To say that this has been a weird offseason for the Buffalo Bills would be an understatement. Head coach Sean McDermott was given the axe in what may have been his best coaching performance to date. General manager Brandon Beane somehow kept his job, though it may be harder if he has to keep making up for weird statements from owner Terry Pegula.
The franchise, as a whole, has work to do, but the tallest task falls on Beane. With talk about the roster he constructed becoming arguably the most prevalent topic throughout the 2025 season, Beane needs to make a big splash move and can’t settle for the discount veterans any longer.
A Turbulent Season
The Bills entered 2025 on the shortlist of Super Bowl favorites. When you have a Josh Allen, you tend to get the benefit of the doubt even when your roster has several prominent holes in it. Even still, the AFC East looked to be theirs for the taking yet again.
Instead, the Bills were plagued by an aging, slow defense that couldn’t stay on the field. If Allen and the offense weren’t perfect, it was going to be a long week at One Bills Drive. Coupled with the emergence of Drake Maye and the New England Patriots – who clearly made a fresh pact with some kind of warm weather deity – the Bills found themselves in second place in the division.
Even still, all you need to do is make the playoffs to have a shot. And the Bills certainly had a shot.
The Lost Opportunity
Coming into the playoffs, the Bills may have been the 6-seed, but a lot of pundits had their faith in Allen and co. With no Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, or Joe Burrow, this was supposed to be the clearest path to the Super Bowl in the Josh Allen era.
He pulled out the Superman act against a very good Jacksonville Jaguars team, leading to a trip to Denver to face the 1-seed Broncos. Though the defense gave up north of 30 points, the opportunities were there for the Bills to win. Instead, a few missed throws, a questionable interception, and a couple of penalties sealed their fate.
Matters were only compounded when it was revealed that the Broncos would be without QB Bo Nix for the AFC Championship Game. The Patriots, who continue to follow the easiest path to the Super Bowl in NFL history, gladly accepted the gift of Jared Stidham and scored a whopping 10 points en route to victory.
The Bills moved on from McDermott, had an embarrassing press conference, and now enter the offseason with a laundry list of questions that must be answered.
Why Making a Splash Move is Essential
One of the things that didn’t get touched on in the season recap is the trade deadline. There were rumblings that Beane had been heavily involved in the pursuit of premier wide receivers Chris Olave and Jalen Waddle in an attempt to help his superhuman quarterback. He failed on both fronts, doing nothing of substance to improve the team by the deadline.
Bean’s Dilemma
After the loss in Denver, the failure to bolster an aging defense or improve a porous receiver group came up again and again. It can be said that the defense or Allen let them down in the biggest spots in Denver, but Beane’s roster ultimately put them in a position where making up for several deficiencies became too much.
For that reason, making a big move to address one of the two big issues – receiver and edge rusher – is something that Beane must do. He kept his job now, but doing nothing and watching the Bills fail again may substantially shorten his leash or strangle him altogether.
The Window is Open but is Closing with Increasing Speed
There is also the matter of having one of the two or three best quarterbacks in the league, arguably the greatest at the position in franchise history, and not having made a single Super Bowl. Squandering the prime years of Josh Allen is perhaps the greatest indictment of this management group.
Allen is almost 30 years old and should still have more than a few prime years left. With him at quarterback, the contention window will always be open. That said, it is slowly sliding shut with each passing season. If he has to do the Superman act consistently, the window will only close that more rapidly.
Getting Allen help, whether it be a legitimate No.1 receiver or making additions to the defense to get more than one stop, should be priorities 1-100. The Bills have something truly special that some franchises spend decades searching for. If Allen’s time in Buffalo comes and goes without even a Super Bowl appearance, it will be one of the great travesties in NFL history. And it will be Beane’s legacy.
Time to Mortgage the Future
Thinking ahead five years from now is fine and well, but the Bills are in a different situation than the rest of the NFL. They need to win within the next three seasons or risk squandering an all-time great quarterback.
Giving Josh Allen the help he needs right now isn’t just an opinion, it is a stone-cold fact. Any and all assets should be made available to obtain an impact player that can make life even a little easier for the face of the franchise. Now it’s up to Beane to go get that player.