In terms of being down to your absolute last chance with a team, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman is in that place.
So if you’re sick of hearing story after story about how Coleman has just about blown the opportunity of a lifetime, imagine how he must feel.
“For me, it’s make it or break it,” Coleman said earlier this offseason. “You’re (expletive), you might not be here. Simple as that.”
The Athletic’s Tim Graham was the latest to pile on, calling Coleman the player on the roster with the “most on the line” in 2026, which might even be an understatement.
“Bills owner Terry Pegula put a bull’s-eye on the receiver’s back, asserting football boss Brandon Beane didn’t want to draft Coleman 33rd overall in 2024 (one spot ahead of Ladd McConkey, the Chargers’ leading receiver since he turned pro),” Graham wrote on July 20. “The Bills have spent six months trying to patch up Pegula’s gaffe by pumping Coleman’s tires. But the harsh truth is that Coleman has a reputation to overcome. He has been disciplined multiple times for tardiness, was a healthy scratch four times last year and has averaged just 2.6 receptions for 36.9 yards with eight TDs in 26 career games.”
Keon Coleman Issued Bizarre Challenge to Critics
In speaking with ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg ahead of a make or break season in 2026, Coleman inferred that criticism of him was invalid because … none of his critics play football?
“None of them are going to come lace them up and try to stand in front of me,” Coleman told Getzenberg. “People are going to say what they want to say. At the end of the day, my job is to come out here, put my cleats on, strap them up and prove my worth here.”
Like most things about Coleman, his “they won’t play me” clapback doesn’t hold up. Several of his own teammates have been critical of him as he’s made an ongoing series of embarrassing public gaffes over the last 2 years. All of them wear cleats.
“Pats on the back are over with, and it’s time for him to grow up, and he knows it,” Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins said after Coleman was benched for a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in November 2025.
Keon Coleman Has Been Net Negative for Bills
The Bills have allowed Coleman to hold them back over the last 2 years.
Every positive moment has been met with 2 negative ones.
It’s why Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton singled Coleman out as the biggest bust on Buffalo’s roster in 2026, which would continue the pattern he’s established since he was selected out of Florida State with a 2nd-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Coleman is entering the 3rd season of his 4-year, $10 million rookie contract. Another year like the previous 2 in 2026 and he could very well be facing the end of his NFL career.
“Keon Coleman faces palpable pressure entering his third season,” Moton wrote on July 10. “Head coach Joe Brady said he turned down trade offers for the wideout despite his recent struggles. In 2025, the Bills benched Coleman and listed him as a healthy inactive for multiple games. Clearly, they expect more from the 2024 second-rounder and still believe he can make a significant developmental leap, but it’s unlikely to happen this year. The Bills traded a second-round pick to the Chicago Bears for wideout DJ Moore and a 2026 fifth-round pick. With that new addition, Coleman doesn’t have a clear pathway to a big role in the passing attack. Moore, slot wideout Khalil Shakir and tight end Dalton Kincaid will probably see most of the targets, which leaves few opportunities for any other pass-catcher to make a significant impact.”
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