The Buffalo Bills are rolling into 2026 with a completely new look. New head coach. New top receiver. And, according to at least one ESPN analyst, a whole lot of risk.
ESPN’s Seth Walder isn’t sold on the direction the franchise took after firing Sean McDermott and promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach. Walder gets the logic — Brady has a strong connection with Josh Allen from their time working together. But he’s got real questions about what happens on the other side of the ball.
“The Bills haven’t had a great defense on paper, and the defensive-minded McDermott could have been getting the most out of those players,” Walder wrote. “So, what happens now that Buffalo doesn’t have him?”
It’s a fair point. McDermott’s defenses often outperformed their roster on paper. Without him calling the shots, there’s no guarantee Brady — a first-time head coach — can keep that unit from slipping.
Then there’s the DJ Moore trade. Buffalo sent a second-round pick to Chicago for the veteran wideout. Walder thinks that was too much, given Moore’s recent numbers. “While Buffalo needed help at wide receiver, the price was substantial considering Moore is coming off back-to-back disappointing seasons in Chicago,” Walder wrote. “The Bills also paid draft capital for the right to take over the bulk of his contract — paying him $24.5 million in each of the four remaining years of his deal.”
That’s a lot of money for a guy who hasn’t cracked 900 yards in either of the last two seasons. The Bills are betting Moore can rediscover his 2023 form when he went for over 1,300 yards. But that was with Justin Fields throwing him the ball in a completely different offense.
Buffalo has made the playoffs every year since 2019. They just haven’t gotten over the hump. No Super Bowl trips. Front office decided they needed to shake things up rather than run it back with the same group. So here we are.
Brady has to prove he can handle the full head coach job, not just calling plays. Moore has to show he can be the No. 1 target Allen needs. If both things happen, the Bills might finally get that Super Bowl appearance. If not, these moves are going to look like a panic-driven overcorrection.
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