Bills give Brandon Beane a promotion while firing Sean McDermott

A major shakeup in Buffalo has a promotion at the top of the pyramid.

Just two days after the Bills controversially came up short against the Denver Broncos in a 33-30 loss, Buffalo decided to fire coach Sean McDermott and promote their general manager, Brandon Beane.

Beane is adding president of football operations to his title while remaining GM and will lead the search for a new head coach, owner Terry Pegula announced Monday.

The Bills went 12-5 this season but were eliminated in the divisional round, with Josh Allen and Co. failing once again to reach the Super Bowl again despite winning at least one playoff game in each of the last six years.

Beane has done a solid job putting together the offensive line and running back groups, led by regular-season rushing champion James Cook.

Where Beane fell flat is with playmakers.

Beane drafted Keon Coleman in the second round, No. 33 overall, in 2024, but he has been a bitter disappointment for the team that has been bereft of playmakers, while the Bills initially held a pick that they traded to the Chiefs, who drafted Xavier Worthy No. 28.

The lack of playmakers reared its ugly head during an extremely controversial throw to Brandin Cooks, which initially appeared to be a catch before it was wrestled out of his hands and intercepted by defensive back Ja’Quan McMillian.

Cooks was released earlier this season by the Saints, one of the worst teams in the league, and added by the Bills midseason, and was thrust into a top receiver role for Buffalo.

The same goes for receiver Gabe Davis, who was released by the Jaguars and became a key contributor for the Bills despite playing just five games before tearing his ACL in the wild-card round.

In 2023, Beane told reporters he was trying to be “fiscally responsible” to avoid a Rams-like collapse after they went 5-12, but Los Angeles has since re-tooled their roster and is now in the NFC Championship game.

Buffalo now enters an already-frenetic coaching cycle with two of the top options now off the board, as John Harbaugh signed on with the Giants, while Kevin Stefanski joined the Falcons.