{"id":254977,"date":"2025-11-17T13:30:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=254977"},"modified":"2025-11-16T21:18:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T02:18:48","slug":"bills-keon-coleman-bench-decision-may-lead-to-hypothetical-offseason-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/11\/17\/bills-keon-coleman-bench-decision-may-lead-to-hypothetical-offseason-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Bills Bench Decision May Lead to Hypothetical Offseason Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

After returning to play in the wake of last week’s loss to the Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills defeated Tampa Bay, but it forced the decision to bench wide receiver Keon Coleman before the game. According to reports<\/a>, Coleman didn’t play in the matchup against the Buccaneers because of a decision by head coach Sean McDermott. He gave some explanation of why he decided to bench Coleman rather than start him despite the receiver being a healthy scratch. McDermott explained that it was due to being late to team meetings this past Friday, which isn’t the first time that Coleman had a disciplinary issue, and it’s not the only problem he has had in Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Keon Coleman Bench Decision May Lead to Hypothetical Offseason Trade<\/h2>\n

It’s now the third known disciplinary issue for the receiver, and while Coleman can make a change early in his career, the pressure is on him to do it sooner rather than later. Originally selected in the No. 33 pick in the 2024 draft, the receiver had a somewhat disappointing rookie start, recording 556 receiving yards and four touchdowns. However, quarterback Josh Allen tried to get Coleman in open-man situations along with Khalil Shakir<\/a> and Curtis Samuel this season, but his yards per game continue to drop. It’s still early in his career, and he might pick up the slack next year, but if he continues to struggle not only on the field but with disciplinary issues, then it may force a trade to these three teams.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Washington Commanders<\/h3>\n

Last offseason, the Washington Commanders made a massive trade for Deebo Samuel<\/a> in an effort to give WR1 Terry McLaurin some assistance in the aerial attack. However, injuries and inconsistencies have caught up to this offense led by Dan Quinn, losing McLaurin for multiple games, including backup running back Austin Ekeler, ruled out for the rest of the season. It got the Commanders off rhythm, and with their loss to the Dolphins to make them 3-8, it’s fair to say the season is over for Washington.<\/p>\n

Samuel will become a free agent this upcoming offseason, but the Commanders must be on the hunt for a reliable WR2. If the Commanders want to make an aggressive move to revive the offense for Jayden Daniels in 2026, then Coleman could be the answer in their situation.<\/p>\n

\"DaRon
Jan 5, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) makes the game-winning touchdown catch over Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland (26) during the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

2. New Orleans Saints<\/h3>\n

After trading away Rashid Shaheed, it came as no surprise that the Saints made that decision. The team brought in DeVaughn Vele<\/a> in an earlier 2025 season trade and claimed Trey Palmer off waivers. However, they’re lacking a true speedster in the receiving corps. While they still have Brandin Cooks locked up in a contract, and they may extend Chris Olave to a long-term deal, they would benefit from someone like Coleman. He isn’t the fastest compared to Shaheed, but he could adapt to this offense that is changing drastically under head coach Kellen Moore.<\/p>\n

\"NFL
Oct 5, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave (12) reacts after a play against the New York Giants during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Carolina Panthers<\/h3>\n

The 6-5 Carolina Panthers continue to prove that they’re improving off their back-to-back losing seasons in 2023 and 2024. Despite that, they could use an upgrade in the receiver unit to help Tetairoa McMillan<\/a> continue to flourish in Carolina. It isn’t to say that Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker aren’t already capable, but what this Panthers offense needs is another receiver who is developing, especially with veteran Hunter Renfrow likely to retire sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Green Bay Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine (24) breaks up a pass to Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Carolina defeated Grewen Bay 16-13.
Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott made a surprise bench move to their rising receiver, which may signal a trade decision. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":254978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,3,30,28,6431,8896],"tags":[7705,7739,8995,32244,9020,7752,7661,7659,4687,33031,8996],"class_list":["post-254977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-bills","category-panthers","category-saints","category-nfl-teams","category-washington-commanders","tag-buffalo-bills-news","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-chris-olave","tag-keon-coleman","tag-khalil-shakir","tag-new-orleans-saints-news","tag-panthers-featured","tag-saints-featured","tag-terry-mclaurin","tag-tetairoa-mcmillan","tag-washington-commanders-news"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254977"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254989,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254977\/revisions\/254989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}