After a crushing loss in the AFC Divisional Round, the Buffalo Bills enter an offseason having been dominated by the Cincinnati Bengals.
There are plenty of questions. There are positions which need to be upgraded.
Right now, there’s mostly emotion. But, when the team and fans come down from that loss and face the offseason realities, we’ll start to see questions answered and issues addressed.
Buffalo has a good amount of key free agents this year that they need to decide on, but three in particular are highly intriguing, and you could argue bringing them all back would make sense for another run in 2023.
Buffalo Bills who could stay or go this offseason: Cole Beasley, WR
He retired last year, only to come back and spend a couple of meaningless games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, followed by coming home to Buffalo. Cole Beasley would apparently love another chance to suit up for the Bills in 2023.
Cole Beasley said he wants to play another season and would like to be back with the #Bills if they will have him. He said his son last night after the game was already asking if they could be back in Buffalo next year.
— Heather Prusak (@haprusak) January 23, 2023
At 33 years old, Beasley proved he can still play. Not only that, but he still has the chemistry between he and Josh Allen. Buffalo needs to reconfigure their wide receiver room this offseason beyond Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, but bringing back Beasley might just make sense.
While Buffalo needs younger, more reliable and versatile options than John Brown and Jamison Crowder, an aging Beasley still makes a little bit of sense for this team that wants to make a Super Bowl run. He’s still trustworthy. He’ll catch the football in those highly-necessary moments.
In his two postseason games, Beasley was targeted nine times by Allen, proving that the chemistry is still there. Does Buffalo need him back? He just might be worth one more year.
Buffalo Bills who could stay or go this offseason: Tremaine Edmunds, ILB
Tremaine Edmunds has quietly been one of the better linebackers in football for five years now, since entering the league back in 2018. He was one of the top names at the position along with Roquan Smith, who just got a record deal with the Baltimore Ravens.
While not yet getting the notoriety or cash that Smith has received, Edmunds continues to be a silent killer for the Bills defense. He has been as consistent as you could ask out of a young middle linebacker, especially considering the adversity this defense has faced in 2023.
With some key injuries this year, and an inconsistent pass rush, Edmunds continued to do his job and do it well. It was another season, and another 100-plus tackles for the former first rounder. Edmunds finished with 102 tackles, seven passes defensed and an interception in 2022. Like every year he’s been in the NFL, he did a little bit of everything.
His game is sound. And he is just 24 years old. It’s tough to imagine the Bills not bringing him back, but there are a few key decisions they need to make. Hopefully, for the Bills’ sake, Edmunds is a guy they opt to re-sign and they do it fairly quickly this offseason.
Buffalo Bills who could stay or go this offseason: Jordan Poyer, S
This was a rough season for Jordan Poyer in terms of health, yet the guy continued to battle. He played almost the entire season with some type of knee issue.
Back in December, he revealed that he had been playing through a torn meniscus. Come one now, if that isn’t a warrior’s mentality, I don’t know what is.
How is this for a meaningful stat?
Poyer played in 14 games total this past season, and the Bills won 13 of them. In fact, the only loss Buffalo suffered in a game where Poyer started was their playoff defeat to Cincinnati. Before that game, the Bills had not lost a single game this season in which Poyer started.
He will be 32 in April, but Poyer has gotten better with age. He didn’t make his first All Pro team until last season, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2022 as well. This is a clear-cut leader of the Bills defense, and Buffalo cannot and should not afford to lose him in free agency.
He might not be worthy of a lengthy deal at his age, but for the Bills to give him a generous two or three-year deal makes a lot of sense at this point.