Bills unsigned players

[Nihilarian]

What does it say about the Buffalo Bills' free agents that the rest of the NFL doesn't want? From an article by SI. https://buffalowdown.com/lack-of-free-agency-signings-for-current-bills-free-agents-tells-fans-one-thing-01km644p79x8

 

  What do Joey Bosa, Matt Milano, Curtis Samuel, Tre'Davious White, DaQuan Jones, Brandin Cooks, Jordan Poyer, Larry Ogunjobi, Shaq Thompson, Taylor Rapp, and Jordan Phillips have in common? Their best football is most likely behind them. All of them contributors to the Bills season, but none of them are still at the top of their game.

 

Of the 15 players on the market who were Bills last season, 13 of them started. Of those 13 players, 9 are aged 30 or older. Of the remaining Buffalo Bills free agents, the average age is 31.7 years old. It's a problem rooted in player availability and the front office's willingness to swing for younger talent.

 

Even the youngest of the class, Gabriel Davis, isn't a desirable player on the market. Even before his torn ACL in the Wild Card round, Davis was playing on a league-minimum contract as a practice squad callup. Players don't get in that position with rosterable prospects.

 

The Buffalo Bills of 2025 were often injured and never at their prime, but it's clear the team got the best out of them. If every single franchise out there agrees they can't do more, that says a great deal.

 

Success without talent

 

Bills owner Terry Pegula commented, after firing Sean McDermott, that he hadn't done enough with the talent at his disposal. The NFL as a whole seems to disagree.

 

Lastly, kind of crazy to me that no other NFL teams besides the Buffalo Bills want to sign those players... waiting for bargain basement prices? Even AJ at 5 mill. I realize that most of those FAs are on the defensive side, and perhaps they just don't fit into the new guy's scheme? Still crazy...

[TheyCallMeAndy]

Right now the FA pool is full of guys 30+
 

Most of our FAs will have a home by TC, but likely won't be until post draft. I still think we see Cooks, Thompson, and White back for TC. 

[Kirby Jackson]

It speaks to a problem we’ve covered here for a few years. It’s not just this. When we see NFL top 100 lists come out or all pro lists come out we don’t see many Bills named. It speaks to the greatness of Josh Allen more than anything else. He’s carried mediocre rosters with mediocre coaching as far as he could. Hopefully some of the new guys and staff will provide enough support to get them over the top. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

"Nobody wants a 'Charlie in the Box'."

Edited March 22 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[HaldimandBills]

What it tells me is the defense has not been good enough and the Bills have been recycling the same defensive players who understood McDermotts complicated defense. We have for years been sacrificing speed and athleticism for players who are masters at positioning and mental processing. I for one am excited to see Bishop, Benford, Bernard, D. Williams, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Harriston being able to fire onto the ball. 

 

I do believe McDermotts defense was solid if we had a consistent pass rush from our Defensive Ends. We didn't. In a 3 4 we can create a pass rush in other ways without relying on the ends to get home. Will be nice to see a unpredictable pass rush scheme up front. 

 

Offensively we are perfectly fine. 

 

Allen is a top 2 QB

Cook is a top 5 RB 

OL as a whole is flirting with top 5 and our two tackles and center are all clearly top 10 in the league at their collective positions. 

Kincaid if he ever discovers how to avoid being injured screams top 5 TE.

Moore and Shakir are above avg. Moore could have a couple of seasons here where he flirts with top 10. I am looking forward to seeing Shakir with an outside receiver who can actually scare opposing defenses on all three levels. 

[gonzo1105]

My guess is that McDermott thought we were very close to a Super Bowl and didn’t want to turn it over to younger players . Same could be said for Beane as well. They kept turning to what they knew because they felt they were a play or two away from the big game. 
 

I think the vast majority of the board would tell you we weren’t very talented on defense especially. Whether that’s Beane, McDermott or a combo is up to whomevers thinking. Outside of our Defensive backs(Hairston, Benford, Bishop) there isn’t a lot of young talent to get excited about with the exception now of of Walker and Sanders but that second level is a disaster. Looks like they plan on fixing it though as the have already signed two NCB types and have had 3 LBs on 30s out of the 5 visits so far we know about 

[BillsVet]

Highlights that pro personnel and amateur scouting under Beane driven by a shared philosophy he had with McD was inadequate.  Whether that changes with the HC gone is another matter, but the GM has not been good enough for a few off-seasons now.  Josh mostly covers this up, but not entirely.    

 

Beane has also become increasingly safe in his decision making w/personnel.  Buffalo signs their own to market-rate contracts, drafts largely safe (low ceiling, high floor) players, and until this year, hadn't made a decent move in UFA since Von Miller 4 years ago.  It seemed like the entire personnel side of the franchise has been on cruise control expecting Josh to raise their play.  

[buffblue]

This should tell you an awful lot about our roster construction and lack of impact players. And it's not going to change no matter how much the team wants to blame one guy. This happens when you have a GM who gives out excessive contracts like candy to average players such as Shakir/Knox/Bernard and flat out useless players like Palmer and Samuel. Add on the Sam Franklin's of the world getting paid more than they should and an inability to acquire blue chip talent in the draft.

 

Then we're left with 2nd rung solutions at premier positions like edge rusher and wide receiver because we lack money and foresight. Bradley Chubb and DJ Moore are highly disappointing to me. Good players? Sure. True difference makers? Hardly, and that's been the problem for years now. I don't see how this year is going to end any more favorably for us than previous years. And with the scheme change on defense, it's not unrealistic to expect an adjustment period. I could see the Bills as a 10-7, one and done team. But the team will chalk it up to Brady being a first year coach rather than addressing the real problem.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Old, too small, amd often injured

[Captain Hindsight]

1 hour ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

"Nobody wants a 'Charlie in the Box'."

I laughed at this way harder than I should have 

[Matt_In_NH]

Makes sense, I would sign a couple from that list to low end contracts.  Shaq, Tre, maybe Cooks.  But I am also good with getting younger

[skibum]

Not sure what the point of this is? A lot of those guys made meaningful contributions last season. Sure, they're mostly over the hill now, but the Bills got decent value from many of them while they were here. It's also still early in the FA season. Vets like these, who are not high-dollar FAs, usually hang back and let their agents find some options. 

[finn]

At the risk of stating the obvious, an aging roster is one unavoidable result of being very good year after year and so picking at the bottom of every round. The result over time is a roster full of expensive, injury-prone players past their prime and an accumulation of younger players who might be ok but are simply not elite. Other teams "bounce," alternating good and bad years (not willingly of course) so that they can replenish with top talent with relatively cheap contracts. Seattle, Philly, and LA have done that, and KC is doing that now. With two first-round picks and nine picks overall, KC could land two true difference makers, not just the TJ Sanders, AJ Epenesa types that Beane specializes in (or has no choice but to draft, take your pick). Essentially, "almost-there" teams like the Bills have to get lucky, as Beane did with Walker last year and Cook and Benford before that, just to tread water.

 

Please note that other teams with top quarterbacks, e.g., KC, Philly, Rams, all have stumbled, missed the playoffs, and cashed in with top picks. Only Buffalo and Baltimore (am I missing any?) have been in Purgatory year after year: not quite good enough to go all the way but not bad enough to benefit from top-15 picks in every round.

 

By the way, note too which list Mahomes, supposedly best QB in league history, is on. 

[BattlinBill]

Were these players all not part of the Superbowl roster Terry mentioned?🤔

[papazoid]

it says to me that mcclappity valued smarts over talent and stuck with older and/or mediocre players who knew his system

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

44 minutes ago, Captain Hindsight said:

I laughed at this way harder than I should have 

Probably a better visual representation of the situation would be all of the characters from the 'Toy Story' movies.  Now relegated to the too old / too worn category.

[LetJamesCook]

I don’t really get what the OP is saying here. How does this list compare to other teams throughout the league? There’s still a TON of guys aged 30+ who are free agents. The Bills are also changing their defensive philosophy so it makes sense they wouldn’t bring back several of these guys. 
 

Should we be surprised that non-elite, older players haven’t signed with anyone? 

[Don Otreply]

1 hour ago, BillsVet said:

Highlights that pro personnel and amateur scouting under Beane driven by a shared philosophy he had with McD was inadequate.  Whether that changes with the HC gone is another matter, but the GM has not been good enough for a few off-seasons now.  Josh mostly covers this up, but not entirely.    

 

Beane has also become increasingly safe in his decision making w/personnel.  Buffalo signs their own to market-rate contracts, drafts largely safe (low ceiling, high floor) players, and until this year, hadn't made a decent move in UFA since Von Miller 4 years ago.  It seemed like the entire personnel side of the franchise has been on cruise control expecting Josh to raise their play.  

This post explains in large part why we have a new HC, OC, and DC, new thought processes and new demands will force our GM to reconsider previous player acquisition processes, nothing like a bit of a shakeup in an organization to stimulate better performance. 
🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

Edited March 22 by Don Otreply

[uticaclub]

Watching the 2025 Buffalo Bills, I thought, "Wow, many of these players just aren’t that good anymore." In 2026 NFL Free Agency, the players who didn’t perform well aren’t receiving contracts from other teams.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

3 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

It speaks to a problem we’ve covered here for a few years. It’s not just this. When we see NFL top 100 lists come out or all pro lists come out we don’t see many Bills named. It speaks to the greatness of Josh Allen more than anything else. He’s carried mediocre rosters with mediocre coaching as far as he could. Hopefully some of the new guys and staff will provide enough support to get them over the top. 

It's so obvious isn't it.