NFL insider reports Sean McDermott could be on hot seat if Bills' postseason goes awry

The Bills' head coach is believed to be safe at the moment, but if his team fails to make a run, things could get dicey.

Dec 28, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott looks on during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Highmark Stadium. | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

After a tumultuous regular season, the Buffalo Bills have once again punched their ticket to the playoffs.

It marks the eighth time in Sean McDermott’s nine-year tenure that Buffalo has advanced to the postseason, with the five years prior to 2025 having come via a division title.

Still, there is a faction of the fan base that wants the Bills’ head coach fired. And according to an NFL insider, if things go poorly during the playoffs, that group of dissatisfied fans may just get their wish.

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Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott looks on during the second quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Hot seat?

Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, McDermott’s job could be in jeopardy over the next few weeks.

“Some folks around the league have wondered to me whether Bills ownership might grow impatient with Sean McDermott if Buffalo doesn’t make a playoff run in a year Patrick Mahomes is out of the postseason,” wrote Fowler in a piece published to ESPN.com.

That would be quite the shock considering McDermott’s success since he took over at the helm in 2017, and where the franchise was before he assumed the reins as head coach. With that said, with Mahomes and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow — two of the Bills' arch nemeses — having been eliminated from the playoff picture, the road has been cleared for McDermott and his team to make a push for a championship.

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Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott yells to the players on the field during first half action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov 16, 2025 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The NFL is a win-now league, and if the Bills were to fail to, at the very least, reach the AFC title game for the second consecutive year, that would be a significant step back for a team that entered the year with clear intentions of winning a Super Bowl. Especially with the rest of the field laid out like it is.

Injuries have played a role in the Bills’ struggles this season. But after failing to win the division, if Buffalo falls short come playoff time, it could be all she wrote for one of the NFL's longest-tenured head coaches.

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