Three Buffalo Bills players who should be benched for upcoming playoff run

The 2025 season has been a roller coaster ride for the Buffalo Bills.

And after all the ups and downs, in just a few weeks, the team will enter its seventh consecutive postseason, hoping to finally come away with a coveted Lombardi Trophy.

If the Bills hope to come away with the franchise’s first-ever championship, it will take contributions from their entire 53-man roster, and then some. So let’s ask the question: which players should be left off the team’s list of postseason participants in order to give the Bills the best chance at achieving their ultimate goal?

Here are three players who should be benched for the playoff run:

WR Keon Coleman

Coleman’s second NFL campaign has been a significant disappointment. After a summer in which the former second-round pick was lighting up social media as one of the breakout performers during training camp, Coleman has failed to produce meaningful results for a wide receiver corps in desperate need of some sort of power source.

If you take away Coleman’s Week 1 performance against the Baltimore Ravens, during which he recorded eight receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown, he has tallied 28 receptions for 243 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games played. That’s an average of three receptions and 29.6 yards per game.

Not only has his lack of production been an issue, but Coleman has also experienced disciplinary issues in each of his first two seasons as a professional. Coleman was ahealthy inactive in Week 16against the Cleveland Browns, and the Bills should leave him on the bench for the rest of the year.

MORE: Buffalo Bills' O-lineman gets flaming gift in red-hot exchange

Your welcome brother https://t.co/LkavvSoSdf pic.twitter.com/Mhnzn1H74f
— BaitGod (@keeptrolling5) December 26, 2025

WR Brandin Cooks

Upon being acquired by the Bills midseason, the hope was that Cooks would provide a spark for Buffalo’s fledgling passing game. Not only has he failed to deliver meaningful results, but he has also actively hurt the team’s chances of winning during his time on the field.

Cooks has recorded two key drops during just four games with the Bills. The first came on the team’s first play from scrimmage during a Week 15 win over the New England Patriots, when Cooks beat his man deep down the field only for him to mishandle a well-thrown pass from Josh Allen. The second came this past week against the Cleveland Browns, when Cooks again was open down the field but failed to haul in another perfectly-placed ball from the Bills’ quarterback.

Cooks was open on both plays, which is something other Bills’ wide receivers have struggled with this season. But creating separation between oneself and a defender is only useful if a catch is made. And Cooks hasn’t been able to do that during his time in Orchard Park.

Moving forward, the Bills’ wide receiver corps should consist of Khalil Shakir, Joshua Palmer, Tyrell Shavers, Gabe Davis, and Mecole Hardman due to his special teams contribution. It’s not a great group, but it’s a collection that has proven, at the very least, to be a bit more reliable than Coleman and Cooks have been this season.

LB Terrel Bernard

It’s been a rough year for the Bills’ captain.

Bernard has dealt with ankle and elbow injuries that have impacted his ability to remain on the field, and even when he has been healthy, his ability has taken a significant step back from where it was the past two seasons.

The fourth-year LB has struggled mightily in run support this season and has also been a liability in pass coverage at times. His missed tackle rate of 17.6% is the worst of his career, while he has allowed a 108.8 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks when being targeted, which is also the worst mark of his career.

Veteran Shaq Thompson has been Bernard’s replacement this season and, for the most part, has performed better than the Bills’ captain. Thompson sustained a neck injury against the Browns that caused him to be limited in practice this week. But if he is good to go moving forward, he should be in Buffalo’s starting lineup for the final two weeks of the regular season and playoffs.

— Sign up for OnSI’s Free Buffalo Bills Newsletter —

More Buffalo Bills News:

Matthew Judon signing will help Buffalo Bills' DL shift back to more natural state

Breakout performance from Bills' defender may help jumpstart underperforming unit

Dion Dawkins shows why he's beloved in Buffalo Bills' win over Browns

James cooks, aging stars come up big, rapid reaction to Bills Week 16 win over Browns