Shutterstock
Brandon Beane didn’t mince words when talking about what he needs to see from Keon Coleman heading into Year 3.
The Bills’ GM made it clear during his news conference at the NFL combine Tuesday that Coleman’s got the talent – he just needs to get everything else in order. “That is kind of the challenge to Keon — can you go back and do what you did all offseason in your training camp,” Beane said. “Don’t let some of the maturity issues off the field affect the product on the field.”
It’s a fair question to ask.
Coleman showed up last offseason ready to work. Beane called his preparation “excellent” and said the Bills couldn’t have asked for more from their first-year receiver. He was there for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the offseason program, dialed in from the start. Training camp went even better – Coleman turned heads and looked like he’d put in serious work during the break.
“You could tell he’d been working out and then, a lot of the people here were at training camp,” Beane said. “He had an excellent camp. Let’s do that again.”
The 22-year-old has had a rough offseason in terms of optics, though that’s mostly been out of his control. Team owner Terry Pegula created a bit of a stir after firing Sean McDermott when he said it was the coaching staff that pushed to draft Coleman with the 33rd overall pick in 2024, not Beane. The GM’s addressed that since – he made the pick even if the coaching staff and personnel department might’ve had different preferences on their draft boards.
But Coleman’s on-field inconsistency has been the bigger issue.
He hasn’t been able to string together reliable performances across two seasons in Buffalo. McDermott disciplined the former Florida State standout in November for showing up late to a meeting; Coleman ended up as a healthy scratch for four games. He didn’t top 50 receiving yards in a single game after the season opener, when he put up 112 yards and a touchdown. His rookie year wasn’t much smoother – he got benched for a quarter because of off-field timing problems.
By season’s end, Coleman had fallen all the way to sixth on Buffalo’s receiver depth chart. He finished with 38 catches for 404 yards and four touchdowns across 13 games this past season.
Joe Brady, who’s now the Bills’ head coach after spending the past two seasons as offensive coordinator, publicly backed Coleman last month. He said Coleman will be a Bill and that he believes in him – which matters, considering Brady’s the one who’ll be calling plays.
Beane also pointed out last month that Coleman’s absences created a ripple effect beyond just missing game reps. “Every game he’s missing, the trust and the camaraderie is kind of dropping for him,” Beane said. “Like that’s just the truth. And I don’t know that that fully ever recovered.”
The new coaching staff’s looking at Coleman with fresh eyes, though. Beane noted they were familiar with him from the draft process a couple years back and they’re eager to work with him. “They kind want to try to start mold him in the way they see and envision him for our team,” he said.
Buffalo’s receiver room is definitely something to watch as the draft approaches. The position dealt with all kinds of inconsistency in 2025, and some changes seem inevitable. Whatever they do at the position needs to work with Josh Allen – that’s the bottom line.
“Like any quarterback, [Allen] wants ’em to be where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be, and he wants ’em dependable,” Beane explained. “Obviously, he wants them to catch the ball, but Josh is usually ‘give me what you got, and I’ll make the most of it.’”
Beane’s plan is to find receivers with different skill sets who can give Allen options. Allen’s adaptable enough to work with whatever he’s got – but it’s on the front office to give him pieces that can actually stay on the field and contribute consistently.
