If you weren't on board with the Brady promotion, do you feel better today?

[Einstein]

20 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Crazy you would rather make yourself look this naive over simply giving an inch on McD and admitting he had some influence over the roster and wanted guys that fit his system. When the same can be said for almost every HC in the NFL.

I am not asserting that he did not have *some* influence. I am stating that he was not the final decision maker on the roster and we have ample circumstantial evidence showing that to be true.

1) We have a very respected long-time NFL and Buffalo reporter stating that McDermott did not like parts of the roster, did not think it was good enough and wanted it fixed. That he openly asked them to fix the roster during a meeting in late 2025, and that Beane/Pegula disagreed and thought the roster was good enough.

2) We have McDermott himself displaying that he was upset with certain personnel moves made by Beane during a press conference last season (remember 

3) We have an off-season with Beane but without McDermott, with a draft and FA period that was very similar to what we have seen for the past 7 years under Beane. 

That is far more evidence than the "McD made Beane keep all those bad players" folks have.

[Nihilarian]

Look guys, we all know Brandon Bean's stance on bringing in top elite WRs since he traded away Diggs. In the 2024 offseason, Beane traded Diggs to Houston for a second-round pick, which was awesome in my view. Then, with 11 draft picks in 2024, he chose Keon Coleman as the first pick in the second round. Then after that, PFFFT.  Ten more picks and no receiver of any kind.

 

In 2025, he finally took a receiver/TE, Jackson Hawes, with the second pick in the fifth round. Then, in the 7th, he took a WR, Kaden Prather. Beane took a lot of heat from the media and Bills fans for neglecting that X boundary position WR. I'd be willing to bet anything that McDermott had nothing to do with this, as Beane was out there pounding his chest that he did the right thing. 

 

It was said that the Buffalo Bills tried to trade for Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle ahead of the November 2025 NFL trade deadline, but the deal fell through because Miami did not want to trade a star player to a division rival. Who would have guessed?

 

Finally, in this year's offseason, he traded a #2 pick for DJ Moore to Chicago. Then, in the 2026 NFL Draft, Beane, with a 4th-round pick he took WR Skyler Bell. 

 

In my view, this was more of Beane forcing the Buffalo offense to focus more on the run game. He had to notice the effect the run game had after Joe Brady took over, and almost immediately Buffalo dominated the Dallas Cowboys with the run game, with 49 rushes for 266 yards, 3 TDs in a 31-10 win. Buffalo QB Josh Allen in that game was 7 of 15 for 94 yards, 1 TD. Hrrmmm. 

 

This new aspect of the offense was also integral in helping QB Josh Allen to fewer INTs, 6 all season. Allen made the pro bowl/all pro, #6 in OPoftY. 

 

Now, for this season, any thoughts of offensive passing handcuffs are off Josh Allen, and we will see if Joe Brady can build a passing offense as well as Brian Daboll had done in the past. We will see. 

[VW82]

His last name is Brady. There will always be fear and mistrust. 

[DisplacedBillsFan]

I was more upset about the firing of McDermott than I was the hiring of Brady. That said, I’m a huge fan of his demeanor, what I’ve heard/seen since he became HC, and the staff he assembled. Super stoked for this season and expect a SB victory.

[Rousseauisnoschmo]

Based on the staff he assembled absolutely. Especially the Leohnard hiring.

 

[Royale with Cheese]

4 hours ago, JMM said:

Ask me in 2 years

 

Dude, I'm not going to remember.

[hondo in seattle]

23 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I was really hoping we got Grant Udinski.  I fell for the "prodigy" label he was giving.  I was impressed with the way he conducts himself in the public, he does seem very knowledgeable.  

 

The Brady hire was deflating.  

 

I know the regular season hasn't started yet but I'm feeling more comfortable with him.

I'm neither more or less comfortable.  There's nothing that's happened in preseason to make me reassess.

 

I think it's less than ideal to hire a first-time head coach and first-time DC to run the team during the peak years of its unicorn QB.  Maybe it'll work out.  Maybe it won't.  

 

The information we have about this coaching staff can be interpreted in a bunch of different ways.  I think our feelings about Brady right now, in lieu of any meaningful data about him as a HC, is like a Rorschach test.  What we feel about Brady tells us about ourselves, not about Brady. 

 

The optimists find things to like about the new HC; the pessimists find reason to worry.

[DaVinci]

Beat Huston in Huston  week one and I will be impressed .

[Buffalo716]

Yes

 

I like his offense

[Mikey152]

11 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

 

 

The truthers will truth. We are running a new system, so your point would be relevant if all those former starters got signed by another team. They didn't. This concept that scheme aware players took precedent over talent isn't a concept. It's what the influence of McD brought to this team. Beane will always value OL, DL, as did the people he learned from. Draft targeting by position is not going to change, but that wasn't the issue. Getting youth and talent acclimated fast enough to outplay experience was the problem. That in large part is based on what the coach requires his players to understand. 

It’s almost like the most important part of coaching is…coaching.

 

I get the impression that McDermott was always about McDermott. His idea of coaching was to teach players to do it his way and he preferred players that stayed in line. I believe now more than ever that he push Diggs out because he wanted to run the ball and protect the football and Diggs wasn’t down with being a decoy.

 

Brady clearly has the opposite philosophy. In a lot of ways I think Beane does, too. Bring in guys that are good at football and we will make it work.  Bonus if they are big and strong and fast. That’s coaching players to be the best they can be, not the best they can be in your system. Probably has a lower floor, but also has a considerably higher ceiling.

 

To put it in McDermott terms, there are experts on a process and experts on process.  One teaches their way and the other teaches a way that works.

Edited August 26 by Mikey152

[eball]

11 hours ago, Búfalo Blanco said:

I'm skeptical, as I was the day he was hired. I believe Beane has brought in a lot of great talent, but I no longer have trust in the "process" or the regime putting Josh Allen in the best spot to succeed. Like some here, I hope I'm wrong... but I think there were better candidates outside the organization. 

 

And you are absolutely entitled to your opinion. What irritates me are those who imply it was a “preordained” decision to promote Brady and ignore the fact that the Bills went through a very rigorous process before arriving at that decision.

 

9 hours ago, Einstein said:

1) We have a very respected long-time NFL and Buffalo reporter stating that McDermott did not like parts of the roster, did not think it was good enough and wanted it fixed. That he openly asked them to fix the roster during a meeting in late 2025, and that Beane/Pegula disagreed and thought the roster was good enough.

 

Man, you are really overplaying this one comment in a Yahoo Sports article relating to something Vic Carucci didn’t even hear himself.

[Puckman5]

I thought it was time for McDermott to go, but I also looked at the Brady hire more as way to keep Josh happy and not rock the boat.  He'll be stuck with the same roster deficiencies McDermott had, but I like the moves that were made to bring in new coaches and ideas.  I'll be happy if I see a team that looks better prepared to start games, stops the run better, and when I can't always tell with 99% certainty that a play is going to be a run or a pass.  I don't care about "unleashing" Josh.  It takes balance, like we've had, but hopefully with a bit more from the receiver group.  I'm in the cautiously optimistic.  Let's see how the game plan looks for Houston.  

[machine gun kelly]

On 8/24/2026 at 10:43 PM, Wizard said:

Sure. Still, it is preseason!

 

I don't think it is wise to get too excited or too judgmental based off of preseason and Brady and his team not being yet in difficult coaching situations.

 

Ask this question again around week 8-9, or after the Bills win 3 in a row or lose a game they shouldn't.

 

Ask this question when it is a critical game management decision with 1 minute left against a top 4 AFC playoff caliber team.

 

Ask this question in the 2nd round in the playoffs if either the offense or defensive is struggling a bit.

 

I am cautiously optimistic.

 

 

I won’t call us great mind think alike, but I concur with your cautious optimism.  I could care less about preseason wins, but they look like things are coming together.  It’s too early to make a call, but I like what Brady and Leonard are doing and saying to the media.  
 

It looks promising with a possible vertical game, and we won’t see our run game until the regular season.  They will keep Cook stashed away until Houston.  I truly hope Davis wins the punt return job as well as the kick return game.  It increases his value, and is more than depth at running back.  He was the #1 kick returner in the NFL last year.  Besides, I’d rather not waste a roster spot on a punt returner only.  It allots for more WR depth keeping 6 vs. 5.

 

Moore

Shakir

Palmer

Coleman

Bell

probably Sherfield

 

Add to that:

Kinkaid

Knox

Hawes

 

And:

Cook

Davis

Ty

 

That’s more depth on this offense. Than we've had the last two years.  This is what gets me excited about the team.

[Captain Murica]

I wanted them to go outside the organization but in reality. I’m cool with the hire. It’s something different and it was time for a change. 

[Kirby Jackson]

11 hours ago, Einstein said:

3) We have an off-season with Beane but without McDermott, with a draft and FA period that was very similar to what we have seen for the past 7 years under Beane. 

That is far more evidence than the "McD made Beane keep all those bad players" folks have.

Here’s where you lose me. In that same offseason: Daquan Jones, Matt Milano, Shaq Thompson, Joey Bosa, Tre White, Jordan Poyer, Jordan Phillips, and Larry Ogunjobi all played 20%+ defensive snaps last year and are unsigned. Taylor Rapp started and just signed recently. Do we really think Beane loved all those guys, left them all unsigned and it had nothing to do with “McDermott has a type?” That’s a rhetorical question. Obviously McDermott had a ton of influence on the personnel specifically guys to fit his defensive scheme. So while we all agree Beane is responsible for the roster, McDermott has input AND is responsible for which guys are playing. Lots of guys that he CHOSE to play are currently out of the league. He owns that specifically, as much as anyone, including Beane.

 

I used to work with a guy that claimed he was the world’s greatest wing man. His reasoning is that if you were in a bar full of girls he was always drawn to the bigger girl that was less desirable to everyone else. That was McDermott. As long as he had a job, Jordan Phillips had a chance to get lucky that night. The night’s that he didn’t go out, Jordan Phillips was left without a place to go at the end of the night. 

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Here’s where you lose me. In that same offseason: Daquan Jones, Matt Milano, Shaq Thompson, Joey Bosa, Tre White, Jordan Poyer, Jordan Phillips, and Larry Ogunjobi all played 20%+ defensive snaps last year and are unsigned. Taylor Rapp started and just signed recently. Do we really think Beane loved all those guys, left them all unsigned and it had nothing to do with “McDermott has a type?” That’s a rhetorical question.

Based on the evidence, yes I do believe that was largely Beane. I do not think a coach that was responsible for all of these players suddenly had a schizophrenic moment and complained about the said players he forced the GM to sign. That wouldn't make any sense. And it wouldn't fit with what Pegula specifically said during his press conference, which is to defend that roster Beane built.

[Kirby Jackson]

Just now, Einstein said:

Based on the evidence, yes I do believe that was largely Beane. I do not think a coach that was responsible for all of these players suddenly had a schizophrenic moment and complained about the said players he forced the GM to sign. That wouldn't make any sense. And it wouldn't fit with what Pegula specifically said during his press conference, which is to defend that roster Beane built.

You aren’t doing yourself any favors here digging in. You lose credibility when you argue with something that obviously is true (or at the very least has tons of merit).

 

Lol, let me ask the rhetorical question differently. Do you really believe that McDermott did not have “a type?” Do you believe that the players listed above were desired as much by other NFL teams as they were by him for his scheme? If Beane thought so highly of those guys, why do they all remain unsigned, including by him? 
 

Again, here is your chance to dig out by at least hedging. It’s okay to say, “he clearly valued a certain type of player that fit his defensive scheme and philosophy. While Beane was ultimately responsible for picking the 53 guys, McDermott decided to play those guys that the rest of the league didn’t think belonged on a roster.” That’s not even arguable. 

[Mikey152]

30 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Based on the evidence, yes I do believe that was largely Beane. I do not think a coach that was responsible for all of these players suddenly had a schizophrenic moment and complained about the said players he forced the GM to sign. That wouldn't make any sense. And it wouldn't fit with what Pegula specifically said during his press conference, which is to defend that roster Beane built.

That's literally the opposite of what Pegula said.  He was saying that Beane didn't build the roster in a vacuum. His job is to get the best ingredients he can, not make the recipe or cook the food. Pegula believe the ingredients were fine, it was the recipe or the cooking that needed fixed.  Mcdermott clearly disagreed (go figure...it wasn't his fault in his eyes). Early returns seem to suggest he was right. The team already looks a lot faster and more aggressive.

22 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

You aren’t doing yourself any favors here digging in. You lose credibility when you argue with something that obviously is true (or at the very least has tons of merit).

 

Lol, let me ask the rhetorical question differently. Do you really believe that McDermott did not have “a type?” Do you believe that the players listed above were desired as much by other NFL teams as they were by him for his scheme? If Beane thought so highly of those guys, why do they all remain unsigned, including by him? 
 

Again, here is your chance to dig out by at least hedging. It’s okay to say, “he clearly valued a certain type of player that fit his defensive scheme and philosophy. While Beane was ultimately responsible for picking the 53 guys, McDermott decided to play those guys that the rest of the league didn’t think belonged on a roster.” That’s not even arguable. 

What is hilarious to me, is we ALL know that Mcdermott had a type.  It is all we talked about.  You can certainly debate whether or not it was a good or bad thing, but I can't believe that is even in question.

Edited August 26 by Mikey152

[dpberr]

I like that he (Brady) surrounded himself with competent, experienced lieutenants who know pro football.  That's 75% of the head coach hire.  

 

I think Pete Carmichael and the offense are going to score a ton of points.  

[Kirby Jackson]

19 minutes ago, Mikey152 said:

What is hilarious to me, is we ALL know that Mcdermott had a type.  It is all we talked about.  You can certainly debate whether or not it was a good or bad thing, but I can't believe that is even in question.

We know that Beane and McDermott had some conflict on the personnel. That’s documented. We are missing the common sense portion of this. Which players do you think that they disagreed on the most, the guys that were playing or the guys that weren’t? So to the point of the 8 guys listed above (9 if you include Rapp), that played at least 20% of the defensive snaps and were unsigned into August, do you think those are the players that McDermott objected to? That’s another rhetorical question…