NFL insider turns Brandon Beane shill while explaining why Bills fired Sean McDermott

There have been many reasons floated in the media sphere about why the Buffalo Bills elected to part ways with longtime head coach Sean McDermott after nine seasons.

A move that took many by surprise likely stemmed from the team’s playoff failures over the past few years, as the Bills failed to advance to the Super Bowl despite having one of the league’s best quarterbacks.

But after his firing on Monday, a shameless NFL insider provided further context that was likely offered to him by the team’s remaining General Manager, Brandon Beane, who somehow survived the organization’s shake-up in leadership.

Brandon Beane, general manager of then Buffalo Bills, heads off the field at the end of practice at the Buffalo Bills training camp at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford on July 24, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The rationale

Appearing on an edition of The Insiders on NFL Network, Rapoport explained why Buffalo may have decided it was time to move on.

“The Buffalo Bills did not reach a Super Bowl, playoffs seemingly every year, AFC East titles seemingly every year, a team that went from nowhere to respectability,” he said. “But the face that Sean McDermott, with Josh Allen, with all of those weapons and so much talent on defense, could not get to where they needed to go.”

My questions for the Rapoport would be, what weapons? And what talent on defense?

MORE: Explaining why time was right to fire Sean McDermott as Buffalo Bills head coach

From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: The #Bills moved on from coach Sean McDermott today because simply, they wanted a new leader. pic.twitter.com/y8QkjIAN6v
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 20, 2026

What a shill

Oftentimes, these insiders are mouthpieces for player and team agents or executives looking to push an agenda. That certainly seems to be the case here with Rapoport.

Beyond the NFL’s leading rusher, James Cook, the Bills had one of the worst groups of offensive weapons in the league, including a wide receiver corps that relied on a free-agent scrap, Brandin Cooks, as one of the team’s top targets down the stretch. And defensively, after Beane poured so many resources into the defensive line this past offseason, the Bills still have one of the most disappointing pass-rushing units in the league.

And all of that isn’t to mention all of the over-the-hill depth pieces the team brought in throughout the season to plug holes left by the various injuries the team dealt with. Jordan Poyer played a starting role at safety. Tre’Davious White at cornerback. Jordan Phillips was brought back on the defensive line.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott during a training camp practice in 2019. | JAMIE GERMANO/ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If anything, Beane was the one who deserved to be fired due to his failure to surround McDermott with enough pieces to truly make a run. But the brazen Rapoport framed it differently, likely to keep up appearances with his “sources.”

“My understanding is that McDermott himself had some questions about how much talent the Bills had,” he added. “I’m not sure how well that sat in the building, considering most teams believe they are stocked full of talent.

“The Bills wanted a new leader.”

The last part of his analysis is acceptable — it may have been the right time to move on from McDermott. But to frame it in the way Rapoport did on Monday shows that many of these “insiders” actually have no idea what is going on throughout the league, but rather read what agents and team sources provide them, despite the lack of context.

Because anyone with a brain knows the Bills were devoid of talent this season. No matter what Rapoport would like you to believe.

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