When the Buffalo Bills returned Monday for the start of offseason workouts, there will be a lot of familiar name plates removed from locker room stalls.
The team’s support staff will get more sentences starting with “Where is” than they have in several years. The Bills have a lot of questions to answer this offseason, but it’s also the start of a new wave and a new way for the team to reach an elusive Super Bowl.
The Bills have 14 new players and a roster of 62 players out of a 90-man maximum they will hit by training camp, adding through the draft and undrafted free agents over an offseason training program that has three phases.
The first phase is two weeks of meetings and strength and conditioning sessions. The second is three weeks of on-field instruction and play installation with nothing but helmets. There are also four weeks of organized team activities (OTAs), with 10 days of 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 and then a mandatory minicamp from June 11-13.
That time should be spent retooling not just the offense, but the organization around Josh Allen. Not that Allen hasn’t been the team’s premier player over the last five seasons, but the Bills had a lot of veterans who could help lead the team.
Buffalo has 28 players returning from last season’s opening day roster, the fewest since 2019. Allen, now, should be the unequivocal face of the franchise in the way Patrick Mahomes is with the Chiefs, Tom Brady was with the Patriots and Aaron Rodgers was with the Packers — a cut above the rest.
Without Stefon Diggs, Allen enters the offseason with no clear-cut No. 1 receiving option. Instead of questions about whether Allen can continue to produce without Diggs, it should refresh him.
No longer does Allen have to worry about force-feeding one player, nor does he need to be concerned with Diggs gesturing to him if he doesn’t get the ball, or outright berating him on the sidelines. Allen also doesn’t have to worry about defending Diggs’ “competitiveness” at every turn, especially when Diggs rarely returned the favor.
The start of a new offensive approach came last season, when Diggs’ numbers plummeted over the final 13 games. After getting 10-plus targets in six of the first eight games, Diggs only had two such games the remainder of the season.
Not only were the Bills 8-3 when Diggs had fewer than 10 targets last season, but they were 31-12 since joining the team in 2020. Until Joe Brady became offensive coordinator, Diggs was the lone skill player who seemed to have a consistent role in the offense dating back to 2022.
Brady is clearly keen on running back James Cook, but without a true No. 1 receiver, it should open up room for Dalton Kincaid to become more of a factor in his second season, for Dawson Knox to have a rebound year and Khalil Shakir to take another step. It should also allow Allen to be a distributor instead of Superman.
“I’m confident in … the guys we have on the roster and I’m confident in the staff we have upstairs that helps me and that will continue to find pieces to add and that will be ready to roll when it comes time in September,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said following the Diggs trade.
Finding new leaders
While Allen should be the team’s undeniable leader, losing so many veterans is going to require the Bills to build new leaders. Players like Micah Hyde, Jerry Hughes, Mitch Morse have not just been critical on the field over the years, but have been examples for young players to learn how to become professionals.
Dion Dawkins is still around and DaQuan Jones is respected in the locker room. Von Miller is still well-respected and may have earned more by taking a pay-cut during the offseason, but some fresh blood is needed.
Cornerback Taron Johnson should take over as the new leader in the secondary. Younger defensive backs have already started following Johnson’s daily routine, which culminated in earning All-Pro honors last season.
Connor McGovern should take over for Morse and not just as the starting center, but the general of the offensive line. McGovern doesn’t have a booming voice, but he might be the nicest guy on the team and he’s steady every day.
Rousseau, whose fifth-year option should be exercised in the coming weeks, should be the next guy to take over as leader of the defensive line when the Bills move on from Miller. Rousseau consistently offers honesty and has also found some of Miller’s positivity, rarely getting too down after a loss or too high after a win.
The new leader of the defense, though, is most likely to be linebacker Terrel Bernard. Not only did Bernard come out of nowhere to have a superb first season as a starter, but he took command as the quarterback of the defense and that should only grow in Year Two.
Bernard isn’t boisterous off the field, but he’s thoughtful. Rarely does Bernard decline an interview request, which is an indictment of how he treats people. He listens and always tries to offer a thoughtful response.
“It’s hard to go in there and look at Von Miller or Micah Hyde or Jordan Poyer and say, `This is what we’re doing,’ like lead that group,” Beane said. “And you saw (Bernard) transform into that role and guys fed off of him. They wanted it. Like they encouraged him to do that. Like he’s going to come in at a totally different place this offseason. And everyone knows he’s the quarterback of that defense.”
Betting on Babich?
While much of the focus during the offseason is what changes Brady will make as the full-time offensive coordinator, the bigger question is whether new defensive coordinator Bobby Babich will assume play-calling duties from Sean McDermott.
Babich had several interviews from other teams, all of them requiring play-calling. It would seem unlikely Babich would choose Buffalo if he wasn’t given an opportunity to call the defense.
McDermott has remained quiet about who will call the plays and it could be a scenario where he starts the season and gradually hands it off to Babich. Regardless, the defense will still be built around McDermott’s scheme as it has been since arriving in 2017.
Babich has been one of McDermott’s most loyal assistants and has been in Buffalo for the entire duration of the McDermott era, slowly climbing the ladder on the staff. More than anything, Babich could provide a fresh perspective on coverages or blitz packages.
Salary cap restrictions will likely limit the depth of Buffalo’s rotation on the defensive line and that could lead to a more aggressive style this season.
“I’m not in a hurry on it,” McDermott said at the owner’s meetings. “There’s so much between now and then in terms of building the scheme, like I mentioned, and outlining and focusing on areas that we need to emphasize for us to improve and, again, stay ahead of things, offensive trends around the league, offensive personnel, getting our defensive personnel, building our defensive roster. That’s a work in progress. So there’s a lot between now and then and I’ll know when it’s time.”