Bills' 2025 Free Agents, Targets and Draft Needs After NFL Playoff Loss
The Buffalo Bills came into the 2024 season with five consecutive playoff trips that fell short of the Super Bowl. This year, the Bills locked up their sixth-straight playoff berth—and the AFC East—by December 1.
While the Bills didn't earn the AFC's No. 1 seed, they claimed the second seed and dominated the Denver Broncos in the wild-card round. A close win over the Baltimore Ravens set up a showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC title game.
However, Buffalo's fourth postseason meeting against Kansas City in the last five years ended the same way as the others, with another heartbreaking loss. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's 35-yard field goal with under four minutes left helped secure a 32-29 win and send the Bills home.
Now that Buffalo's latest postseason run is over, general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott must begin the process of building for 2025. Free agency will officially start on March 12, and the Bills have some work in front of them.
While Buffalo is one of the best teams in the AFC, the conference still features the Kansas City Chiefs. Teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans make for a competitive playoff field, and the Bills can't expect to stay idle and keep pace.
In the coming months, the Bills will have players to retain, holes to fill and draft prospects to evaluate, all with the hope of building another championship contender in 2025.
Here's an early look at what's ahead for Buffalo in the looming offseason.
Free Agents
Unrestricted Free Agents
WR Amari Cooper
CB Rasul Douglas
OT Tommy Doyle
LS Reid Ferguson
FB Reggie Gilliam
S Demar Hamlin
WR Mack Hollins
DT Quinton Jefferson
DT Austin Johnson
RB Ty Johnson
DT Jordan Phillips
DE Dawuane Smoot
Restricted/Exclusive-Rights Free Agents
OT Alec Anderson
QB Shane Buechele
OT Ryan Van Demark
TE Quintin Morris
The good news for Buffalo is that Beane has established a strong roster foundation that can withstand turnover. The team lost standout players like Gabe Davis, Tyrel Dodson, Leonard Floyd and Jordan Poyer—it also traded No. 1 receiver Stefon Diggs—last offseason and rebounded nicely.
This doesn't mean that the Bills should be eager to let their impending free agents walk.
Wide receiver Mack Hollins, for example, joined Buffalo on a one-year, $2.6 million deal and quickly proved himself to be a terrific fit for Joe Brady's offense. Running back Ty Johnson has been a similarly valuable role player.
If Buffalo can retain both players at a team-friendly price, it should.
Though his efficiency in coverage dipped a bit this season, cornerback Rasul Douglas has been a regular starter since being acquired from the Green Bay Packers in 2023. Safety Demar Hamlin stepped back into a starting role this year, while Austin Johnson, Quinton Jefferson, Dawuane Smoot and Jordan Phillips all provided depth in the defensive-line rotation.
Buffalo's toughest decision may involve wide receiver Amari Cooper, who was acquired from the Cleveland Browns at the trade deadline. The 30-year-old did help boost Buffalo's passing attack, but he was never the go-to No. 1 target he had been a previous stops.
With a projected market value of $14.7 million annually, Cooper may be a player Buffalo is willing to replace.
With a projected $2.5 million cap deficit, the Bills will likely need to trim salary ahead of free agency as well. Buffalo may face a tough decision on 35-year-old pass-rusher Von Miller, as releasing him with a post-June 1 designation would save $17.4 million.
Potential Free-Agent/Trade Targets
Because of their cap situation, the Bills are more likely to be sellers (again) rather than buyers on the offseason trade market. While Buffalo should be eager to reload a defense that took a step backward in 2024, it probably isn't going after a big-name player like Micah Parsons or Denzel Ward.
If the Bills are active on the trade market, they'll likely target younger and more budget-friendly options. Players on expiring contracts, like Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Daxton Hill or Packers linebacker Quay Walker, are far more likely to interest Buffalo.
Beane may take a similar approach in free agency. He mostly signed bargain free agents, like Hollins, Smoot, center Will Clapp and backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky, in 2024.
Because Brady has done an excellent job of fitting role players around Josh Allen, defense will probably be Buffalo's primary free-agency focus. The Bills don't need to chase a receiver like Tee Higgins to have a potent offense. They could, however, use help at cornerback, safety, linebacker and on the edge.
Just don't expect the Bills to be major players during free agency's initial wave.
Older veterans like linebacker Bobby Wagner, edge-rusher Matthew Judon and safety Tyrann Mathieu will be far more realistic for Buffalo—if they're willing to accept a team-friendly deal in order to join a contender.
Beane may also target young reclamation projects like Packers cornerback Eric Stokes or Bengals defensive end Cameron Sample. These players haven't exactly shined with the teams that drafted them, but that doesn't mean they can't rebound in Buffalo.
The Bills took fliers on several players who didn't quite work out this season, including receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and safety Mike Edwards, but they also uncovered gems like Hollins. Beane will probably be willing to gamble again if the price point is right.
Draft Targets
The draft is where we're most likely to see Buffalo make major additions. Buffalo is projected to have eight selections, including two second-round picks. One of the second-rounders is coming from the Houston Texans—via the Diggs trade—and will fall in the Minnesota Vikings' draft slot.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Beane trade out of the first round, as he did in 2024, to accumulate even more draft capital.
If the Bills stay in Round 1, a pass-rusher like Georgia's Mykel Williams would be a sensible target. Gregory Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa are a decent-enough edge duo, but Von Miller looms as a potential cap casualty.
Miller will turn 36 in March, and Buffalo can save $17.5 million by releasing him with a post-June 1 designation.
Alabama safety Malachi Moore is another logical target late in Round 1 or early on Day 2.
"Moore excels in coverage, particularly as a deep safety where his range and ball skills are on full display. He is a true ball hawk, showing the ability to drive on and attack the ball in the air," Cory Giddings of the Bleacher Report Scouting Department wrote.
Ohio State edge-rusher JT Tuimoloau, Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison, Utah linebacker Lander Barton, Oklahoma safety Billy Bowman Jr. and Maryland safety Dante Trader Jr. are among the defenders who should also be on Buffalo's radar early in the draft.
Offensively, the Bills are fairly sat, though they could afford to bolster their interior line and add additional receiver depth. Cooper will likely be gone, Hollins may or may not return, and 2024 free-agent addition Curtis Samuel has largely underwhelmed.
Prospects like LSU interior lineman Emery Jones Jr., Oregon receiver Tez Johnson and Miami wideout Xavier Restrepo could interest Buffalo on Day 2.
*Cap, contract and free-agent status information via Spotrac. Draft information via Tankathon