The Buffalo Bills made the surprising decision to move on from head coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons. This comes off the heels of yet another devastating playoff loss, the latest coming at the hands of Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos - a quarterback who had never won a playoff game and a franchise that hadn't won one since 2015.
And while there are plenty of arguments to be made that firing McDermott was a necessary move, everything in the 24 hours since has felt off. The Bills didn't post McDermott's farewell message, and several players, both current and former, have made it clear they were blindsided and against the decision to fire him.
Now, in a report for WGRZ, Vic Carucci reports that there was growing tension between McDermott, general manager Brandon Beane, and team owner Terry Pegula stemming from disagreements on how good the roster was.
"Despite the common outside view that Josh Allen’s supporting cast was what has mainly held the Bills back in their Super Bowl quest, Beane managed to convince Pegula that coaching was the primary culprit," Carucci writes. "How he pulled that off is hard to understand, considering McDermott might very well have done the best work of his career in leading the Bills to a 12-5 record with glaring weaknesses at wide receiver and on the defensive line."
"I’m told that during a meeting held five weeks ago between McDermott, Beane and Pegula, the coach pointed out what the roster lacked to win a Super Bowl. I don’t know the specifics McDermott mentioned, but I’m told neither Beane nor Pegula was pleased with McDermott’s assessment."
The Bills had to resort to Dane Jackson and Darnell Savage on defense against the Broncos, both of whom got beat for touchdowns. The Bills' group of wide receivers was also widely regarded as the worst group of pass-catchers in the postseason by a large margin.
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