2025 NFL owners meetings: 5 takeaways from Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott presser

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott made an appearance at the 2025 NFL owners meetings in Florida.

While there, McDermott did much more than just pose for the league’s annual head coaches photo… he had his influence on those talks and chatted with the media on all-things Bills.

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With that, here are five takeaways from McDermott’s interview during the 2025 NFL owners meetings:

Stern on ‘tush push’

McDermott’s stance on the “tush push” play made popular by the Philadelphia Eagles remains the same. McDermott is not in favor of it, and despite there being no evidence of there being health concerns connected to it… that’s what McDermott is hanging onto. The Bills coach thinks the play needs to be eliminated from the game because of health concerns for players.

For now, the NFL has decided to table the discussion on it until the next owners meetings in May.

New additions on defense

The Bills did a bit of re-tooling on defense this offseason. Specifically on the D-line, Joey Bosa, Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht were added. Former Bill Dane Jackson signed back to join the team’s secondary.

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On Jackson, McDermott said the cornerback has previously played his “best football in Buffalo.”

Ogunjobi and Hoecht will both miss the first six games of the season due to suspension. However, on Ogunjobi specifically, McDermott noted he will spell Ed Oliver at the three-tech position.

Finally, the Bills coach said Bosa’s injury concerns did not scare Buffalo away from signing him this offseason. McDermott added a change of scenery might help Bosa, too.

More ‘tush push’

In an interesting twist, McDermott evidently personally got into it a bit with the Eagles about the “tush push.” A report from ESPN said McDermott and Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman had a slightly heated exchange about the play.

Another source with direct knowledge of competition committee thinking said the proposal would be “hotly contested” among the coaches, general managers and owners as they gather for league meetings this week.

The league office staff presented the rules proposals during the football operations meeting Sunday afternoon, and two sources in the meeting described the back and forth as “heated” regarding the proposal to “prohibit an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap.”

During the Sunday afternoon session, Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, assistant general manager Jon Ferrari and two head coaches on the competition committee, Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills, gathered in a hallway outside of the ballroom to have a private and animated side conversation about the Packers’ proposal.

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Next to Ed

While Ogunjobi will spell Oliver, that means there is still need for help at the position next to those two. DaQuan Jones is the returning one-tech tackle and the Bills have not found a younger prospect to add in that area over the past few NFL drafts.

Is 2025 the year? Sounds like McDermott is hopeful to do that.

“Well, that’s a point of emphasis for us, like it is probably for most teams, building a defensive line to where we need to have it,” McDermott said. “That’s a position we value greatly.”

Facing Stef

McDermott did his best to make it seem like there is no bad blood with Stefon Diggs. The former Bill is going to return to Buffalo in 2025 for the first time since he was traded as Diggs signed with the New England Patriots this offseason.

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“Happy for Stef, he’ll be a great addition to their team,” McDermott said.

Bills Mafia might feel a bit differently.

This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: 5 takeaways from Bills’ Sean McDermott at 2025 NFL owners meetings