The Buffalo Bills are hard-pressed to make improvements with a tight salary cap. The addition of Connor McGovern and D.J. Moore to the 2026 ledgers makes free agency an issue that cannot be solved by throwing money at the market. This team has holes and plenty of roster spots to fill, these free agents will help.
4 free agents Bills must pursue at a reasonable price
S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is apt in the role of free safety, and that alone is enough to warrant this signing. The Buffalo Bills want to give Cole Bishop the freedom to play underneath, and CGJ gives them just that. At only 28, with an expected market value of only $2.3m, he's an acceptable fit.
DE Clelin Ferrell
The much-maligned former-1st round pick has always been a product of his draft pedigree. That is to say, his expectations were set to be that of a game-changing first-rate selection. Clelin Ferrell was never that, and monumentally overdrafted, but it is not his fault.
Ignoring that pedigree, he's been an acceptable an athletic rotational defensive end, averaging almost 4 sacks per season these past three years. At an expected annual value of $4.7m on a two-year contract, Ferrell is a player the Bills could really use in Jim Leonhard's new defensive scheme.
WR DeAndre Hopkins
The Bills already traded for D.J. Moore to help solve their WR issue, but it's not fixed yet. The team needs more than Moore. There are few options available on this current WR free agent market who can actually elevate the Bills, but DeAndre Hopkins is certainly one of them.
He's older than the ideal choices, but Josh Allen has proven to benefit from learned receivers. Adding Amari Cooper in 2024 and then Brandin Cooks in 2025 did him well; Doing so before the midseason mark would be a far cleaner choice. At an expected value of only $1.5m, this is a no-brainer.
LG Chris Paul
Chris Paul had his first and only full year as a starting left guard for the Commanders this season, and it was a success. He wasn't exceptional, but he also wasnt sitting between Connor McGovern and Dion Dawkins.
The new contract for McGovern makes current left guard David Edwards a salary cap casualty- Chris Paul is a veteran who can mitigate that loss. At only $4.7m annually, he's a safer option than most but certainly more affordable than the current market-setting and record-breaking $20m value that Edwards seems to be commanding.