Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula went on the attack on Wednesday morning in a stunning defense of his decision to fire Sean McDermott as head coach.
In his most sensational revelation, Pegula blamed McDermott for drafting the problematic wide receiver Keon Coleman with the 33rd pick of the 2024 NFL Draft – Coleman was benched in the 2025 campaign and told to ‘grow up’ by Dion Dawkins.
The owner’s comments came as he defended the move to promote Brandon Beane from general manager to President of Football Operations on the same day McDermott was fired.
‘I’ll address the Keon situation,’ Pegula said. interrupting a question for Beane. ‘The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him but he wasn’t his next choice.
Brandon Beane fielded a question about not getting enough help at WR, including drafting Keon Coleman.
Terry Pegula: “Can I interrupt? … The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. … That was Brandon being a team player.” pic.twitter.com/vAn3e1SpP2
— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) January 21, 2026
‘That was Brandon being a team player and taking the advice of his coaching staff who felt strongly about the player. He’s taken, for some reason, heat over it and not saying a word about it. I am here to tell you the true story.’
Coleman, 22, is still on the Bills roster and is midway through a four-year deal worth around $10million.
Pegula also said that the decision to fire McDermott was based solely on the defeat to Denver Broncos last Saturday, rather than his overall body of work as head coach.
It also emerged that quarterback Josh Allen, who left the Broncos game in tears at the loss, may need surgery on his foot but if he does, he should be fine for OTAs later in the year.
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