Sportsnaut
On Monday, less than 24 hours after the Buffalo Bills were eliminated from the playoffs, ownership made a big decision by firing head coach Sean McDermott. They then followed that move up not by firing general manager Brandon Beane too, but instead by promoting him to team president.
Many thought that if the Bills were going to make a move, it would involve moving on from Beane. After all, he’s drafted 56 players since selecting Josh Allen in 2018, and only two have become Pro Bowlers (James Cook and Dawson Knox).
Considering only four teams in NFL history (in the Super Bowl era) have ever won a playoff game in six consecutive seasons (as McDermott did), the work he did in Buffalo was pretty special. Surely, other teams will be in a rush to hire him. Here’s who should make a concerted effort to hire the defensive specialist.
Related: Why the Buffalo Bills Got It Wrong with the Sean McDermott Firing
The Raiders have one of the NFL’s best pass-rushers in five-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby. Yet, Las Vegas has only had a top-ten defense in points allowed once in his seven-year career. The other six times? The Raiders finished 24th or worse each and every time. Meanwhile, McDermott spent nine years as the Bills’ head coach, and his defenses never ranked worse than 18th. The Raiders still need to find a QB, but unlike Pete Carroll, they can count on McDermott to get his defense under control.
McDermott would want to hire an offensive coordinator who can maximize Lamar Jackson‘s skillset, but finding a fit for the two-time NFL MVP shouldn’t be difficult. Meanwhile, if the Ravens could bring more stability to their defense, it could have a drastic impact on the offense too, by setting them up with better field position and winning the turnover battle.
The Ravens’ defense figured things out after Week 5 when they allowed an average of 18.4 PPG. Before then? Baltimore allowed opponents to score an NFL-worst 35.4 PPG. Yet, McDermott could have this operation running smoothly from the jump instead of waiting until they fell to 1-5.
The Steelers already had one of the NFL’s best head coaches in Mike Tomlin. John Harbaugh may already be gone, but Pittsburgh could still land on its feet by hiring another coach who has a history of annually leading his team to the playoffs. Plus, McDermott hasn’t had a chance to coach a player as special as T.J. Watt, plus he’d have Jalen Ramsey too.
The Cardinals had a bright defensive mind in Jonathan Gannon, but they could never get him the help he needed to develop Arizona into a consistent playoff contender. Yet, his defenses also finished 31st and 29th in two of his three seasons in Arizona (it ranked 15th in 2024). In other words, Gannon may not be as good a coach as McDermott, but now’s their chance to...
