The Buffalo Bills are looking to find some help at wide receiver this offseason, and if rumors are to be believed, general manager Brandon Beane has zeroed in on who he wants to pair up with Josh Allen in 2026.
Of course, the NFL Combine isn’t just good for learning about the rising class of draft prospects. It’s also an environment where dozens upon dozens of NFL team scouts, executives, and coaches are under one roof, and everything they say gets churned through the rumor mill.
Longtime NFL personality Matthew Berry was in Indianapolis and soaked up as much information as he could– including who might be at the top of Beane’s wide receiver wishlist.
Bills GM Brandon Beane may be preparing aggressive swing at receiver position
Berry touched on the rumors surrounding two veteran wide receivers, Mike Evans and A.J. Brown, and suggested that both are on Beane’s radar.
"Speaking of Mike Evans, I truly believe he’ll be in a new uniform next year,” Berry wrote on Monday for NBC Sports. “I heard Buffalo as a potential landing spot for Evans and possibly Philly if the Eagles decide to move A.J. Brown.”
It is just hearsay, but there’s already some weight when it comes to Evans. The 12-year veteran has a reported list of criteria he’s looking for in free agency, and it almost perfectly describes the Bills. Evans comes packed with a decade-plus of consistently elite-level receiver play and championship experience to boot. If Evans were the only veteran Beane added, it’d still be a win as he’d step in as WR1 instantly.
But Berry mentioning Philly’s A.J. Brown as an aside in his report on Evans only serves to give the speculation more juice. As a fellow writer, sure, mentioning him sets up the easy segue to his next point, but that next point was actually focused more on the Eagles’ high expectations for DeVonta Smith and how that could make it easier for Philly to part with Brown.
Understandably, I thought the Bills would be out on Brown when we learned his trade price likely includes a first-round pick. However, if Beane is interested in adding both veterans, count me among those who would be excited about the possibilities with Allen getting two elite receivers in one offseason.
Naturally, it’s expensive to go for both, but it is something Beane can pull off. Evans will likely run just over $10 million per season. As for Brown, he’s heading into his second season of a three-year, $96 million deal, so his 2026 cap hit is roughly $23.4 million. That’s around $35 million between the two, give or take, which is doable for the Bills once Beane balances the salary cap with some restructures.
Still, Evans and Brown are both veterans who have won a Super Bowl each and appeared in even more. They know what it takes to reach the pinnacle of the NFL, and that could prove to be the difference Buffalo needs to get over their postseason hump.
Beyond that, bringing in two highly successful wideouts with similar body frames to Keon Coleman could offer him a perfect opportunity to not only get his career back on track, but also possibly unlock his highest potential.
Of course, just because the Bills have shown interest doesn’t mean that any of this is a certainty when the new league year flips over. Plenty of other championship contenders will be targeting these two veteran wideouts, and Buffalo doesn’t have the deepest pockets, whether for free agency or a trade. Nonetheless, targeting two elite receivers is an aggressive move, but an exciting one for Bills Mafia to consider as we draw closer to free agency.