What are the important offseason dates for the Buffalo Bills in 2023?

While the Buffalo Bills 2022 season came to a close a few weeks ago, the official end to the 2022 season came on Sunday night with the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 57.

The focus now turns to the 2023 season and the Buffalo Bills begin their work of putting together a roster that can hopefully compete for a Super Bowl. These are the key dates for the upcoming offseason.

Buffalo Bills can use Franchise/Transition Tags (February 21st-March 7th)

This will be the time period that NFL teams are able to designate the players they would want to use the franchise or transition tag on. The Buffalo Bills have not typically used these and the last player to receive one was in 2016 when the Bills placed the franchise tag on left tackle Cordy Glenn.

However, this offseason the Bills may consider it with players like Jordan Poyer and Tremaine Edmunds set to be free agents.

NFL Scouting Combine (February 28th-March 6th)

The next date to note is the NFL Scouting Combine, which is another big step in the timeline toward the NFL Draft. This is a chance for NFL teams to get a closer look at players that could be potential targets for them in the NFL Draft in April.

NFL Free Agency Negotiation Period (March 13th-March 15th)

This is the unofficial start of free agency as teams are able to begin discussions with agents of free agents about contracts. While no team is officially able to sign players, there are usually a number of reports of teams agreeing to terms with players.

NFL Free Agency, New League Year Begins (March 15th)

This is the official start of the new league year for the Buffalo Bills and the rest of the league. This is when teams are able to make those contracts official and usually any trades that have been announced prior to this date are made official on this date.

Another reason this date is important is that this is the date that every team must be under the salary cap for the 2023 season. The Buffalo Bills are currently roughly $20 million over the salary cap according to Spotrac and will have to make some moves over the next few weeks to be under the salary cap.

2023 NFL Draft (April 27th-April 29th)

The NFL Draft will take place in Kansas City at the end of April and the Buffalo Bills will have eight picks in the upcoming NFL Draft.