Bills' Josh Allen Details ‘Awesome' First Offseason Under Joe Brady
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had only known Sean McDermott as his head coach in the NFL.
The Bills hired McDermott in January 2017, and he led the franchise to its first playoff berth in 17 years in his first season. Then, the Bills selected Allen out of Wyoming with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Allen and McDermott were a formidable pair, going 83-33 in the regular season since 2019, but they failed to reach the Super Bowl. More poignantly, they reinvented ways to suffer playoff losses.
They lost the AFC Championship Game to the Kansas City Chiefs by 14 points, ending the 2020 season.
They lost the famed “13 Seconds Game” to the Chiefs in overtime of the AFC Divisional round the following year.
They suffered an inexplicable 17-point loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Divisional in the 2022 postseason.
They missed what would have been the game-tying field goal to lose to the Chiefs in the 2023 AFC Divisional playoff, and the Chiefs broke their hearts again in the 2024 AFC Championship Game.
The final straw was their 33-30 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional in January. Bills owner Terry Pegula said the Bills’ dejected locker room in Denver led to McDermott’s firing, and the franchise promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach in an effort to get past “the proverbial playoff wall.”
Allen joined former Bills center Eric Wood on “Centered On Buffalo” last week, and he spoke glowingly of Brady. Brady’s offensive scheme did help him win the 2024 NFL MVP, after all. But Allen said Brady has “absolutely” approached the team differently as the head coach.
“He’s been celebrating with the defense when they intercept the ball instead of getting real mad,” Allen said. “He’s giving them our plays in the team meetings, so I guess you got to pick and choose your battles. Nah, I’m just messing. It’s been awesome. He’s really embraced the ‘everybody come together’ mentality, and it’s such a good vibe in our locker room right now.”
Allen continued, “[Bills general manager Brandon] Beane and him have done such a great job of getting the right type of guys for this team, and it’s been a pleasure to go into work each and every single day over these last few weeks. Very excited to see what this team can do.”
The Bills were relatively quiet on the free agency front, but they made an aggressive trade for then-Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore in March. They took a similarly measured approach into the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, but they selected former Clemson edge rusher T.J. Parker at the top of the second round and added receiver depth with former UConn star Skyler Bell in the fourth round.
Watch Allen’s full “Centered On Buffalo” appearance below.
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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 5:14 PM.