Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula and general manager Brandon Beane took questions about the state of the roster, including some specifically about wide receiver Keon Coleman, at Wednesday’s news conference intended to address the firing of Sean McDermott as head coach after nine seasons.

Coleman, a second-year player the Bills drafted in the second round in 2024, has been disciplined three times since his arrival and has not become a reliable target for quarterback Josh Allen.

“I’ll address the Keon situation,” Pegula said, after a question about Coleman was directed at Beane. “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.”

About 25 minutes later, Beane attempted to clarify that Coleman was his pick and that he stood behind it, but by then the damage had already been done.

“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.

“His issues have not been on the field. It’s been maturity things that he owns; I give him credit. He doesn’t make excuses, which I appreciate. … He busted his tail and had a great offseason. … He had an excellent camp, no matter who he went against. Made a bunch of plays. The Ravens game, he ends up with 100-whatever yards, and you’re right: ‘Man, this kid’s going to take off.’ But some of the maturity stuff got in the way, and you can naturally lose confidence in teammates or coaches, and that’s understandable.”

Beane also praised Coleman for the work he did in the 2025 offseason that led to a positive start to the season, and said he encouraged Coleman to have another strong offseason to improve in 2026.

“He and I had this conversation, and I’m sure he did with his coaches as well on the way out, of alright, you’ve gotta hit the reset again and attack this offseason the way you did, attack training camp the way you did, and don’t let these maturity issues get in the way of your playing time and your production on this team,” Beane said. “So that’s where we’re at with Keon Coleman. But we still believe in Keon Coleman here, and it’s up to us to develop his talent so that he can help us win games.”

Pegula attempted to explain further that he was referring to the collaboration that goes into selecting each draft pick.

“Let me talk about this issue,” Pegula said. “There’s not one player on our team that somebody else could’ve been drafted in their place because of others’ opinions. We listen to the coaches, the GM has an opinion, some of our scouts, I have my opinions, but I don’t think you can look at one player, even Josh, where somebody thought, we could’ve drafted so and so here.

“So what I was trying to show with Keon was (that) we collaborate. There’s different names available at every draft pick that we could’ve selected.”

Surprising comments about a player on roster

My first reaction to what Pegula initially said about Coleman, by today’s NFL standards, was absolute shock. Coleman was the team’s top draft choice in 2024 and has sputtered from a once-promising prospect to now being the subject of passing the blame by the team’s owner in just two seasons.

The first, and most wild part of Pegula’s statement is that Coleman is still on the roster, and any trade the Bills could have sought out for Coleman this offseason to recoup something on their investment took a significant hit.

Well beyond that, Pegula’s comments about someone still on the roster, to essentially blame people that are no longer in the building for a pick that didn’t go well, are unlikely to have a positive impact on the Bills’ current roster.

There has long been a “we’re all in this together” vibe permeating throughout the Bills locker room whenever ownership, the front office, the coaching staff and players were discussed. Many looked at it as a family.

However, the team’s owner throwing under the bus both the coaching staff and a player many in the locker room are friends with, while he’s still on the roster, was astounding when defending the team’s general manager. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer