...
By Megan Armstrong
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The Buffalo Bills are entering a new era.
After nine seasons together, the Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott after Buffalo's 33-30 overtime loss to Denver in the AFC Divisional round. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady was promoted to replace McDermott. While Brady is a familiar face, the team will have a fresh identity in 2026. The Bills also said goodbye to Highmark Stadium after 53 years and will open a brand-new, billion-dollar stadium next season.
But it isn't totally "out with the old, in with the new" in Orchard Park. 2025 NFL MVP quarterback Josh Allen isn't going anywhere. The Bills re-signed tight end Dawson Knox, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, and Buffalo announced the re-signing of Pro Bowl center Connor McGovern.
Read More on NFL
The biggest move, by far, was trading their 2026 second-round draft pick to the Chicago Bears in exchange for wide receiver DJ Moore and Chicago's 2026 fifth-rounder. Otherwise, the Bills have been relatively quiet in free agency, which began this week, but Sports Illustrated NFL reported Matt Verderame isn't impressed by what they've done.
Buffalo agreed to a three-year, $43.5 million contract with former Miami Dolphins edge Bradley Cubb and a one-year contract worth up to $6 million with safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who played for the Bears and Houston Texans last season.
...
"The way the Bills are going, they're going to need all [of their draft picks] because everybody they're bringing in is ready for the home, age-wise," Verderame said on KC Sports Network's "That Football Show."
Later in the show, Verderame said, "The Ravens and the Bills are having a competition to see who can be the first team to ever house a starting lineup that averages the age of 48."
Verderame noted that C.J. Gardner-Johnson has been on five teams since the start of the 2021 season, including two stints with the Philadelphia Eagles, and his best year was for the Eagles way back in 2022. Gardner-Johnson led the NFL with six interceptions that season.
"Somehow, that's not the oddest signing," Verderame said. "One year for Gardner-Johnson is whatever. It's one year. Bradley Chubb got three years and $43 million, and he's 30 years old, and he plays like half the games. I don't know what to tell you."
Verderame added, "I remember watching Bradley Chubb in a handful of games last year and thinking, 'Man, he can't move anymore.' The Bills apparently have a different opinion, which, maybe they'll be proven right, but man, they better be."
The Dolphins released Chubb with a post-June 1 designation at the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
The 2018 No. 5 overall pick was traded from Denver to Miami in November 2022. His best season as a Dolphin was 2023, when he led the NFL with six forced fumbles and posted 11 sacks and 22 quarterback hits. He missed the entire 2024 season after tearing his ACL in late December 2023. Last season, Chubb posted 8.5 sacks in 17 regular-season games.
The Bills have tried and mostly failed to fix their pass rush over the past few years. The headline was signing Von Miller to a gargantuan six-year, $120 million contract in March 2022, only for the future Hall of Fame linebacker to play 36 games in three years for the Bills.
Confusion flooded NFL circles when the Bills decided to fire McDermott but promote general manager Brandon Beane, considering the Bills' lackluster drafting and personnel moves under Beane. The pressure is on Buffalo to nail this offseason and finally conquer its playoff demons. The Bills have failed to make the Super Bowl with Allen, who is entering his age-30 season, and the franchise has never won one.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines