Brandon Beane and the Buffalo Bills continue to make moves in post-draft free agency. This time adding former 2nd-rounder and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool on a one-year deal. The deal's specifics have not been released yet, but this addition is interesting. Claypool is another big receiver at 6'4" and 238 pounds. The Bills roster now has four receivers that are 6'4", and does not include tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, both are also 6'4".
Buffalo has pushed this offseason to get bigger in the receiver room. So far they have added Mack Hollins, Keon Coleman, and now Claypool. Three of the four "big guys" are new additions. If Claypool can regain the level of play, he showed in Pittsburgh his first two seasons in the league, this is a homerun signing. If not, it's a low-risk move, and he doesn't make the team.
In Claypool's rookie season, 2020, he played 16 games, starting six. He recorded 62 receptions, 873 yards, and nine touchdowns. His first two seasons combined included 31 games, and 19 starts and he had 121 catches, 1,733 yards with 11 touchdowns. During those first two seasons, his yards per catch was over 14 yards. However, in his last two seasons, he's managed only 54 receptions, 528 yards, and two touchdowns with a yards per catch of only 9.78.
Is Chase Claypool a good addition for the Buffalo Bills?
I like this addition though. Claypool may not be the guy we saw early in his career, but at only 25 years old, he has plenty of time to resurrect his career and who better to do that with than one of the best quarterbacks in the league, Josh Allen? Claypool has the talent and obvious physical traits to push for targets in this Bills offense. The question is, will Claypool bring it and earn a spot on the Bills' final 53-man roster?
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