Over the past few weeks, the Buffalo Bills front office has been busy trying to find ways to improve the roster and address needs. They have been successful in some ways, like bringing back Jordan Poyer, and not in others, like losing Tremaine Edmunds to the Chicago Bears.
The moves the Buffalo Bills have made over this time are not made in a vacuum and they have impacts on other players on the roster. These moves, or the lack of moves, could be to help those players or an indication that they believe they can have a bigger role in the upcoming season.
With that in mind, these are five players who were on the roster last year that could be considered winners from what the Buffalo Bills did this offseason.
5 biggest winners on the Buffalo Bills from 2023 NFL free agency
Tyler Bass
The Buffalo Bills were able to re-sign punter Sam Martin before free agency officially started with a three-year contract. The Bills added the veteran punter right before the start of the season after they released rookie punter Matt Araiza.
The reason the move is a positive for Tyler Bass is that along with being the starting punter, Sam Martin is also the holder for Bass on field goal attempts. With Martin set to return, it means that Bass will for the first time in his career have the same holder for consecutive years.
That familiarity between long snapper Reid Ferguson, holder Sam Martin and kicker Tyler Bass is often overlooked but critical to their success. This should set Bass up for another excellent season and one that is pivotal as he enters the final year of his rookie contract.
Micah Hyde
One player that certainly knows the importance of familiarity is safety Micah Hyde. The former Pro Bowl safety has spent the past six years playing alongside Jordan Poyer and these two have developed into one of the top safety duos in the NFL.
Unfortunately, it appeared this offseason that the Buffalo Bills would see the end of that duo as Jordan Poyer was set to be a free agent. The good news is that the Bills were able to agree on a two-year deal with Poyer so the defense will have at least one more year of Hyde and Poyer.
The return of Jordan Poyer should only help Micah Hyde as he returns after missing a majority of the season last year after a neck injury and surgery. It means for Micah Hyde he will be playing alongside someone he knows well and these two should pick right back up at the level they played at in 2022, the last full season the two played together.
James Cook
The Buffalo Bills did sign a running back this offseason with the addition of former New England Patriots running back Damien Harris to a one-year deal. The Bills were likely to add a running back this offseason after Devin Singletary signed with the Houston Texans.
However, the addition of Damien Harris appears to signal an expanded role for James Cook as he enters his second year in the NFL. Cook was a second-round pick by the Buffalo Bills last year and he was limited early in the season but got more snaps as the year went along.
The reason that the addition of Harris is good news for Cook is that he primarily is a threat on the ground and not involved much as a receiver with only 40 career receptions. The expectation is that Harris will be more of a power back and involved in those short-yardage situations.
This should help manage James Cook workload, keep him fresh both during the game and over the entire season and allow him to be that big play threat as a receiver and on the ground that the offense has been missing from the position.
Gabe Davis
One of the most debated players on the Buffalo Bills this offseason has been wide receiver Gabe Davis. The former fourth round pick entered the 2022 season with extremely high expectations after breaking an NFL playoff record with four receiving touchdowns.
The Buffalo Bills didn’t bring in any competition and it was clear that Gabe Davis was going to be the full-time starter for the first time in his career.
Unfortunately, Davis wasn’t as productive as many hoped with only 48 receptions, 836 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. The biggest concern was drops with nine last season and a drop rate near 10%.
During the offseason, the Buffalo Bills have been rumored landing spots for veterans like Odell Beckham Jr. and DeAndre Hopkins which would have a major impact on Gabe Davis. While the Buffalo Bills could still add both, at this point it looks like they are planning on Gabe Davis being a starter this upcoming season.
If the Buffalo Bills stay with Davis, it will be a big chance for him to make an impact and have a breakout year in what is the final year of his contract.
Tyrel Dodson
The biggest loss this free agency is without question the departure of Tremaine Edmunds, who signed with the Chicago Bears. It is hard to fault the Buffalo Bills for not being able to match the contract but it creates a major hole in the middle of Sean McDermott’s defense.
The Buffalo Bills are set to go into offseason workouts with a competition to replace Edmunds and to this point they have not added any notable free agents. This means it will be either Tyrel Dodson, Terrel Bernard or Baylor Spector as the starting middle linebacker for 2023.
Among those three players, the one best equipped to step in as the starter would be Tyrel Dodson. He was an undrafted free agent signing back in 2019 but didn’t make his first regular season appearance until 2020.
Dodson would get a chance to start two games that season in place of Tremaine Edmunds and would get three more starts this past season. He now has a great opportunity ahead of him to step in as a full-time starter for the first time in his career.