One week after the Buffalo Bills announced Joe Brady would be the franchise’s next head coach, Bills Mafia is still trying to find its footing in the early stages of the 2026 offseason. With Super Bowl LX the last true formality of the 2025 season, though, and with Brady’s new coaching staff coming together, fans can begin turning attention to the NFL Draft.
When general manager Brandon Beane introduced Brady as head coach, he emphasized the importance of the front office having alignment. As Brady mentioned afterward, that doesn’t mean agreeing all the time, but rather by going with the best option toward achieving the goals the franchise has while sticking to the newly shaped vision brought forth by the Brady-Beane regime.
With that in mind, when the Bills are on the clock with the No. 26 overall pick in April’s draft, the Mafia will likely be thinking wide receiver. But that alignment between Brady and Beane may point toward a different direction.
Brady–Beane alignment points the Bills away from a first-round wide receiver
Bills fans want new weaponry for Josh Allen next season, and while it’s reasonable to expect the Bills to address the wide receiver room this offseason, when it comes to the first round of the draft, don’t be surprised if the Bills are inevitably looking elsewhere.
The Bills have nine defensive contributors headed to free agency, and a 10th likely to retire with Jordan Poyer. Many are veterans who were much more aligned with Sean McDermott’s scheme, particularly linebackers Matt Milano and Shaq Thompson, though cornerback Tre’Davious White can be lumped in there as well.
Speaking of scheme, the scheme swap from 4-3 to 3-4 isn’t as drastic as it used to be, with so many teams staying in nickel packages, but it’s a significant factor to consider as new DC Jim Leonhard’s defense is rebuilt. Veterans like Thompson, Milano or Da’Quan Jones aren’t going to just fit seamlessly into a scheme they haven’t played in at the NFL level like a Madden depth chart.
The most significant change in a swap from 4-3 to 3-4 is the edge rushers. Buffalo has two key contributors from 2025 headed to free agency in Joey Bosa and A.J. Epenesa. Epenesa’s skill-set is more scheme versatile, but of course, he has exclusively played in a 4-3 since he was at Iowa.
If Bosa walks, as expected, and Epenesa is gone too, then the Bills would have a much larger concern than the wide receiver position. Like any position, free agency and the trading block can help fill the holes. But in rebuilding the defense, there’s value in using a strong edge rusher draft class to find the Bills’ long-awaited cornerstone pass rusher.
The 2026 draft class is loaded with talented edge rushers, so it’ll be easier to find one in the back-half of the first round than a wide receiver. According to PFF’s Trevor Sikemma’s rankings, there are 10 edge rushers in the top 50 overall players.
Players like Texas Tech’s Romello Height, Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell, and Oklahoma’s R Mason Thomas are the names to watch if the Bills stay put at No. 26 with eyes on a pass rusher.
READ MORE: Buffalo Bills 2026 NFL Draft: Texas A&M EDGE Cashius Howell Scouting Report
There will be other avenues to improve the wide receiver room, and a proven No. 1 wideout would do more for the Bills’ offense than a first-rounder who needs time to develop. Brady and Allen have already shown what they can do offensively without elite receiver play, still ranking in the top half of the league in passing while leaning on the league’s top rushing attack. That’s replicable next year if it comes to that.
The defense, though, has to be rebuilt in a new scheme with a new mentality under Leonhard. And after years of McDermott’s defenses being just around average in getting after the quarterback, Brady’s defensive vision countered with wanting to pressure opposing quarterbacks and coordinators. Investing in a pass rusher in round one this April goes a long way in building this new 3-4 defense under Leonhard and putting that pressure where it's needed come next season.