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10 key Buffalo Bills players who might not be back in 2023

By Josh Hill

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 22: Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills kneels on the field after a play against the Cincinnati Bengals during the fourth quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Highmark Stadium on January 22, 2023 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 22: Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills kneels on the field after a play against the Cincinnati Bengals during the fourth quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Highmark Stadium on January 22, 2023 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The Buffalo Bills season is over much sooner than anyone thought it would be.

A snowy day in Orchard Park ended with a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, ending the Bills season in the AFC Divisional Round. Disappointment doesn’t begin to describe the feeling, as Josh Allen couldn’t get the offense going and Leslie Frazier’s defense couldn’t settle in long enough to stop the Bengals from jumping out to a fast lead.

It wasn’t all terrible, as the Bills battled back — as they have both on and off the field all season — but it wasn’t enough. This simply wasn’t the year, and yet again fans will have to wait until next season for a journey to the Super Bowl.

Not everyone who was a part of this season will be around next year to help fulfill the Super Bowl prophecy. Buffalo has a handful of key free agents about to hit the open market and won’t be able to bring everyone back.

Now isn’t the time for those decisions to be made, but the Bills front office has a pretty notable list of pending free agents to work through.

Buffalo Bills free agents 2023: What key players might not be back?

Here’s a rundown of some key free agents the Bills will have to decide what to do with now that their offseason has officially begun:

  • Jordan Poyer, S
  • Tremaine Edmunds, LB
  • Rodger Saffold, G
  • Devin Singletary, RB
  • Shaq Lawson, LB
  • Jordan Phillips, DT
  • A.J. Klein, LB
  • David Quessenberry, OL
  • Greg Van Roten, OL
  • Sam Martin, P

There will be plenty of time to start truly assessing which players should be brought back, with Jordan Poyer and Tremaine Edmunds standing out among the group. Edmunds has loosely hinted at a possible reunion with his brother in Pittsburgh, but that probably hasn’t been seriously considered — not to say it won’t be.

The emergence of James Cook might make Devin Singletary expendable, especially against the backdrop of potentially prioritizing guys like Poyer or finding offensive line help with two key members of the line hitting free agency.

Another factor to consider, perhaps chiefs among all, is cap space.

Heading into the offseason the Bills are roughly $5.4 million over the cap, according to calculations from Spotrac. That’s a pretty tough spot to start the process of bringing key players back, and all but assures the Bills won’t be big players int he free agent market.

Of course, not everyone is going to return and that’s mostly pointed at players not on this list.

Buffalo can find wiggle room by cutting some players loose and reworking some of its bigger contracts.

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