INDIANAPOLIS — A refresh in Buffalo is fully underway. This week’s NFL combine marked the first offseason event under new Buffalo Bills head coach Joe Brady. The consistency in his messaging from the event was that, despite his experience with the organization since 2022, this is Year 1.
“When I say Year 1, I understand it’s Year 1 and we’re not coming in with a rebuild,” Brady said on Tuesday. “It’s not like a ‘hey, let’s reset.’ It’s a Year 1 in a sense of just our day to day is not going to be the same. Just because how we did things before isn’t going to be how we’re doing. It’s not — and I mean this in complete respect — it’s not just Sean McDermott out, Joe Brady in, and we’re just business as usual, right?”
The changes aren’t restricted to just schedules. Brady described changing mindsets as well — being open to approaching things in a different way than perhaps it was done in the nine years under former coach Sean McDermott.
On Brady’s end, that has included being heavily involved in learning the defensive side as the Bills get to know the draft prospects and prospective free agent class.
He has been sitting in defensive meetings as coordinator Jim Leonhard has gotten his staff in. The goal is to get an understanding of how things are done; Brady is also being used as a resource as to what he would think from an offensive perspective in certain situations.
“I’ve never sat in the defensive meetings as much as I am right now,” Brady said. “I want to be able to speak the language to our guys. I want to be able to coach them and talk to them, and not just, hey, when game’s on the line, you know, if Jim’s calling the defense, I want at least to know what he’s calling. And so, I know that seems little, but that is big.”
Brady has also sat out some of the offensive meetings to give the newly assembled coaching staff a chance to critique what the Bills have done under Brady as a coordinator the last two seasons so they can feel even more comfortable to be critical.
President of football operations and general manager Brandon Beane backed up Brady’s Year 1 philosophy, adding “I think Joe just wants to make sure the guys walk in and feel like, ‘OK, there has been a change here, and this is what we’re doing.'”
Indianapolis provided insights into areas the Bills need to work on as the team builds its 2026 roster. Here are some of the highlights.
There are questions as to how nickel corner Taron Johnson will fit into Leonhard’s scheme. Beane did not rule out the idea of the longtime Bills defender finding a spot at safety.
“Nothing’s off the table,” Beane said. “We’ll look at anything and everything as we make these decisions and he’s a good football player. You never want to rule anything out if you think that’s the best position.”
Beane said that they are still working through how all of the pieces will come together on defense, but continued to speak highly of Johnson, as Leonhard did in his introductory press conference.
The Bills made their first move to get cap compliant by restructuring right tackle Spencer Brown’s contract. They will save about $10.4 million against the cap, per Beane, ahead of the new league year that begins March 11.
Beane said they might have to do something similar with other players, but as he has said consistently throughout the offseasons, they don’t want to push money down the road for too many players.
A big decision awaits the Bills regarding veteran tight end Dawson Knox. While a beloved member of the organization and close friend of quarterback Josh Allen‘s, the Bills can save almost $9.7 million in cap space by releasing him. In 2025, Knox finished third on the team in receiving yards (417) and tied for second in receiving touchdowns (four).
Beane said there have been conversations with Knox’s representation and that those will continue.
“We know we’re down to a couple weeks to make those and so there’s no answer,” Beane said. “There’s no resolution in the next 24 hours, or anything like that. But the discussions have happened and they’ll continue.”
Despite the significant shift at defense ahead, Beane and Brady made it clear that DE Greg Rousseau — who is going into his sixth season — is going to be a key piece of the unit going forward, even if his specific role and how he will be used is still to be sorted through. Beane described him as “versatile” and a “valuable piece” but that it is “just a matter of how we deploy him.”
Wide receiver Khalil Shakir, who signed a four-year contract extension last offseason at this time of year, is another player likely taking on a bigger role. Brady described him as one of the team’s best football players, noted his ability to play inside and outside and that there’s other ways to get the ball in his hands. Shakir has traditionally been the team’s slot receiver with the majority of his routes coming from the slot last season.
