Buffalo Bills reportedly working out WR/KR Jeff Badet

One of the more under-the-radar storylines this offseason for the Buffalo Bills is how they replace Andre Roberts. He has been their primary returner on kickoffs and punts the past two years and made the Pro Bowl each season.

The Bills certainly already have plenty of options by bringing back Isaiah McKenzie, signing free agent Brandon Powell and drafting Marquez Stevenson. However, they don’t seem to be done there and according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, they will be working out wide receiver/kick returner Jeff Badet.

Badet started as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings in 2018 and spent that season on the practice squad. He remained with the team in 2019 but was released prior to the start of the regular season.

Then in 2020, he made the move over to the XFL and played for the Dallas Renegades and would appear in five games. He finished that season with 16 receptions and 108 receiving yards.

This past season he returned to the NFL and was signed to Washington’s practice squad. He would appear in three games but played only 21 snaps with no recordable stats.

While he didn’t have any kick return experience during a regular season game, he did return 30 kickoffs over two seasons in college. In 2016, with Kentucky, he had 15 returns for an average of 22.9 yards per return. Then in 2017, as a member of the Oklahoma Sooner, he had 15 returns for an average of 20.9 yards per return.

It remains to be seen if the Buffalo Bills will decide to sign Jeff Badet. However, the fact they are bringing him in for a workout could be the front office doing their due diligence to explore every possible option to replace Andre Roberts. The other reason could be that they are not necessarily confident they have the answer on the roster currently.

I tend to lean towards the first reason for the workout but it will be interesting to see if he ultimately gets signed and what the competition looks like during training camp for the Buffalo Bills.