Buffalo Bills DT Ed Oliver is mourning the death of his 2-year-old son, president of football operations and general manager Brandon Beane announced Saturday.
The statement reads: “On behalf of the entire Buffalo Bills organization, we want to publicly express our condolences to Ed Oliver and his family on the devastating loss of his son. We will continue to support Ed and his family as we all grieve this tragic loss.”
The team did not disclose a cause of death, but a medical examiner’s report in Montgomery County (Texas) lists a death on June 28 matching the name of Oliver’s son as an accidental drowning.
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) August 22, 2026
“I’m a parent, right? And like, ever since I found out the news, it’s hard to, I mean, it was really hard,” Bills head coach Joe Brady said after the team’s preseason 31-7 win over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. “I can’t fathom what he’s going through. There’s really not words to describe or, you know, in those moments. You know it’s, as a coach, as a father, it’s my job to be what he needs from me right now, and that’s loving him and giving him the privacy that he deserves. Whatever it looks like, no matter how someone might wanna handle it, it’s whatever, how he wants us to handle it and going through it.”
Quarterback Josh Allen added after the game: “There’s nothing that you can say. There’s nothing that you can do. You have to let someone in a situation like that feel what they feel and do what they need to do. As his teammates, that’s what we’ve been doing is giving him his space and time, but at the same time being around him, loving up on him, but not trying to do anything to reopen that. I understand lot of the guys in the locker room knew, especially on the D-line. He spends a lot of time with those guys, and everyone’s just rallying around him.
“Just guys being around him and putting their hand on him and not having to say too much except ‘I got your back. Let’s go play football.’ But guys are very cognizant of the fact of what he’s going through, how he’s feeling, what he’s feeling. We’re there for him in any way he needs us.”
Oliver did not participate in the Bills’ joint practice with the Browns and did not play in their exhibition today at Huntington Bank Field because of an undisclosed injury. He played 10 snaps in the Bills’ preseason opener against the Panthers.
Oliver is returning from a season in which injuries limited him to four games. He missed four games with an ankle injury and then the next 11 straight, including their first-round playoff victory over the Jaguars, with a torn left biceps. He returned for the elimination loss to the Broncos but managed only 16 snaps.
Buffalo selected Oliver ninth overall in the 2019 draft. He has played in 109 games, including playoffs, with 32 sacks and nine forced fumbles.
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia contributed to this story.