The Buffalo Bills suffered an absolutely crushing playoff loss on Saturday. Buffalo's season ended in an overtime thriller with Denver that brought QB Josh Allen to tears. Now the Bills have made a tough decision to part ways with their head coach after another Super Bowl run failed during the Divisional Round.
The Bills have fired head coach Sean McDermott, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.
McDermott now becomes the 10th head coach to be fired following the 2025 NFL season. He will likely become a popular head coaching candidate for other teams during this hiring cycle.
Meanwhile, the Bills will be forced to play catch-up as they begin their search for a new leader right away.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane will remain with the team and lead their search for their new coach, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Buffalo will truly enter a new era after parting ways with McDermott. The Bills made eight playoff appearances in nine seasons during the McDermott era. Buffalo was also the second-winningest team in the NFL during that span, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Unfortunately, the Bills were never able to turn any of those playoff appearances into Super Bowl berths.
There is no question that McDermott's job could still be safe if Buffalo managed to beat Denver on Saturday. The table was set for Buffalo to finally get to the Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson all absent from the AFC playoffs this season.
That missed opportunity made it even more painful for the Bills to lose to the Broncos.
It will be fascinating to see who the Bills pursue as their next head coach. Josh Allen will turn 30 years old during the offseason, so the Bills may feel pressure to hire a coach who can win right away.
Perhaps they could even reunite with former head coach Brian Daboll, who is currently on the market.
Either way, the offseason just got a lot more exciting for the Bills.
