Biggest Offseason Questions Still Looming for Buffalo Bills

While McDermott was building a defense that was more execution-based than schematically diverse, former NFL safety Jim Leonard was building his own reputation as an impressive builder of defenses with Wisconsin (where he was the defensive coordinator from 2017-2022), and the Denver Broncos (where he was the defensive passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach in 2023, and added the Assistant Head Coach title in 2024).

Now, a four-on-the-floor defense that tended to play more nickel than any other NFL team from year to year will be more interesting from a playbook perspective. Leonhard intends to install a defense in which the rush and coverage concepts are more intertwined and complex.

"We're going to be an attacking defense up front and in the back end," Leonhard said in February. "We're going to attack the football. The biggest stat in football is turnovers, so we're going to be aggressive, we're going to fly around, we're going to communicate, we're going to play well together, but we're going to cause issues for offense, and we're going to force them to react to us.

"There's a right and a wrong way in my opinion on how to attack quarterbacks in the NFL and it changes a little bit week to week based on their skill set …You have to try to change the comfort level of that quarterback, you got to be able to speed him up, you got to be able to slow him down."

More blitzes and stunts, and more disguised coverages, should put the Bills more in line with modern NFL defenses than what they were running before.

Does Josh Allen have enough weapons?

This has been a question for a few years now, and to his credit, general manager Brandon Beane has done a few things to try and give Josh Allen more to work with in the passing game. Now that Joe Brady is the head coach, there's no communication breakdown as to what kinds of receivers are desired for the offense.

The Bills sent a 2026 second-round pick to the Chicago Bears for veteran receiver DJ Moore and a 2026 fifth-round pick. Moore was one of the NFL's more prolific receivers in 2020 and 2021 for the Carolina Panthers when Brady was the offensive coordinator, so the systemic familiar is already there. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Moore isn't your X-Iso receiver in a traditional sense, but he should be a good complement to Khalil Shakir, who has already established himself as the team's primary slot target.

Beyond that, Buffalo's receivers are more complementary than overwhelming. Tight ends Dawson Knox, Dalton Kincaid, and Jackson Hawes may be the hidden keys to a next-level offense. In 2024, no team had more snaps with six offensive linemen than Buffalo's 189 — 48 snaps in the passing game, and 148 in the run game. Last season, with the addition of Hawed in the fifth round out of Georgia Tech, Brady directed more 12 and 13 personnel.

It remains to be seen what will come of this, but it does appear that there is a more cogent philosophy, and the players in place to make it work.

Is the Bills' draft more about quality or quantity?

The 2026 Bills made a league-high seven in-draft trades, including a deal with the Houston Texans that took them out of the first round entirely. They acquired Clemson edge-rusher T.J. Parker with the 35th overall selection as their first pick, and then, it was certainly about quantity. and a 10-pick haul looks good on the surface for a team in need of regeneration.

The question is, how many of these picks can be true franchise-definers?

Parker does have that potential; he had six sacks and 41 total pressures last season, and he projects well as the kind of power end who can succeed in Leonhard's defense. Ohio State's
Davison Igbinosun, selected with the 62nd overall pick in the second round, is a big, toolsy, press/match cornerback with some starting potential.

Beyond that, it would appear that the Bills went with depth/rotational prospects more in line with a team that has most everything on the ball, and want to add specific types of guys for that. Which really isn't where the Bills are at this point. The re-tooling needs to be as much for now as for later.

Beane certainly understands the pressure.

"No one outside can put more pressure on me than me," he recently said. "I want to win at everything I do. If we go in there and play ping-pong on the table, I’m going to try to whip your ass. That’s just the way it is. You can ask my kids. I was not the Dad that let my kids win — right or wrong. That’s my mindset. I can’t change how I’m wired. I struggle now more than ever turning it off because I want it so bad. Because when you’re that close, all you know to do is just keep your head down and keep that competitive drive to Joe’s term, competitive stamina, and keep kicking at that door. At some point, we’re going to kick it down. I hope to be a part of the Bills when that happens."

Now, we'll see whether the Bills have enough ass-kickers on the roster to make that dream a reality.

Finally.