The 2025 NFL season doesn’t officially begin until March 12, but everything starts rolling Monday.
Executives, coaches and scouts will descend upon Indianapolis for the week for the NFL scouting combine. Most of the focus is put upon NFL draft prospects, but that’s also when a lot of moving and shaking happens for teams while congregated in the same location.
Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott is slated to speak for the first time since his end-of-season press conference at 4 p.m. Monday. And general manager Brandon Beane will speak at 2 p.m. Tuesday before the combine officially begins Feb. 27.
The combine is also the first glimpse at what the offseason plan for the Bills might entail. Beane and McDermott aren’t going to reveal their blow-by-blow agenda, but it’s easy enough to read between the lines.
For example, Beane spoke frequently last year, starting at the combine, about his desire to add more big-play capability to the offense. He also talked about wanting more players who could create damage running after the catch.
The Bills ultimately signed wide receiver Curtis Samuel and drafted Keon Coleman for both purposes. Samuel had a disappointing, injury-filled first season with the Bills, but showed off some of his explosiveness.
Coleman, the team’s second-round pick, struggled after missing four games with a wrist injury. But he proved his talent for big plays, especially after the catch, racking 19.2 yards per reception (most among rookies) and averaged 7.4 yards after the catch, which was eighth among all receivers with at least 20 receptions.
The Bills also ranked second in YAC per reception with 6.6 yards per catch. Buffalo also had 27 plays of 30 yards or more, an increase of five from 2023, and its 10 touchdowns from that distance was an increase of six.
Defense is expected to be the talk of the offseason, specifically defensive line play. But the Bills also didn’t perform to their usual standard in the secondary in 2024 and the two groups are intertwined, especially in McDermott’s scheme.
The Bills had 39 sacks last season, 15 fewer than in 2023 and their pressure rate declined from 24.4% to 23.6%. While the Bills were superb in creating takeaways, they still had two fewer interceptions, while allowing 10 more passing touchdowns and 501 more passing yards.
Starting cornerback Rasul Douglas and safety Damar Hamlin are also pending free agents.
Contract talk
Beane can also offer hints toward his plans with restructures and extensions. He said last year that retooling quarterback Josh Allen’s contract is almost always going to be an option to create cap space, while the Bills should look at giving him a bump in pay after winning the NFL MVP.
He was mum about extensions with Allen after the season. And he also declined to speak about extending Christian Benford, Terrel Bernard, James Cook, Greg Rousseau and Khalil Shakir, all of whom are set to play 2025 on expiring rookie contracts.
Beane may be more loose-lipped at the combine if he feels a public comment might offer leverage in negotiations. Last year Beane was blunt in saying the team didn’t have conversations with Douglas’ camp about an extension.
Von Miller’s status is also of importance because he’s due a hefty salary in 2025 that will be a $23.814 million cap hit. Beane didn’t rule out Miller’s return, but it’s obvious that a cut in pay would be the only feasible avenue to do so.
Miller took a pay-cut last year. And the soon-to-be 36-year-old no longer possesses his Hall-of-Fame form, but he has made nearly $192 million in career salary earnings and has been honest about what being the first player to play in and win a Super Bowl with three different teams would mean for his legacy.
If Miller were willing to take a $10 million cut, it would be more beneficial for the Bills’ cap situation than spreading $17 million over two years. Miller only had six sacks and played 25.3% of the defensive snaps, but he was eighth among edge rushers in the NFL with an 18.4% win rate.
It’s also worth noting that Beane ruled an offseason splash the last two seasons because they were still hamstrung by the Miller signing in 2022. He did not do that during his last press conference.
And then there is cornerback Kaiir Elam, the 2022 first-round pick. In the past, Beane was adamant about not trading Elam despite his dwindling playing time.
But it’s been clear the last two seasons that Buffalo’s coaching staff doesn’t view him as a fit in the defense and Elam is the only of Beane’s first-round picks not to have his fifth-year option picked up. And Beane sounded less optimistic about Elam’s future after the season than he has in previous years.
Trading Elam would save $2.571 million and it seems to be what’s best for the player and the team. It’s especially true if the Bills don’t view him as an adequate special teams player, which they didn’t a year ago.
“I think there has been a lot of frustration there for him,” Beane said. “He’s been a pro. He’s handled it well. It’s definitely not how he envisioned it the day we drafted him or we envisioned it.”
The prospects
Yes, the Bills need to add an impactful pass rusher this offseason, but they also need a few interior defensive linemen just as much, if not moreso. And like receiver last year, the draft is loaded with defensive tackles.
There were 41 defensive tackles invited to the combine this year, up from 26 a year ago. Former NFL scout and NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has eight edge rushers and seven defensive tackles in his pre-combine top-50 rankings.
The Bills are slated to pick 30th in the first round, but the top of the draft is not viewed as gifted as it has been in the past.
“If that’s a need for you along the defensive line, running back, tight end, I think you might look at going another position early knowing you can circle back and still get a really talented player, not just in this year, but historically, like day two guys,” Jeremiah said during a conference call.