The Buffalo Bills spent most of the first week of free agency retaining their own talent.
Seven of Buffalo’s 12 signings during free agency have been re-signings. They also gave Pro Bowl tackle Dion Dawkins a three-year extension to free up cap space, while giving All-Pro cornerback Taron Johnson a three-year, $31 million extension Monday that should create more than $4 million in salary cap space. Meanwhile, two key players with a year left on their contracts are now signed through 2027.
The Bills now have 58 players on their roster — 14 of which are reserve/future signings for training camp — which means they still have more work to do filling out the roster with a projected $10 million in cap space before the Johnson extension, according to overthecap.com.
Not counting the six players released prior to free agency, Buffalo entered the offseason with 22 pending free agents and nine of them are still on the market. It wouldn’t be surprising for the Bills to bring back players like Shaq Lawson and Tyler Matakevich back on cheap one-year deals again, but they still have a lot of work to do filling out the roster through free agency and 11 draft picks.
Defensive back
Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer and Tre’Davious White have occupied starting jobs in the secondary since coach Sean McDermott arrived in 2017. Siran Neal has added depth since 2018. Poyer, White and Neal have all been released, while Hyde remains a free agent without a public decision on retirement.
The Bills re-signed Taylor Rapp and Cam Lewis, but they are still lacking depth, particularly at safety. Rapp and Damar Hamlin are currently the only safeties on the roster, while Lewis flips between safety and slot cornerback.
Buffalo will likely need to add two more safeties between the draft and free agency, where there are still some viable options still on the market. Cornerback is less of a concern, with starters Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas still under contract.
The Bills are hoping new cornerbacks coach Jahmile Addae can breathe some consistency into 2022 first-round pick Kaiir Elam’s career, but they will still likely want to add another cornerback.
Drafting a cornerback is never a bad strategy no matter the year and the Bills have taken eight under McDermott, including one in six of seven drafts. That trend should continue this year — especially with Douglas set to become a free agent in 2025 and Beane didn’t offer confidence in an extension — in later rounds after taking four in the sixth round or later since 2020.
Defensive line
General manager Brandon Beane has been concerned about defensive tackle depth for more than a year. He scoured the draft for one last year, but couldn’t find one at the right price, so they opted for veterans a year ago.
Even after re-signing DaQuan Jones to a two-year deal, the Bills only have three defensive tackles on the roster, and one is Eli Ankou, who has active-roster experience, but spent most of last season on the practice squad and is signed to a futures contract.
Poona Ford signed with Chargers after an uneven season with the Bills, while 36-year-old Linval Joseph’s playing took a dive late in the season after signing midway through the year. Jordan Phillips is mulling retirement after another injury-plagued season, so defensive tackle is not only a need in free agency, but in the draft.
Beane also said the cap might prevent the Bills from having the same depth on the defensive line next season and it could impact decisions at edge rusher. What the Bills decide to do will be telling in regards to Von Miller’s health and how they feel about A.J. Epenesa’s ability to take on a more prominent role.
Epenesa, Miller and Greg Rousseau are the only players back from a five-man rotation last year. Perhaps Buffalo gives Kingsley Jonathan a shot at becoming a rotational player after appearing in 13 games and playing just 11% of the defensive snaps.
The Bills signed Casey Toohill to a one-year deal Tuesday and should add to the rotation. The 27-year-old played four seasons with Washington and had five sacks last season, playing 45% of the defensive snaps.
Rookie defensive linemen have traditionally not played much under McDermott, with Ed Oliver being the only rookie to play more than 50% of the snaps and Rousseau being the only other lineman to play more than 40% since 2017.
Offensive line
The Bills were one of four teams to use the starting five offensive linemen in every game last season and they gave up a league-low — sacks. That group took a hit when center Mitch Morse was released as a cap casualty and top reserve Ryan Bates was traded to Chicago.
The belief is that guard Connor McGovern will slide to center and David Edwards is the front-runner to replace him at left guard. But the Bills still lack depth on the interior, with Alec Anderson — who was inactive for every game last year — as the only backup on the roster.
Buffalo will probably sign a cheap veteran guard or center (or both) as a contingency plan for McGovern or Edwards, without ruling out the possibility of drafting another.
Running back
Receiver is the greater need in terms of talent, but the Bills are currently thin at running back. They haven’t been afraid of rolling with two active running backs during much of McDermott’s tenure, but there was a great emphasis put on the position last season by bringing in veterans Damien Harris and Latavius Murray, while signing Darrynton Evans and Ty Johnson during training camp and Leonard Fournette midseason.
Harris and Murray are free agents, while Evans is signed to a futures deal and Johnson was re-signed on a one-year deal. The Bills questioned after the season whether Harris was interested in returning to football after a neck injury and concussion in Week 6, while the 34-year-old Murray was a favorite of former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, but his playing time declined when Joe Brady took over.
Johnson cut into Murray’s snaps over the final seven games, but never played 30% in a game behind starter James Cook. It would be surprising if the Bills didn’t add one more veteran running back in free agency.