5. Rex Ryan (5 years, $27.5 million)
The worst contracts in franchise history don’t apply to just players and the most recent contract on this list was actually for the head coach. In 2015, the Bills saw Doug Marrone, who was the head coach at the time, elect to opt-out of his contract and look for other opportunities.
Owners Terry and Kim Pegula would elect to go with an experienced head coach and brought in Rex Ryan on a five-year deal worth $27.5 million. The hope was that Ryan could bring some of the success he had with the New York Jets with back-to-back trips to the AFC Championship Game in 2009 and 2010.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and Ryan didn’t even last two full seasons in Western New York. He would finish his first season with the team with an 8-8 record and Buffalo would be 7-8 in his second season before he was fired prior to the regular season finale.
While it was a disappointing stretch, the Buffalo Bills would get it right after Ryan by hiring Panthers’ defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, who has helped Buffalo reach the playoffs in four of his five seasons as head coach.