Could any of them become the 2024 Leonard Floyd?
The Buffalo Bills are scheduled to receive an extra $10 million in 2024 salary-cap space on June 1 due to the release of former star cornerback Tre’Davious White. While general manager Brandon Beane said “the cap is the cap,” not to “expect anything big,” and “there’s no trade coming” in his post-draft press conference, the Bills will likely have enough money for a small addition to their roster. That should be true even after money earmarked for the rookie draft class signings and emergency mid-season funds have been accounted for.
But who’s out there even to acquire on the free-agent market?
Putting aside names that could be available in trade, here are some potential options for the Bills at positions where reinforcements may be necessary.
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
MVS would bring a veteran presence as a vertical outside receiver to whatever team that signs him. The idea that he’s an 80-90 target-per-year player has long since been debunked, but on a team that lacks proven outside field stretchers, he could make an impact.
WR Jakeem Grant
It will be interesting to see how teams approach the new kickoff rules, but if the Bills don’t feel they have enough help, a call to Grant could be in order. A blistering speed player with a 97-yard punt-return touchdown to his name in the NFL along with a Pro Bowl nod, Grant suffered a patellar tendon rupture late in the 2023 preseason during his time with the Cleveland Browns. Medicals would obviously need to be checked, but if the returner group needs some more juice, this is an inquiry that would make sense.
EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah
Another player whose medicals would need to be examined, Ogbah suffered a triceps injury in Week 10 of 2023 during the second year of a four-year, $65 million extension he signed with the Miami Dolphins. That injury hastened his release in February of 2024. If he’s now healthy, Ogbah provides a heavy-handed, long-limbed, compression-style rusher the Bills have often favored in the mold of incumbents Gregory Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa.
CB Steven Nelson
One of the Buffalo Bills’ biggest winners of the 2024 offseason is cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram. Why? The Bills haven’t added any meaningful outside cornerback depth to this point that would likely push Ingram further down the depth chart. If One Bills Drive decides to change this fact, Nelson is an experienced veteran who was most recently seen with the Houston Texans — where he intercepted Joe Flacco during Super Wild Card Weekend, and returned the football 82 yards for a score en route to a 45-14 blowout victory over the Browns.
Nelson’s best fit has always been as a zone-coverage cornerback, and he compares favorably to the Dane Jacksons and Levi Wallaces of the world who have had success in head coach Sean McDermott’s system. Whether there are enough changes to the scheme under new defensive coordinator Bobby Babich to render such that it’s no longer the case... remains to be seen.
With options on the free-agent market dwindling, who do you believe could make sense for the Bills as a lower-cost summer signing?
...and that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’m Bruce Nolan with Buffalo Rumblings. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @BruceExclusive.