3 most overrated players on Buffalo Bills roster heading into 2024

The roster for the Buffalo Bills has a lot of returners coming back from last season, but it also features newcomers in specific areas on both sides of the ball. While the offense has a better shot at looking a whole lot different than prior seasons, the defense that is now under the control of Bobby Babich should remain somewhat similar as far as scheme. Each roster across the NFL goes through various changes each offseason and there are concerns that occur as to how they will perform the following season. The Bills are no exception to this.

As Sean McDermott prepares to lead the Bills into next season, he and the coaching staff, along with the front office are going to have to evaluate the players they have on the roster before Week 1. We are going to see players getting released early on as well as when the roster starts to trim down right to the 53rd spot.

There are three players on the roster who are more than likely going to avoid being released, but they do not provide enough value to the Bills as some fans might think. With that, we take a look at the three most overrated players on the Bills heading into 2024.

WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling

The Bills signed a two-time Super Bowl champion in Marquez Valdes-Scantling less than two months ago. Not many players can say that they have played on the same teams with Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Valdes-Scantling will have the chance to say that if he makes it onto the final 53-man roster for the Bills. Signing just a one-year deal with the Bills, Valdes-Scantling joins a wide receiver room that has guys like Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Curtis Samuel. It is hard to imagine Valdes-Scantling serving as a true contributor in this Bills offense especially with his latest production with the Chiefs.

He dropped in receiving yards by over 300 yards from 2022-2023 and has three total touchdowns the last two seasons. In a Chiefs offense that has not had Tyreek Hill there for the past two seasons, Valdes-Scantling was not a huge contributor in Kansas City. There is no evidence of Valdes-Scantling bringing a lot of value to Buffalo and helping this passing game led by Josh Allen.

CB Kaiir Elam

The 2022 first-round pick for the Bills is looking like a bust, plain and simple. Buffalo drafted Kaiir Elam out of Florida in which he was supposed to grow into an immediate starter because Tre’Davious White had torn his ACL the year prior and was going to be out for an extensive amount of time. Even though Elam has had solid games at various times, he is more of a liability than an asset. Last season was a hard one for Elam as he was a healthy scratch for multiple games and did not see a lot of action before White tore his achilles in Week 4. If you watch the game tape, Elam has had a tough time taking on one-on-one coverage and is consistently behind the receivers down the field that allows opponents to set up shop for a touchdown.

Elam has a ton to prove going into his third year with the Bills. Unless he shocks the NFL and becomes an elite defender, the Bills are going to more than likely be moving off of him in the next year or two.

TE Dawson Knox

Before signing his contract extension going into the 2022 season, there was a lot of hope as to what Dawson Know could bring to the Bills. After a “breakout” season in 2021 (49 receptions for 587 yards and 9 touchdowns), Knox was given a four-year deal by the Bills in which he was set to make $13 million a year. That seemed like a big overpay for a guy who has never had over 600 receiving yards in his career but there was trust from the front office. Knox had a similar repeat of a season in 2022 with 48 catches for 517 yards and 6 touchdowns. If you are getting paid a great amount of money, there are supposed to be high expectations and it feels like Knox was not able to achieve them.

When the Bills made the big questionable move to draft tight end Dalton Kincaid the following offseason, this is where it became such a head scratcher for Bills fans. Knox got his money (and it was no cheap contract) but then the Bills traded up to draft a tight end…

However, the Bills may have themselves a rising star tight end in Kincaid, who already has more receiving yards in one season than Knox has ever been able to achieve. The injury bug hit Knox last year that took him out for over a month but even when he came back, he was not a contributing factor at all. Know had no more than three catches in a game as well as no more than 36 yards.

For a tight end who is making a lot of money at the position (even though his contract was restructed this past offseason), this kind of production is unacceptable. Knox could very well be in trouble if Kincaid continues to rise to star level next season. It looks like we have seen the best out of Knox and for the money he is making, he makes it onto this overrated list.