Joe Buscaglia on Bills Evolving and Improved Receiver Room-- The Athletic

[babulator]

I agree Gabe will probable be back next year. He wont see the same kind of interest he did last time around. I'm not sure why everyone has Palmer locked in though. Is it his salary, a cap issue? Injury or not, he's been a big disappointment and would be a vastly overpaid #4 option imho. We need an overhaul at WR not a tweaking next year. 

[Tanoros]

29 minutes ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Please give me an example of a NON QB who commanded more than 2 first rounders and a 2nd ? 

 

Nobody and i repeat NOBODY is giving the Vikings a 1, 1, and a 2 for Jefferson. Late or not. That’s an insane overpay. 

Beane doesn’t know how to draft Wide Receivers. It’s by far his weakest area when it comes to evaluation. I am much more comfortable going out and buying a WR1 with this regime. We don’t have the time to wait for someone to develop only for them to bust. 

He hasn’t drafted a star receiver yet, but he did draft Davis and Shakir and they are both solid or better. 

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, Casey D said:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6876753/2025/12/10/buffalo-bills-wide-receivers-josh-allen/?source=athletic_user_shared_article_email&smid=em-share-ta

 

Behind a paywall, but an interesting read.  His basic take is that the Bills receiver room, while still not great, has evolved into something serviceable.  Davis, Shakir and Shavers have settled in as the prime trio, with Shavers being the Hollins from 2024.  Palmer should be the 4th when healthy, and then the issue is who is the 5th, Cooks or Coleman.  Buscaglia feels Cooks brings better complementary skills than Coleman, so Coleman most likely to sit if Bills go with the usual five receivers.

 

Room will need overhaul in 2026, but this group might be good enough for the Bills to be a force in playoffs.

 

 

I think it's misleading to say that Buscaglia is saying the WR room is improved.   Just that they've evolved.     

 

Shavers is playing the Hollins role as a blocker but he's not "the Hollins from 2024".    He has had little impact at all in the passing game compared to the big plays and TD's Hollins made.   Gabe has been anemic in the passing game.  How they use him has definitely evolved and I am not sure that's a good thing because I don't want to see that ham-handed SOB running slants to turnover town.  Palmer hasn't even been available.   Coleman isn't better.   I don't think improving was what he was getting at. 

 

The WR's in total had a pathetic 69 yards receiving in a 39 point performance Sunday.  

 

Essentially the Bills are attempting to win without needing WR's to do much of anything in the passing game.    

 

They are just out there blocking or occupying defenders for the most part.  A lot has been made with regard to opposing defense's playing man coverage on the Bills punchless WR corps but one way to "evolve" is to counter tactics.  They can intentionally run defenders deep and leave huge swaths of field for Josh to tuck and run.  

 

So they are still pretty worthless as playmakers but they can still contribute tactically to a potent offense.  

 

If Kincaid stays healthy they might be able to get away with it in a league where there are no great teams.   We can hope. 

 

 

[Nephilim17]

Shavers has 188 yards this year. Projecting him to be a consistent top-3 guy next year who can help us win it all is a stretch.

If Palmer is just a 4th guy on this roster, at $13 million per year, that's another fail for Beane.

I say draft a size-speed outside guy early, Shakir and Palmer as our top-3. Or trade for a bona fide #1, though I'm not sure the cap space is there.

Edited 4 hours ago by Nephilim17

[Cash]

1 hour ago, Cray51 said:

I would not bank on Davis being gone.  He likes Buffalo, made some money with the Jags, and may not get offers in FA.

 

I could see a 1 or 2 year deal similar to what they did with Ty Johnson as a guy they picked up from another team and fit a role nicely.

 

Agree, but I could equally see a scenario where Gabe doesn't do anything the rest of the year and the Bills don't particularly want him back.  (Except on a low/no guarantee "chance to compete for a roster spot" deal.)

[TheBeaneBandit]

28 minutes ago, babulator said:

I agree Gabe will probable be back next year. He wont see the same kind of interest he did last time around. I'm not sure why everyone has Palmer locked in though. Is it his salary, a cap issue? Injury or not, he's been a big disappointment and would be a vastly overpaid #4 option imho. We need an overhaul at WR not a tweaking next year. 

I think they structured his contract to get out of it pretty easily. At least I hope they did, no offense to the guy.

[billsfan_34]

3 hours ago, PaattMaann said:

the 2026 discussion is interesting...

 

You would assume Davis and Cooks are gone. 

 

Healthy Palmer (fingers crossed, but can we count on that from a planning perspective?), Shakir, Shavers, Coleman (he isn't going to get cut if I'm betting, just doesn't make financial sense) and a rookie or 2? Is THAT good enough? I guess it depends on who the rookie(s) is and their impact. We aren't going to be spending in FA because we don't have the money.

 

Swing a trade for a disgruntled Justin Jefferson? I don't know. 

The offense is better with Davis out there. Him and Josh have chemistry. Not so certain he will be out in ‘26. 

[JP51]

3 hours ago, Kaenon said:

I think Davis stays next season.

 

2026 WR room:

1st round pick WR

Shakir

Palmer

Davis

Shavers

2nd or 3rd round pick WR

Coleman

 

Keep 6 (5 or 6)

7th will not make it

I think there will be a FA signing as well... 

[SoonerBillsFan]

1 hour ago, Tanoros said:

Would you trade for Aiyuk? Because of what’s going on in San Fransisco he might be had a bit cheaper than normal top receiver. 

No. The Aiyuk from say 5 years ago,sure.  But not now

[Einstein]

41 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

I think it's misleading to say that Buscaglia is saying the WR room is improved.   Just that they've evolved.     

 

I figured this was the case.

 

Not only have we been playing horrible defenses, but the WR’s still produced next to nothing against those bad defenses. It was all TE, RB, and Josh.

[JP51]

2 hours ago, Cray51 said:

1) No way they draft two WR in the first 3 rounds.  Beane has never done that, I dont think that will change this year.

 

I agree Davis will stay most likely

 

Davis

Palmer

Shakir

Shavers

draft WR

low end FA

 

Traded - Coleman

 

That's my guess.  I think they are done with Keon.  Unless he comes into camp ready and running hard, I could see them cutting him outright when they get down to 53.  Such a shame.

I agree I think Molasses has a long way back that he probably doesnt want to travel...  I think he is done after this year and can go hang with Kaiir, Carter, and Shorter... 

[PoundingDog]

Sorry I don't see the Bills pay any receiver north of $35 million a year. Especially when Allen's cap hit is going to be around $60 million next year and beyond. That's the reality for teams like the Chiefs, the Ravens, or you will be looking at the roster structure of the Bengals -- cheap players on defense MUST work.  

 

The best route is drafting WRs, and I think we should take Rams model: numbers. I'd like McDermott and Beane to take some chances on "non-process" characters like Antonio Brown, George Pickens types so that we get them in the years they work to establish themselves and then trade them away. Not every player you draft that shows talent, even great talent, should be retained thru an extension. To me, that strategy needs to change or you will miss out some talent that could push us over the top.

[Mat68]

Davis, Palmer, Cooks, Shavers, Shakir and Coleman.  Does Coleman sit?  I think he could, I would dress him.  Not as dire when paired with the run game, Cook and Johnson out of the backfield, with Kicaid, knox and Hawes. 

[The Tomcat]

2 firsts for Justin Jefferson!

[HappyDays]

3 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

The real issue at WR next year is aside from Pickens, who the Cowboys are rumored to be happy to tag, well the pickens at WR are slim. Not much there and a lot of teams that will be looking for WRs in the off-season. Means the mediocre WRs that are out there are likely to get paid well.

 

Hope that Justin Jefferson and/or AJ Brown are available for trade. I'd give up two 1st rounders for Jefferson and one for Brown.

[Sierra Foothills]

3 hours ago, Casey D said:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6876753/2025/12/10/buffalo-bills-wide-receivers-josh-allen/?source=athletic_user_shared_article_email&smid=em-share-ta

 

Behind a paywall, but an interesting read.  His basic take is that the Bills receiver room, while still not great, has evolved into something serviceable.  Davis, Shakir and Shavers have settled in as the prime trio, with Shavers being the Hollins from 2024.  Palmer should be the 4th when healthy, and then the issue is who is the 5th, Cooks or Coleman.  Buscaglia feels Cooks brings better complementary skills than Coleman, so Coleman most likely to sit if Bills go with the usual five receivers.

 

Room will need overhaul in 2026, but this group might be good enough for the Bills to be a force in playoffs.

 

Did Buscaglia use the word "quietly?"

 

2 hours ago, boyst said:

Brother.... nothign is behind a paywall. it's just sad that the journalists didn't take their advice and learn to code...

 

anyway... eff them, here is a non paywall link

 

https://archive.ph/7Goyl

 

 

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

I think it's misleading to say that Buscaglia is saying the WR room is improved.   Just that they've evolved.     

 

Shavers is playing the Hollins role as a blocker but he's not "the Hollins from 2024".    He has had little impact at all in the passing game compared to the big plays and TD's Hollins made.   Gabe has been anemic in the passing game.  How they use him has definitely evolved and I am not sure that's a good thing because I don't want to see that ham-handed SOB running slants to turnover town.  Palmer hasn't even been available.   Coleman isn't better.   I don't think improving was what he was getting at. 

 

The WR's in total had a pathetic 69 yards receiving in a 39 point performance Sunday.  

 

Essentially the Bills are attempting to win without needing WR's to do much of anything in the passing game.    

 

They are just out there blocking or occupying defenders for the most part.  A lot has been made with regard to opposing defense's playing man coverage on the Bills punchless WR corps but one way to "evolve" is to counter tactics.  They can intentionally run defenders deep and leave huge swaths of field for Josh to tuck and run.  

 

So they are still pretty worthless as playmakers but they can still contribute tactically to a potent offense.  

 

If Kincaid stays healthy they might be able to get away with it in a league where there are no great teams.   We can hope.

 

Agreed.

 

To the last bolded, it's not a stretch for me to see the Bills representing the AFC in the Super Bowl but winning it is a different story. There are a lot of NFC contenders with excellent defenses whereas in the AFC, maybe only Denver has a really good defense.

 

If I put on my optimist glasses, the Bills lit up both the Rams and the Lions last year and the Eagles the year before so maybe the NFCs relative unfamiliarity with Josh could play in our favor... but of course no guarantee of that.

 

[PoundingDog]

19 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Hope that Justin Jefferson and/or AJ Brown are available for trade. I'd give up two 1st rounders for Jefferson and one for Brown.

If I can draft a Roquan Smith with my 1st round pick, I'll keep it.

[BillsShredder83]

3 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

Palmer   MVS

Gabe.     Watson 

Shakir     Rice

Shavers  Ross

Cooks.    James

 

That's a little better than kcs wrs in 23 but they had Kelce 

 

We have Kincaid 

 

So I still think we can get by 

 

Obviously not ideal but serviceable 

 

I'm hoping they roll with 6 wrs with Hardman in the playoffs 

 

Its close, but I think I like theirs better... negligible though.

 

The biggest difference to me is coordinating of the passing game

Reid + Nagy >>> McD + Brady

 

It is mind boggling how non-existent our production from WR's has been.  We're rolling on 2 games without being able to move the ball through WR's.  Theres player personnel problems there too, 1,000%, Ive been so vocal about it for 3+ years.  With that said, I can respect that we've been improvising and running pass game through RB's + TE's.

 

Im bigly worried that unexpected TE production (Knox) is not repeatable.  Kincaid cant be the only *receiving* option helping us move the chains, not sustainable at all IMO.  If they can get Knox involved enough, and keep getting production out of Cook, Ty J, and healthy Kincaid, then we could have a chance.

 

Cinci has been awful vs TE's, so def concerned that was going to a be a one-off event.  Or at least, not repeatable 4xs in a row in playoffs.  Infuriating that we didnt address this in off season. Nor at the trade deadline.  Then bickered our way out of Waddle, who absolutely brings enough juice to this team to put us over the top IMO.

[NoSaint]

55 minutes ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

I think they structured his contract to get out of it pretty easily. At least I hope they did, no offense to the guy.

he’s 11m on or off the roster - may as well have him on the roster and cut after year 2

[Charles Romes]

26 minutes ago, The Tomcat said:

2 firsts for Justin Jefferson!

Or 1 first for Addison