Buffalo is Josh Allen’s team, but the offense in 2026 is officially Joe Brady’s, and training camp is where we find out what that actually looks like.
Bills veterans report to camp later this month. When they do, they will step into an offense that has been reshaped after multiple years of feeling stuck between eras. Brady is now the full offensive coordinator with the play-calling duties Sean McDermott has trusted him with since taking over midseason in 2023. Buffalo believes he is ready for a full offseason of his own installation.
The pieces are interesting. Allen is Allen. The reigning MVP does not need much help to score points but he does need a real WR1 who can actually win a Divisional Round game. Buffalo went out and got one.
DJ Moore is the new lead receiver. He is coming from a bad situation in Chicago where Caleb Williams could not consistently get him the ball in 2025. Moore averaged just 800 receiving yards, well below his career norms. Reuniting with Brady, his ex-Panthers offensive coordinator, gives him a real chance to be a top-15 receiver again in a top-3 quarterback’s offense.
That is the kind of veteran adjustment that changes the ceiling of a team.
Khalil Shakir is still there as the reliable slot piece. Dalton Kincaid needs a healthy season after two disappointing years. James Cook is the workhorse back, coming off a career-high in touches. Buffalo has always had weapons. They have never quite had a wideout Allen could trust in January against a top defense.
The bigger question is scheme. Brady wants to run the ball and play-action off it, then let Allen create explosives. That is a departure from the shotgun-heavy, empty-set look that dominated Buffalo’s offense under Ken Dorsey. If Brady can get Buffalo to become a real 12-personnel and 11-personnel team that grinds out third downs, this offense goes to a different level.
The AFC East is much softer than it was five years ago. Miami is in transition. The Jets are still trying to sort out their quarterback. The Patriots just added A.J. Brown but are years from real contention. Buffalo can win the division comfortably and focus on the playoffs.
The stakes are Super Bowl or bust for Allen at this point. He is in his prime, has weapons, has a top defense, and now has an offense built around a coach he trusts. If Brady’s version of this offense hums in September, we are talking about the Bills as the AFC favorite by Halloween.
Training camp starts in about two weeks. Watch what they run in team periods. That will tell you exactly how far Buffalo has moved.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
