Bills Mailbag: It's absolutely worth it for Sean McDermott to make a call to Brian Daboll
If Daboll was interested in a consulting role or senior adviser role, it would be a fantastic hire, Jay Skurski says.
Welcome to the midweek mailbag. Let’s get right to your questions after a demoralizing Bills loss in Miami …
Josh asks: With Brian Daboll being fired by the Giants, do you think the Bills should try to bring him back this year either to replace Joe Brady or as an offensive consultant? Do you think Daboll would be interested? Any noteworthy WRs on another practice squads that the Bills should sign to their active roster?
Jim Maher asks: Should the Bills bring back Brian Daboll to run the offense?
Jay: The Bills should absolutely reach out to Daboll. He has maintained a very strong relationship with Josh Allen, and a fresh set of eyes on the passing offense would not be a bad thing. However, Daboll’s exit from the Giants is still very fresh. I can’t speak for him as to whether he’d be interested in a spot on the Bills’ coaching staff. He might, understandably, take some time to get away from football and recharge before he considers what’s next in his career. Either way, Bills coach Sean McDermott shut down the possibility Monday when I asked about Daboll. “I understand why you’re asking that. Brian’s a great coach. Unfortunate to see that happen to him. At this point, that’s not under any type of consideration,” McDermott said.
Former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was fired this week as head coach of the New York Giants.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
That’s a mistake, in my opinion. If Daboll was open to it, it should absolutely be considered. That’s not to say it would be easy. It feels unrealistic to fire Brady and replace him with Daboll at this point in the season, despite his strong relationship with Allen. He doesn’t have enough familiarity with this offense and these players, particularly at wide receiver, to think that there would be enough time to make things work. Now, if Daboll was interested in a consulting role or senior adviser role, it would be a fantastic hire. Would Brady like it? Probably not. He’d have someone looking directly over his shoulder, and that doesn’t make for a comfortable work environment. McDermott has said many times, though, that he ultimately has to do what’s best for the team, so his biggest priority shouldn’t be Brady’s feelings. It should be fixing the Bills’ passing offense, and if he thinks Daboll can help in that regard, he should place a call. For now, though, this is a nonstarter, since McDermott shot it down.
Ken from Hamburg asks: Is Josh Allen about to be replaced by Drake Maye as the No. 1 quarterback in the AFC East? Allen has not looked all that accurate except for two games so far this season. How has Mike Vrabel changed the Patriots so quickly in just a year? If Brady takes a job in college after this season, what are the chances the Bills would rehire Brian Daboll as the offensive coordinator?
Jay: Maye recently replaced Allen in the MVP odds, so it all depends on how you view the debate. In that regard, he already has replaced him. Maye and the Patriots deserve a ton of credit for what they’ve accomplished to this point. However, they are unproven in January. They also have fattened up on an easy schedule. They don’t have to apologize for their schedule, since you can only play who’s on it, but I need to see a couple more quality wins before I’m 100% bought in on New England being a true Super Bowl contender. Last week’s win over Tampa Bay certainly was a quality win, but the last remaining team on New England’s schedule with a record above .500 is the Bills, so we might not see the Patriots truly get tested outside of that game until the postseason. New England hit on the quarterback, which is the biggest part of any rebuild, and spent their money wisely in free agency. If Brady were to leave after this season, either by his choice or the Bills’ choice, Daboll would make plenty of sense as a candidate to take over, assuming he’s interested in the job.
Dave asks: If the story is accurate, why would Brandon Beane be willing to trade the 2027 first-rounder for Jaylen Waddle, but not the 2026? What’s the difference? What are we all missing?
Jay: The consensus in the NFL is that future draft picks are devalued by a round, so the Dolphins likely would view a 2027 first-round draft pick as being “worth” a second-round pick. I understand if you’re scratching your head trying to make sense of that, but I assure you, it’s how teams view it. With that in mind, the Dolphins might simply have thought they weren’t getting enough back for Waddle. That’s even before the consideration of trading within the division, and the possibility that Waddle could torment them with the Bills for years to come. I don’t know for sure what would have happened if Beane upped his offer to a 2026 first-round pick, but there has been no pushback on the reporting of what the original proposal to the Dolphins involved. That shows an acknowledgment on the GM’s part that the wide receiver position has not been adequately addressed.
E.H. asks: Do you sense the wheels are coming off the Bills’ bus after the embarrassing Miami loss? How can an entire team and coaching staff not show up against a division rival? It also seems like the only Bills’ consistency this season is their weekly inconsistency. What, if anything, might fix this Bills funk and salvage the season?
Jay: This loss certainly felt different than just about any in the regular season under Sean McDermott, certainly during the time with Josh Allen as the starting quarterback. It’s as bad as I can remember the team looking. The only other comparison I can come up with is the 9-6 loss to Jacksonville in 2021, but at least in that game the defense showed up. This was a complete no-show effort on both sides of the ball. It’s very concerning to hear players saying after the game that the Dolphins, with nothing to play for, wanted the game more. McDermott has a lot of work this week and in the weeks ahead in fixing these problems. Quite frankly, I’m skeptical at this point that it can be done. Injuries have hurt, but the roster lacks talent in too many key spots for me to truly believe in the Bills as championship contenders.
Mike Desmond asks: Players have long sought grass fields rather than turf. I remember being on the stadium turf years ago and discovering there was no padding between the rug and the underlying blacktop. Any chance this array of injuries reflects ever larger men and unyielding playing surfaces?
Jay: Players in the NFL overwhelmingly prefer to play on natural grass. According to a survey conducted by the NFL Players’ Association, 92% of players would rather play on real grass. Of the 30 playing surfaces in the NFL, 16 are real grass and 14 are artificial turf. That number will change to 17 and 13 next year when the Bills’ new stadium opens. The league has long maintained that there is not strong statistical evidence that proves grass surfaces are safer than artificial surfaces. This debate seemingly comes up every time a high-profile player gets hurt. Most recently, it was a topic when Giants receiver Malik Nabers suffered a torn ACL. The Bills played on natural grass last week, and saw two players – rookie edge rusher Landon Jackson and tight end Dalton Kincaid – get hurt. Grass fields might help some, but injuries are always going to be a fact of life in football.
