Tomorrow at 12PM EST, the NFL’s legal tampering period will officially begin. While contracts can’t become official, terms can be agreed to between players and teams. The Buffalo Bills have plenty of holes to fill on the roster, but they did take care of one this past Thursday via trade.
They agreed to trade their 2026 2nd-round pick to acquire wide receiver D.J. Moore and a 2026 5th-round pick. Getting Moore is a solid start to revamping the wide receiver room, but there is still work to be done.
Free agency is a time where there is a ton of excitement, but also a lot of questions because of the contracts that free agents get. We see overpays happen all the time, but in the end all that matters is that the front office landing a player at a certain price.
Bills featured twice on exclusive NFL list (for both good and bad reasons)
David Kenyon from Bleacher Report recently ranked some of the league’s biggest free agent signings that have happened in history, and the Bills find themselves on this list twice.
The first signing listed for the Bills was when they took a huge swing in signing edge rusher Mario Williams to a 6-year, $96 million deal in 2012. Williams started out his career in Houston where he spent six seasons there causing chaos against opposing offenses.
"That outcome was no surprise, given that the No. 1 pick of the 2004 draft played well across six seasons with the Houston Texans. Williams notched 43 sacks, landed two Pro Bowl nods, and made an All-Pro team in Houston. Williams registered double-digit sacks in each of his first three seasons with the Bills and maxed out at 14.5, garnering All-Pro honors in both 2013 and 2014." said Kenyon.
Williams played in Buffalo for four seasons, having some of his best years. However, once Rex Ryan came in as the head coach in 2015, his production dropped vastly and the fit wasn’t there anymore. Williams eventually left the Bills and went on to play one more season in the league with the Miami Dolphins.
The second Bills free agent on Kenyon's list was near the top, that involved the Bills coming out of nowhere and bringing in Von Miller in 2022 on a 6-year, $120 million deal. Buffalo was one edge rusher away from finally getting past the Kansas City Chiefs, and they brought in Miller who was coming off a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams.
Miller started out his tenure in Buffalo on a high-note, reaching eight sacks before tearing his ACL on Thanksgiving that was the start of the decline for him in Buffalo. Since that injury, Miller was never the same player that Buffalo had hoped he would have been.
"The veteran just never worked out in Buffalo once an ACL injury ended his first season there. Miller struggled in 2023 and made a measured impact in 2024. Miller's time on the Bills ended with 41 tackles and 14 sacks." said Kenyon.
When the Bills had signed Williams back in 2012, they were not in a win-now mode but he performed extremely well. When Buffalo brought in Miller four years ago, they were in a championship window and while you can’t control when injuries happen, Buffalo never got the player that Miller was to begin the 2022 season.
The Bills are in a tight salary cap situation and while they will be looking to make moves, making huge free agent signings may be unlikely.