When the Buffalo Bills drafted wide receiver Keon Coleman out of Florida State in 2024, he was expected to fill the shoes that Stefon Diggs left. The Bills had traded Diggs away to the Houston Texans before the 2024 NFL Draft, and that meant that the Bills needed to draft a receiver sooner than later.
Once the Bills started winning without Diggs being a main factor, that’s when the writing was on the wall and the Bills decided to move on. Bringing in Coleman at the time that it happened put a great amount of pressure on him. The Bills were (and still are) in win-now mode and the expectation was that Coleman would step up sooner than anticipated.
He showed promise in his rookie season before sustaining a wrist injury that kept him out in the middle of the season. Then last season was a mess for him after his Week 1 breakout performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Coleman didn't just decline in production on the field, but he missed a handful of games due to maturity issues that made him a healthy scratch at different times.
After Sean McDermott was fired by the Bills in January, Brandon Beane and Terry Pegula addressed the media and Coleman came up as a topic in which Pegula put a ton of doubt into Coleman's future with the team. However, new head coach Joe Brady has shown his support for Coleman so we will see how this plays out.
Even though Brady has shown support for Coleman, that doesn't mean that is a guarentee to be on the roster.
Keon Coleman pinned as Bills' top trade candidate (but they shouldn't give up on him yet)
Sayre Bedinger from NFL Spin Zone listed each AFC team’s top trade candidate going into training camp and to no surprise, Bedinger listed Colemas for the Bills.
"After some significant drama over the past couple of years, it feels like there's a legitimate chance Keon Coleman could be traded before the start of the 2026 season." said Bedinger.
"Whatever the case, Buffalo has DJ Moore and Khalil Shakir at the receiver position. They might prefer not to simply give up on a guy they picked in the 2nd round just two years ago, but they also might be open to the idea if Josh Palmer and rookie Skyler Bell can step up over the course of the offseason program." Bedinger added.
Even though it would make sense to think that Coleman could be Buffalo’s top trade candidate, he is only in his third year of his rookie deal. Trading that away is not Brandon Beane’s style, and now Coleman gets a fresh start with a new head coach that he has already worked with the last two seasons.
While the additions of DJ Moore and Skyler Bell could make it tough for Coleman to make a consistent impact, now is not the time to give up on him. If anything, the Bills should take the 2026 season to evaluate how he performs and then make a decision on his future next offseason.
Add us as a preferred source on Google