What to watch for as Bills’ 2026 offseason workout program begins

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 29: Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady of the Buffalo Bills looks on prior to a game against the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium on December 29, 2024 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images

We're inching ever closer to 2026 Buffalo Bills football, and today marks a key checkpoint in that journey. With Joe Brady being a new head coach, he's able to begin offseason workouts earlier than NFL teams that retain their head coaches from the 2025 NFL season. Obviously these sessions aren't like a normal practice with pads but it's the first step for Brady to implement his brand of culture and football habits.

There are a couple of things to watch beginning today. The first is whether or not quarterback Josh Allen will be in attendance. Recently, Allen and Hailee Steinfeld welcomed their first child into the world. It's of course up to Allen if he wants to be at home with his newborn daughter and Steinfeld as she recovers, or if the move is to head back to Buffalo to be around the fellas for a few days. Both are important in their own right and Allen has shown up to offseason programs in the past, but it's understandable if he misses a few practices that almost immediately follow the biggest event in his adult life.

The next important situation to pay attention to involves wide receiver Keon Coleman. The former second-round pick has certainly caused some chatter around Bills Mafia circles, and it may be fair now to say selecting him is viewed as a controversial pick. Coleman's production has yet to live up to expectations, and that's before mentioning the disciplinary measures he faced for showing up late to meetings under prior head coach Sean McDermott. Truancy resulted in Coleman's benching multiple times last season, and there's a valid argument to be made that he was only active during the postseason due to injuries.

Brady has mentioned that the best thing to happen to Coleman is for him to be his head coach, but we'll see if that's just lip service. If Coleman isn't in attendance to start these practices (voluntary as it is) it would present as a poor look for a player who's potentially anything other than a lock to be on the roster going into the 2026 season.

Buffalo will have a completely new look on defense this year with the hiring of Jim Leonard as defensive coordinator. The Bills will shift from a base 4-3 look to a 3-4 base, and fans are interested to see how that will look in action. It won't be surprising if the majority of defensive players are present such that Leonard can begin teaching his defense behind the scenes.

The good news is that there appears to be no contract issues across the roster ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft, so there's no reason to anticipate any players skipping these initial sessions as part of a holdout/hold-in.