Between last weekend’s heartbreaking loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round and the firing of head coach Sean McDermott, the Buffalo Bills have been no strangers to the spotlight this week.
And unfortunately for the franchise, that trend continued on Wednesday.
Taking the podium for an end-of-season press conference, Bills owner Terry Pegula and general manager Brandon Beane addressed McDermott’s departure. The meeting with the media, however, seemed to do little to reassure Buffalo fans that the team is heading in the right direction, with Pegula’s comments, in particular, going viral for all the wrong reasons.
Most notably, Pegula justified the decision to fire McDermott while retaining Beane by stating his belief that the Bills have accumulated enough talent to capture their elusive Super Bowl title. But when asked about Buffalo’s lack of top-tier wide receivers, Pegula interjected, shifting the blame for the selection of Keon Coleman in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft to his now-ex-head coach.
“I’ll address the Keon situation,” Pegula said, according to The Athletic. “The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him, but (Coleman) wasn’t his next choice. It was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff, who felt strongly about the player. He’s taken, for some reason, heat over it and not said a word about it. But I’m here to tell you the true story.”
Of course, it didn’t take long for social media sleuths to uncover evidence that Beane was supportive of the Coleman selection. And to his credit, the Bills GM did take responsibility for the pick on Wednesday, despite his boss’s attempt to give him cover.
“He was my pick. I made the pick,” Beane said. “Terry’s point was that we might’ve had a different order of personnel versus coaching, and I went that way. But ultimately, I’m not turning in a pick for a player that I don’t think we can succeed with. So don’t misunderstand that. Keon Coleman is a young player that has been here two years, has two years left on his deal. It’s up to us to work with him and develop him.
In addition to throwing McDermott — and Coleman, for that matter — under the bus, Pegula also attracted attention for stating that it was the loss to Denver and distraught players in the locker room that led to the decision to make a head coaching change, despite him also maintaining that poor officiating was the primary factor in the Bills’ season-ending loss. Add it all up, and the owner’s comments certainly elicited no shortage of reaction from the NFL media, much of which painted McDermott in a sympathetic light.
Despite the disastrous press conference, the chance to coach Josh Allen on a team with Super Bowl aspirations remains an objectively attractive opportunity. But it would also be tough to argue that it’s as attractive as it seemed just a few hours ago.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.