Once the NFL Draft came to an end, teams wasted no time in signing undrafted free agents to add to the roster. Sometimes, teams find diamonds in the rough with players that went undrafted. One player that I firmly believe that the Bills will regret not signing as an undrafted free agent is linebacker Shaun Dulac, who played for the University of Buffalo. Instead, Dulac joined the Los Angeles Rams.
At the same time, the Bills did bring in a lot of undrafted players for tryouts and are giving the chance to prove themselves. Last year, the Bills found a diamond in the rough with Buffalo native linebacker Joe Andreessen. He turned out to be a pretty solid signing as he made the 53-man roster and showed flashes of being a true contributor for the team moving forward.
The Bills signed 14 undrafted free agents and then invited nine players for rookie minicamp as well. One of the players that the Bills signed was wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi from Mississippi State, who spent two seasons at UTEP from 2022-2023 before transferring.
After a breakout 2023 season at UTEP (1,033 yards and 7 touchdowns while averaging over 21 yards per reception), Akharaiyi transferred to Mississippi State but had a major drop in production in just one less game played than the season prior (391 yards and 2 touchdowns while averaging just over 15 yards per carry).
Ben Cooper from Pro Football Focus (PFF) listed Akharaiyi as the undrafted free agent rookie to watch closely for the Bills due to the wide receiver room “lacking star power for Josh Allen to lean on.” However, the Bills' receiving room is just fine because last season proved it, and the Bills only added to it with Joshua Palmer, Elijah Moore, and Kaden Prather.
DE Hayden Harris is the UDFA Bills fans should be watching closely
Harris was the first undrafted free agent signing for the Bills from the University of Montana. I have no idea how Harris wasn’t drafted late on Day 3 of the draft, but the Bills may have found themselves a solid diamond in the rough with Harris. He is coming off a solid year at Montana with 9.5 sacks, 17 tackles for a loss, and 52 total tackles.
In addition, Harris also had an interception, four pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries in 2024. The production is there and due to the fact that the Bills love to rotate their defensive ends, they just might be able to find room for Harris onto the roster if he stands out to the point where he can’t be ignored.
However, since the Bills have a bunch of edge rushers, the likelihood of Harris actually making the final roster is very slim. At the same time, he would be a great practice squad candidate and have a great chance at being activated to the main roster if an injury or two occurs.