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Former Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott interacting with New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn.
The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday, January 19.
The timing of that firing could have worked out a lot worse for New York Jets fans.
Buffalo decided to fire McDermott following the team’s divisional round playoff loss to the Denver Broncos. Had they lost a week before to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the wildcard round, McDermott likely would have been fired following that contest.
If that had happened, the Bills would have had more replacement options available to them for McDermott. Over the last week, the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh and the Atlanta Falcons hired Kevin Stefanski.
Harbaugh is a Super Bowl-winning head coach with a career .614 winning percentage. Stefanski is a former two-time Coach of the Year winner with a sterling reputation around the league.
“For John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski, you have to wonder if their decision-making would have changed if they knew the opportunity to work with Josh Allen in his prime would open up,” NFL Insider Dianna Russini posted on social media.
Thankfully for Jets fans, it didn’t.
Buffalo Is Arguably the Most Attractive Destination on the Market
Buffalo has the reigning NFL league MVP at quarterback in Josh Allen.
Allen, 29, will turn 30 before the start of the 2026 season. He is one of the best quarterbacks in the sport. He is a two-time second-team All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowl selection.
Across his eight years in the league, Allen has completed 64% of his passes, has thrown for 30,102 passing yards, and has a 220 touchdown to 94 interception ratio.
Allen has proven to be one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in NFL history. On the ground, he has toted the rock 871 times for 4,721 rushing yards. He averages 5.4 yards per clip and has scored 79 rushing touchdowns.
In a quarterback-driven league, coaches would fall over each other for the chance to have Allen at QB.
Bills Are Taking a Massive Risk With Coaching Change
McDermott is one of the most accomplished coaches in Bills’ history.
Across his nine seasons, he made the playoffs eight times, had a 98-50 regular season record, and won five AFC East divisional titles.
The Bills are making this change because they believe they have maxed out under McDermott. They haven’t been able to get over the hump with him. So they have made a change in an effort to change that reality.
While Buffalo could certainly hire a replacement who changes things and helps deliver a Super Bowl championship, that isn’t guaranteed.
The opposite could happen. In an effort to flip the script, the Bills could destroy the very foundation that McDermott built for nearly a decade.
Everyone wants to fire people in the social media streets, but an important follow-up is who the heck are you hiring to replace said individual?
Had Buffalo lost in the opening round of the playoffs, they could have brought in a proven winner (Harbaugh) at the top that would have sent massive ripple effects throughout the division. While it is still possible they bring in someone with serious credentials, Jets fans should be experiencing a massive sigh of relief that the firing didn’t come a week earlier.
Paul Esden Jr. covers the New York Jets for Heavy.com. A New York native, he co-hosts a morning show, “The Manchild Show with Boy Green Digital.” Before joining Heavy in 2021, Esden Jr. covered both national and New York sports for FanSided, Elite Sports NY, and The Score 1260. More about Paul Esden Jr.
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