Bills have no choice but to trade Keon Coleman now

Billy Heyen

•
Bills have no choice but to trade Keon Coleman now image

The Buffalo Bills have backed themselves into a corner.

There's no coming back from this with Keon Coleman, not now, not after owner Terry Pegula's scorched-earth press conference on Wednesday.

Coleman had already had a rough second season. He was benched multiple times. Even when on the field, his production wasn't matching his potential.

His name had already been floated in trade rumors, but there also was still some hope that a fresh offseason would give Coleman a chance to reset and approach a new campaign with a better mentality.

MORE: The lastest on how Travis Kelce's wedding to Taylor Swift impacts retirement

That's before Pegula got in front of reporters on Wednesday and blamed Coleman's draft pick on the coaching staff, led by the since-fired Sean McDermott.

Pegula then added that Coleman wasn't at the top of then-GM and current-president of football operations Brandon Beane's draft board, and that Beane was "just being a team player" by taking Coleman.

MORE: Could the Raiders trade the No. 1 pick and Fernando Mendoza?

The owner himself, rather than being diplomatic, decided to throw one of his current players under the bus.

Maybe it was deserved. Maybe it's the only way Pegula felt he could properly defend Beane.

But there can't be any coming back from that for Coleman.

Everyone now knows that the Bills' leading decision maker didn't even want him, and that the owner was happy to put him down to protect Beane.

It's now officially a matter of when, not if, Coleman gets traded.

The Bills will probably have to take five cents on the dollar, but they've left themselves no choice.

Coleman may still reach his potential. But Buffalo just slammed the door in Coleman's face before he even had a chance to metaphorically apologize. It's too late to make amends now.

More NFL news:

Staff Writer