 2026.

Last year, four NFC teams having nine road games and eight home games — the 49ers, Giants, Buccaneers, and Panthers — started the season with two road games.

Offseason programs will start getting underway around the NFL next week.

The ten teams that hired new coaches this offseason will be eligible to start working with their players on Monday, April 6. The Ravens are the only team that has set that as their first day of work while the Cardinals, Falcons, Bills, Browns, Raiders, Dolphins, Giants, Steelers and Titans have set Tuesday as their opening day.

All of those teams will also be able to hold a voluntary minicamp later in the spring. Every team is also scheduled to hold a rookie minicamp and a mandatory minicamp over the course of the next few months.

The first two weeks of work for all teams is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only. The three-week second phase allows for on-field work, but no full-speed team drills while the third OTA phase allows for team drills, but there is no live contact allowed at any point in the offseason.

Most of the 22 teams with returning coaches will be opening their offseason programs on April 20 or 21. The Broncos have set May 4 as their first day.

The relationship between Josh Allen and Joe Brady has changed. And Brady isn’t thrilled by the most tangible example of it.

Speaking to reporters this week at the NFL’s annual meeting, Brady explained the new dynamic.

“Honestly, the hardest thing is — it’s driving me crazy — him calling me ‘coach,’ ” Brady said, via Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News. “I hate that.”

Still, Allen is the leader of the team. If he calls Brady “coach,” the rest of them will follow suit.

The situation is somewhat unique. The Bills heavily involved Allen in their coaching search, perhaps as part of the effort to get him to not blame himself for Sean McDermott being fired.

Allen was present for all interviews. He attended the introductory press conference on crutches. (In contrast, it’s unclear what, if any, role Lamar Jackson had in the hiring of new Ravens coach Jesse Minter.)

“He let me know straight up,” Brady said of Allen, “‘I’m not the reason you got the job. You got this job, and now we’re in this together.’ Like any head coach and quarterback, you’re attached at the hip.”

Indeed they are. And the clock is ticking on Allen’s career. He’s had eight years in the league. He’s smack dab in the middle of his prime.

How many chances remain?

For the foreseeable future, Brady will be responsible for Allen’s annual opportunity to boldly go where no Bills team has gone before. Whatever label Allen applies to Brady, he’ll have a central role in the crafting of Allen’s eventual legacy.

Joe Brady replacing Sean McDermott as the head coach of the Bills is the best thing that could have happened to Keon Coleman. The wide receiver has been a disappointment since the Bills used a second-round pick on him in 2024.

However, the Bills continue to have faith that Coleman will grow up and live up to expectations.

“The thing with Keon is from a football standpoint, man, his work ethic, his approach, how he’s going through it, if Keon just takes care of himself off the field and he just shows up, he’s going to be good to go,” Brady said at the owners meetings this week, via Sal Maiorana of the Democrat & Chronicle. “Keon is on our football team. I’ve never said anything negative. I was the first to tell everybody I want Keon Coleman. Keon’s not going to just be pushed aside. He’s going to continue to develop and [receivers coach] Drew Terrell has a great plan of what we’re going to do to be able to get him to be the receiver that we ultimately drafted him to be.”

Coleman’s struggles perhaps trace to his off-the-field problems, including tardiness.

“It’s just about now, just making sure I’m there doing what I have to do so that I can go out on the football field and do my thing,” Brady said. “I think the reality of it is we can’t just coach the players. We have to coach the person. And it’s important that you know, and that’s part of the meetings that I’ve had as a head coach right now is making sure that as the head coach I’m understanding that.”

In two seasons, Coleman has played 26 games, totaling 67 receptions for 960 yards and eight touchdowns.

Free agent cornerback Stephon Gilmore announced his retirement on Thursday.

He posted the news on social media.

Gilmore, 35, has not played since 2024 and did not sign with a team last season.

The Bills made him the 10th overall pick in 2012, and he played five seasons with Buffalo, four with New England and one each with Carolina, Indianapolis, Dallas and Minnesota.

He was Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 with the Patriots when he led the league with six interceptions and 20 pass breakups.

In his career, the five-time Pro Bowler totaled 617 tackles, 32 interceptions, 149 pass breakups, eight forced fumbles and a sack.