How The Bills Rebound Into Next Year

The Buffalo Bills lost in the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs. While it may seem bleak to lose the same foe yet again, Bills fans shouldn’t count this season out as a total loss.

Buffalo underwent a lot of changes during the offseason. They traded Stefon Diggs and released Tre’Davious White. The feared safety tandem of Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde was no more. Gabe Davis and Leonard Floyd left in free agency.

Truth be told, this was a discernibly different Bills team than the 2023 squad. Multiple team captains and key contributors were not on the team anymore in the 2024 season.

Some fans were considering this season to be a “soft rebuild” year for Buffalo. The Bills were not supposed to be in the AFC Championship this year, but they exceeded expectations.

Now after somewhat of a pleasantly surprising season, what is next for the Buffalo Bills as they gear up for a Super Bowl push in 2025?

Heading into the offseason the biggest positional needs for the Bills come on defense at the secondary and interior defensive line positions. Key contributors like Rasul Douglas, Damar Hamlin, Austin Johnson and Jordan Phillips are free agents.

On the offensive side of the ball, wide receivers Amari Cooper and Mack Hollins are free agents. Even if they are re-signed, it never hurts to add another playmaker.

Luckily for Buffalo, it happens to be a pretty favorable year to need secondary and defensive line players. The 2025 NFL Draft boasts really good talent at both positions.

Georgia’s Malachi Starks and Penn State’s KJ Winston headline the list of safeties while East Carolina’s Shavon Revel and Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison could be good options at corner near the end of the first round.

Additionally, 2025 presents a deeper defensive interior class than usual and a number of good young options at edge rusher. These classes are headlined by Michigan DT Mason Graham and Penn State DE Abdul Carter.

Buffalo will likely have ten draft picks (including compensatory selections) to work with in the 2025 NFL Draft. The team is currently locked in at the 30th overall selection.

If the team chooses to look to upgrade through free agency instead, it’ll have roughly $7.2 million to work with… not ideal. The team will have to free up some cap space to sign an impact player.

Buffalo should operate in win-now mode this offseason. Fpr them, this means drafting a wide receiver early and freeing up enough cap space to sign impactful defensive players.

Drafting wide receivers to be immediate contributors has proven to be a good formula over the last couple of years. Just look at Brian Thomas Jr., Ladd McConkey, Malik Nabers, Marvin Harrison and Xavier Worthy (sorry Bills fans) from this past year.

There is a good selection of wide receivers as well. Oregon’s Tez Johnson, Texas’ Matthew Golden, Missouri’s Luther Burden, and Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka would be good selections for Buffalo. Although, they’d likely have to trade up for the latter two.

From there the team should look to clear enough cap space to sign a contributing experienced defensive lineman or safety.

Miami’s Jevon Holland, the top free agent safety, would be a great fit. Unfortunately for Buffalo, that could be out of their price range. San Francisco’s Talanoa Hufanga is another good option who might be cheaper.

As for interior defensive line, if the Bills aren’t able to snag a young prospect in the draft, Philadelphia’s Milton Williams is a name to keep an eye on. Williams has been a great rotational piece for Philly and is ready to step into a starting role next season.

Now that leaves us with corner and edge. Fortunately for Buffalo, the 2025 free agent pool is chock full of experienced cornerbacks and edge rushers that could immediately make an impact on a new team.

Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick and Malcolm Koonce highlight the edge rushers while D.J. Reed, Charvarious Ward and Carlton Davis III lead the corners.

So, if I were the GM of the Bills, this is what my offseason plan would look like:

1. Re-sign WR Amari Cooper and CB Rasul Douglas

2. Sign DT Milton Williams and S Talanoa Hufanga

3. Sign an edge rusher in free agency

4. Draft a wide receiver in the first round (i.e. Tez Johnson)

5. Draft the best available defensive lineman or cornerback in the second round

The Buffalo Bills were so close to making the Super Bowl in 2024 during a season that was supposed to be a “soft rebuild”. With this formula, hopefully Buffalo could finally make the long-overdue Super Bowl push.

Darian Capobianco is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dpc5734@psu.edu.