Wide receiver Keon Coleman found himself in the spotlight early this offseason when Bills owner Terry Pegula pointed to the decision to draft him coming from the coaching staff rather than General Manager Brandon Beane during a press conference to discuss the firing of former head coach Sean McDermott.
The ensuing days saw Beane, new head coach Joe Brady, quarterback Josh Allen and others speak out in support of Coleman’s future with the team despite the wideout getting benched at times for disciplinary reasons. Those comments showed clear support for the 2024 second-round pick, but they also sounded similar to many others that have come off as boilerplate once the player being discussed failed to develop.
In an interview with Joe Buscaglia of TheAthletic.com, Beane insists that “it’s not all talk” because the team knows it is “not an ability thing” with the wideout. Beane said Coleman has “to come in and earn every single thing he’s gonna get” while saying the team is committed to giving him that opportunity.
“Listen, he has to go do it, but I think we feel confident that the maturity level is heading where it needs to,” Beane said. “Again, he’s got to go do it. We believe in the skill set, and that’s part of what your culture is. We all grow at different times; none of us were a made product at 21, 22. Do you wish you had to go through that with him? No, you don’t. But you hope for us, and for him, he looks back and says, ‘That was the best thing that happened to me.’ That’s what you hope. And we’re putting all our eggs in his basket to come back for year three and be a part of this group, however that is.”
Former Bills wideout Stevie Johnson recently told Kyle Odegard of Casino.org that he reached out to Coleman about honing his game ahead of his third season and anything Coleman can do to help reach his ceiling will be welcomed by the Bills. The team will get another chance to signal their commitment to the wideout in next week’s draft as going other ways with their early picks will be a further sign of their belief in Coleman for 2026.
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