Joe Brady wasn’t the Bills’ first choice, but hiring him as their new QBs coach is a coup

As the influential voices around franchise quarterback Josh Allen continued to leave One Bills Drive over the past few weeks, the team’s leadership recognized a growing priority.

“More than anything,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine, “I wanted Josh to be comfortable.”

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Gone to the New York Giants were offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and assistant quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney. The Bills fully expect top backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to join another team when free agency begins.

Allen’s comfort and continuity inside the quarterbacks meeting room became so important that, on top of essentially letting him handpick first-time play caller Ken Dorsey to replace Daboll, the Bills asked third-string quarterback Davis Webb to consider retiring and becoming their new quarterbacks coach.

The Bills didn’t formally offer Webb the job, but sources confirmed a mutual understanding the job was his if he wanted it.

A coaching career awaits Webb whenever he decides to stop playing, and there was no chance the Bills could pay the 27-year-old what he still can make as an active quarterback. He joined the Giants on a one-year contract worth $1.035 million.

Instead, the Bills hired former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Though not the first choice, Brady probably will prove to be the right choice.

Wanting to add Webb to the coaching staff underscores how badly the Bills want to keep Allen happy, how they were willing to forgo experience for familiarity.

The Bills aim to avoid a situation similar to what the Green Bay Packers have been forced into: repeatedly patching up their relationship with Aaron Rodgers because they didn’t include the four-time MVP in major decisions that affected him.

McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane don’t want that kind of smoke.

“You try to get a feel for the landscape of the NFL and where things take a turn for the worse,” McDermott said. “Wanting to do it the right way was big for me and Brandon.

“So Josh being involved in this decision (to promote Dorsey) gives him some ownership while also trying to get us to continue to get him comfortable or keep him comfortable, but also growing our system from where it’s been.”

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Dorsey is a rookie offensive coordinator. Webb, lauded by coaches and teammates alike for his innate mentoring skills, never has coached. The Bills’ backup quarterbacks probably will be new.

Thus, the importance of Brady in helping Buffalo’s offense.

Carolina fired Brady in December, declining to let him finish a second season as the offensive coordinator. But his credentials are strong and his experience is deep for a 32-year-old.

Brady entered the NFL after winning a national championship on LSU’s staff, where he was the passing game coordinator and receivers coach. He worked with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson. Brady won the Frank Broyles Award as the nation’s top college assistant. He was the NFL’s youngest offensive coordinator when Carolina hired him.

Brady failed to click with the Panthers. His starting quarterbacks were Teddy Bridgewater and P.J. Walker in 2020 and Sam Darnold, Cam Newton and Walker last season. Panthers coach Matt Rhule fired Brady during the bye week, when they were 5-7. They lost their final five games.

Despite the turbulence in Charlotte, Brady interviewed for five NFL head coach vacancies after the 2020 season: with the Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. Before LSU, he was an offensive assistant to former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton.

“This is not an offense that Joe has run before, but Joe’s a bright mind,” Beane said last week in Indianapolis. “I’ve heard very good things about him. Obviously, a great history in college, and with Carolina in his first year, they did some really good things.

“Being around him for the last few weeks, for someone who’s had his success, he’s very humble, wants to come learn new ways. I know Ken Dorsey is going to ask Joe: ‘How do you see things? What’s the way you guys called this to beat this coverage?’”

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Dorsey was Buffalo’s passing game coordinator last season, but he hasn’t called plays yet. He quarterbacked the University of Miami to a national championship and won 38 games. He spent six seasons as an NFL backup with the San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns. The Panthers had him as their quarterbacks coach for five seasons before he joined the Bills.

“There’s no substitute for experience, like in many of the jobs we are in,” McDermott said. “Ken is prepared. He’s well-equipped. He’s seen it through a player’s eyes, seen it through the eyes of the helmet. He’s now seen it for a number of years through the coaching lens.

“I think he’s going to do a great job — his familiarity with Josh, Josh’s familiarity with Ken. But there is (also) the element of what happens in the office and ‘I got a guy next to me that has experience, that’s called plays.’”

Allen also might find less experience behind him on the depth chart.

Familiarity will evaporate, too, unless Webb doesn’t make the Giants’ roster or the Bills bring back 2020 fifth-round pick Jake Fromm, whom the Giants signed off the practice squad in November and who is an exclusive-rights free agent.

“You want to find the right pieces that fit with Josh,” McDermott said, “even though we know who Josh is, and Josh is older and more experienced now. That dynamic in that room, with the coach and also the other players in that room, is critical because they spend so much time together, and then Josh goes out and executes.”

Buffalo is proceeding as though Trubisky’s departure is inevitable.

The Bills were lucky to sign Trubisky last year after the 2017 No. 2 draft choice didn’t receive any better offers. That’s not expected to happen again for a one-time Pro Bowler with a career 29-21 record and two postseason appearances with the Chicago Bears.

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“Listen, I think it’s unrealistic to think that we’re going to be able to have him back,” McDermott said of Trubisky. “I want him to go on and do great things for him and his family, which I know he’s going to do.”

The Bills haven’t signed any quarterbacks to a futures contract, but they’ll be in active pursuit soon.

Beane emphasized Allen’s daredevil playing style when addressing the magnitude of finding a high-quality backup quarterback.

Since missing four games as a rookie, Allen has started 61 straight, yet Bills fans still hold their breath each time he tucks the ball under his arm and takes off down the field.

“We’re going to look high and low,” Beane said. “We’re going to look into free agency. We could trade. We could draft. We could do all of the above, but we definitely need to find that piece because we know how Josh plays.

“As much as I always want Josh to get down, Josh sometimes sees the play all the way through, and it’s a 17-game season. We’ll definitely have to find the right answer there.”

(Photo: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)