Sign up for a user account<\/a> and get:<\/p>\nFewer ads in our articles<\/p>\n
You get to comment on articles and community posts<\/p>\n
Rec comment and community posts<\/p>\n
Ignore commenters you don\u2019t want to read<\/p>\n
Get notifications when folks interact with you (the bell in the upper corner)<\/p>\n
Track your activity on the account page<\/p>\n
1 & 2: Multiple pass rushers<\/p>\n
We saw what the Seattle Seahawks were able to do to the New England Patriots, sending wave after wave of pressure at Drake Maye. The same thing can be said for the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos defenses and the Philadelphia Eagles the year before. Get pressure from four and win.<\/p>\n
Joey Bosa and A.J. Epenesa are free agents. Especially if you\u2019re moving Greg Rousseau to defensive end in the new three-man front instead of standing him up, they need two pass rushers to rotate in with Michael Hoecht.<\/p>\n
Because of the scheme change and the rotation I want, I am putting TWO pass rushers ahead of any other position. Argue away.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
3: Starting wide receiver<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think they need an alpha number one receiver. The Bills proved they can manufacture points without the big dog. But that would certainly help. Either way, they need a guy that can play meaningful snaps because the entire package they put together last year didn\u2019t have anyone emerge.<\/p>\n
Gabe Davis is probably out for the year and Brandin Cooks is a free agent. Josh Palmer and Keon Coleman aren\u2019t this guy and neither is Curtis Samuel.<\/p>\n
4: Center<\/p>\n
Connor McGovern is a free agent. I personally want him re-signed, but Buffalo may want to insert Sedrick Van Pran-Granger into the role. In that event, they will still need someone to compete with the young starter and back him up. Brandon Beane said the most important thing outside of Josh Allen is protecting Josh Allen.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
5: Starting-caliber linebacker<\/p>\n
Matt Milano is an aging free agent. Shaq Thompson is an aging free agent. Terrel Bernard had a bad year and doesn\u2019t exactly fit the defensive scheme change. The four-man front allowed him to be clean. A three-man front is going to need him to shed blockers.<\/p>\n
At linebacker, Dorian Williams is a fit for the new scheme and then\u2026 They need some help in place of, next to, or right behind Bernard.<\/p>\n
6: Another boundary wide receiver<\/p>\n
Keon Coleman is fine for your fourth or fifth WR at this point. They probably move on from Curtis Samuel. Even if they keep Josh Palmer, the Bills need a new starting wide receiver AND another boundary WR to add to the mix, so they are both in my top five.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Starting WR, boundary WR, Khalil Shakir as your top three with Josh Palmer, Keon Coleman and four and five and you need another special teamer or two to round out the group with Tyrell Shavers and Gabe Davis on the shelf for most of all of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
7. Starting-caliber cornerback depth<\/p>\n
If Dorian Strong can come back form his surgery, he fits this. But that is no guarantee. The Bills have two starters in Christian Benford and Maxwell Hairston. After that, the cupboard is bare.<\/p>\n
8: Interior offensive line depth or a starting guard<\/p>\n
If and when David Edwards signs a fat deal elsewhere, the Bills have Alec Anderson to put into the starting lineup. (Anderson is a restricted free agent.) But they will need to replace Anderson as the top depth lineman in that case. It\u2019s an important role the Bills have used for a several years.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
9: Linebacker depth<\/p>\n
We talked about it above. The Bills need linebackers for this transition to the 3-4 scheme even if they keep Bernard for 2026. Dorian Williams, Terrel Bernard, Joe Andreesen\u2026 then who?<\/p>\n
10. Backup quarterback<\/p>\n
Mitch Trubisky is a free agent. He needs to leave in order to get a chance to be a starter again. Maybe he stays and is just Josh\u2019s backup. Shane Buechele is also a free agent. They need to sign someone.<\/p>\n
11. Punter<\/p>\n
Mitch Wishnowsky did well for the Bills and could be re-signed, but Buffalo has a new special teams coordinator, so it\u2019s still up in the air what he is looking for.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
12. Safety depth<\/p>\n
Jordan Poyer, Damar Hamlin, Cam Lewis, Sam Franklin, and Darnell Savage are all free agents, leaving only Cole Bishop and Taylor Rapp along with Jordan Hancock. That\u2019s two starting-caliber guys alongside a young player. Buffalo needs a fourth safety that can be versatile, especially if they move Hancock into more of a nickel DB role with Taron Johnson potentially aging out (or a cap casualty).<\/p>\n
13. Cornerback depth<\/p>\n
The Bills don\u2019t have a developmental depth cornerback right now with Ja\u2019Marcus Ingram gone. They need a fourth CB that is capable of playing special teams and hopefully developing.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
14. Special teams wide receiver<\/p>\n
Tyrell Shavers is out for the season, most likely, based on the timing of his injury. You need another guy that can give you special teams gunner snaps and potentially contribute in the passing game. Mecole Hardman is a free agent. Mecole Hardman signed a futures deal but doesn\u2019t exactly fit the role I am looking for.<\/p>\n
15. Another pass rusher<\/p>\n
Yeah, this is three pass rushers. I think they are going to have Rousseau at DE and not standing up as a pass rusher. Michael Hoecht is the only pass rushing OLB I see as an option on the current roster. I want waves, so this guy is the fourth.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
16. A Taron Johnson replacement<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think Johnson fits well in the Jim Leonhard defense, to be honest. Add in the injury concerns, and Johnson is a sneaky cap casualty candidate. They could just add a safety\/nickel hybrid player or use Jordan Hancock here, so I didn\u2019t list it as a \u201cslot cornerback\u201d, but they need some sort of versatile defensive back depth, especially with Cam Lewis hitting free agency.<\/p>\n
16. Fullback<\/p>\n
Reggie Gilliam is a free agent. I think it\u2019s pretty likely he gets re-signed for his special teams ability and his utilization on offense.<\/p>\n
17. Defensive line depth<\/p>\n
I think the switch to the 3-4 leaves them with solid depth here. Rousseau\/Walker\/Oliver as your first three up, T.J. Sanders and Michael Hoecht mixing in with maybe Landon Jackson and DeWayne Carter. Zion Logue is on a future contract, too. Theses guys were all picked with a 40-3 in mind, so churning the depth to get better-suited personnel is the only thing I would prioritize for now.<\/p>\n
I know that\u2019s a lot, so maybe give your top five or re-rank what I wrote. Either way, drop into the comments and let us know how you\u2019re prioritizing the offseason needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We can talk about the areas the Buffalo Bills need to improve until we are blue in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2048],"tags":[10902,18988,215,9266,4256,214,53,2086,26855,9227,1737,1522,306,13909,8512,28380,258,15582,4703,18950,833,7,194,4895,13685,125,90259,5736,2176,3921,872,8661,8100,7468,278,12187,1495,451,8125,4081,23586,249,6,109,18990,3873,261,458,20604,4859,591,1727,13910,9229,3025,37369,1473],"class_list":["post-743414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-buffalo-bills","tag-a-j-epenesa","tag-alec-anderson","tag-bills","tag-brandin-cooks","tag-brandon-beane","tag-buffalo","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-buffalobills","tag-cam-lewis","tag-christian-benford","tag-cole-bishop","tag-connor-mcgovern","tag-curtis-samuel","tag-damar-hamlin","tag-darnell-savage","tag-david-edwards","tag-denver-broncos","tag-dewayne-carter","tag-dorian-strong","tag-dorian-williams","tag-drake-maye","tag-football","tag-free-agent","tag-gabe-davis","tag-greg-rousseau","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-jim-leonhard","tag-joey-bosa","tag-jordan-hancock","tag-jordan-poyer","tag-josh-allen","tag-josh-palmer","tag-keon-coleman","tag-khalil-shakir","tag-landon-jackson","tag-matt-milano","tag-maxwell-hairston","tag-mecole-hardman","tag-michael-hoecht","tag-mitch-trubisky","tag-mitch-wishnowsky","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-reggie-gilliam","tag-sam-franklin","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-sedrick-van-pran-granger","tag-shane-buechele","tag-shaq-thompson","tag-t-j-sanders","tag-taron-johnson","tag-taylor-rapp","tag-terrel-bernard","tag-the-bills","tag-tyrell-shavers","tag-wide-receiver"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}