The 2024 NFL season has officially come to a close and now the offseason will be taking place from now until the Thursday night opening kickoff in September. Free agency is a fantastic time for teams and fans. Then there is the NFL Draft where every team brings in young talent to develop for the future.
The Buffalo Bills are usually somewhat active in free agency, but they haven’t made a huge splash since signing Von Miller in 2022. They have had some salary cap issues the last couple of years, but Brandon Beane does a great job at managing the problems and still finds ways to improve the team.
The two biggest names that are pending free agents with the Bills going into this offseason is cornerback Rasul Douglas and wide receiver Amari Cooper. Both of them were acquired by the Bills via trade in separate seasons and have provided some sort of positive impact. However, the Bills just simply don’t have the money to spend on bringing them both back. Bills fans can expect one, if not both of them gone from Buffalo come next month.
While the main focus of the offseason will be on pending free agents this offseason, the Bills should be really focused on next year’s pending free agents and seeing who they should extend prior to next year. The pending free agents in Buffalo for the 2026 offseason are crucial because Beane drafted well in 2022. Using overthecap.com, we take a look at the players for the Bills heading into their last contractual year in 2025 in Buffalo.
Here are the Bills players heading into a contract year in 2025
Bills players heading into contract year in 2025 |
|---|
DT DaQuan Jones |
OL Connor McGovern |
DE A.J. Epenesa |
CB Kaiir Elam (assuming Bills decline his fifth-year option) |
OL David Edwards |
DE Greg Rousseau |
QB Mitch Trubisky |
P Sam Martin |
CB Cam Lewis |
RB James Cook |
LB Terrel Bernard |
QB Mike White |
WR K.J. Hamler |
P Jake Camarda |
WR Jalen Virgil |
OL Ryan Van Demark |
QB Shane Buechele |
WR Khalil Shakir |
CB Ja'Marcus Ingram |
CB Christian Benford |
TE Armani Rogers |
LB Baylor Spector |
When looking at this list, some of the players that Brandon Beane will have to make a big decision on include James Cook, Christian Benford, Greg Rousseau, Terrel Bernard, Khalil Shakir, and Connor McGovern.
Cook, Benford, Bernard, and Shakir all come from the same draft class in 2022 and there’s just no way Beane finds a way to bring them all back. Rousseau’s fifth-year option was picked up last offseason and he more than likely has earned himself a big contract extension with the Bills for the future.
Connor McGovern is listed here because he has proven to be a versatile lineman who can play guard and center, and still protect Josh Allen upfront. He was part of the best offensive line in the NFL that kept Allen protected well this past season. Bills fans can expect Beane to address the offensive line first and extend McGovern.
Beane not only has to focus on this upcoming offseason, but he has to think far into the future as well. It will be interesting to see the route that he takes with the team moving forward.