4 forgotten Bills who signed with new teams for 2024

Players come and go all the time in the NFL, going from team to team unless they establish themselves as a franchise player. We see movement across the league each year with under the radar players, as well as notable players. There have been many players who have played in front of Bills Mafia. Some have brought excitement while others have disappointed. The front office has to make choices every year on whether or not players will be brought back to the Bills. Some have expiring contracts while others are either released or traded. 

Up to this point, Brandon Beane and the front office have done a great job building the best possible roster. Despite the Bills falling short the last four seasons in the playoffs, there has been more success in Buffalo during this time period than the previous two decades.

Players that have moved on from Buffalo have not had the most success but they are still on the field competing. While the big names like Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis are no longer with the Bills, there are four forgotten Bills that are still going strong in their NFL career up to this point.

QB Tyrod Taylor

Bills fans will always remember Tyrod Taylor and what he brought to Buffalo. He was the first quarterback to lead the Bills to the playoffs this century and he even earned himself a starter role for the Bills for multiple seasons. Since being traded away from the Bills in 2018, Taylor has seen playing time with the Browns, Chargers, Texans and the Giants. Taylor has had unfortunate luck in his journey where he has suffered injuries that eventually led to him being replaced by Baker Mayfield in Cleveland and Justin Herbert in Los Angeles.

Taylor spent time with the New York Giants the last two seasons, including playing in six games with one being against the Bills. Taylor is a great locker room player who can step in for a game or two should the starter go down with a temporary injury. This offseason, Taylor is going from blue to green as he signed with the New York Jets to backup Aaron Rodgers.

RB Zack Moss

The drafting of Zack Moss is something that Bills fans wished never happened. Drafted in the third round in 2020, Moss was expected to form a solid rushing duo with Devin Singletary who was coming off of an impressive rookie season. Instead, the rushing attack for Buffalo was led by Josh Allen in Moss’ time with the Bills. He would never rush for 500 yards in a season and averaged no more than 37 yards per game. 

In 2022, the Bills traded Moss at the trade deadline along with a conditional 2023 sixth round pick to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for Nyheim Hines. In 2023, Moss would take over starting duties due to the injury issues with Jonathan Taylor and Moss capitalized on his opportunity. Rushing for 794 yards and 5 touchdowns in eight games started, Moss showed that he can be a starter in the league and he has earned that by signing with the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason. With the Bengals trading Joe Mixon to the Houston Texans, Moss will more than likely step in as the starter in the Bengals’ backfield.

WR Ray-Ray McCloud

In the same draft class as Josh Allen, the Bills drafted Ray-Ray McCloud in the sixth round in 2018. McCloud provided no value for the Bills and was released by Buffalo before the start of the 2019 season. McCloud made his way to the Carolina Panthers to start out the season only to be waived later on in the year. The Bills would then bring back McCloud to the practice squad only to be released once again before the start of the 2020 season.

McCloud would find a little bit of luck signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, averaging over 20 yards per kickoff return in two seasons with the Steelers. He also set a career high in punt return yards in 2021 with 367 yards. The last two seasons, McCloud has been with the San Francisco 49ers but went down in production from 2022 to 2023. Going into his seventh season, McCloud finds himself on his fifth team of his career by signing with the Atlanta Falcons.

CB Ronald Darby

The Bills drafted Ronald Darby in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft to pair him with Stephon Gilmore but Darby would last just two seasons with the Bills. Darby was part of the turnover of the Bills’ roster in which Buffalo traded Darby to the Philadelphia Eagles in which he played there for three seasons before joining Washington for a year. Since that time, he has played two seasons with the Denver Broncos and was with the Baltimore Ravens last season. He has not recorded an interception since 2020.

Darby has been a journeyman throughout his career but adds great depth to have on a defense. Heading into 2024, Darby will head down to Florida as he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in a surprisingly rising AFC South division.