The Buffalo Bills' free agency has gone as quietly as Bills Mafia expected. After a big swing on the trading block for D.J. Moore, general manager Brandon Beane only made one exterior move on the open market, signing nickel corner Dee Alford from Atlanta.
Meanwhile, Bills fans had no choice but to sit and watch as teams around the league scooped up the top targets on the wishlist. Many were pipe dreams, to be sure, but a few seemed doable and certainly would have boosted their chances to finally get over that postseason hump.
One free agent I was personally hoping would land in Buffalo was veteran Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans, who instead signed a three-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers.
Bills Mafia left wondering why Brandon Beane couldn’t make similar move for Mike Evans
Evans got $45 million over that three-year contract with just $17.5 fully guaranteed. His contract is loaded with incentives that can make the deal worth up to $60 million, though as ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted on Monday, it’s effectively a three-year contract for cap purposes.
As 49ers analyst David Lombardi pointed out, this Evans deal is cheaper than what Seattle paid Cooper Kupp to help give their offense an extra boost on the way to a Super Bowl LX victory.
The Mike Evans deal is the best one I've seen. 1 year, $16M is way different than the numbers posted this AM. https://t.co/dyUu3PJGPQ
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) March 10, 2026
Basically, the 49ers made a short-term bet on Evans to be their new top wideout in a manner that protects the team financially if the 32-year-old receiver doesn’t return to form but also allows them to reap the full benefits if he does.
Of course, for Bills Mafia, that all looks like a lot of money. But the 49ers began the offseason with limited cap space just as the Bills did. And so, it’s hard not to look at the deal and wonder what kept the Bills from making the move as well.
That said, the Bills’ financial situation is still somewhat in flux until the new league year rolls over on Wednesday, which will give fans a clearer idea of what Beane truly has to work with for the remainder of free agency. They have more wiggle room than it appears, but Beane’s relatively inactive Monday afternoon wasn’t without reason.
To be fair to Beane, he has addressed the wide receiver room, and Moore is a solid addition to be Josh Allen’s primary target– especially with consideration to Moore’s previous relationship with head coach Joe Brady in Carolina. But the receiving woes in Buffalo aren’t guaranteed to be resolved by that one move alone.
Beane could have more up his sleeve at the position as the offseason continues to unfold. But no matter what other moves he could make, it’ll be hard to replicate the value San Francisco got with Evans.