Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The first week of the new league year was a busy one for the Buffalo Bills, who made a flurry of signings.
General manager Brandon Beane and the personnel department were clearly targeting a couple of areas: Wide receiver and the defensive line.
There was one eye-popping, high risk addition, while the others were all solid pickups for the Bills. But Buffalo took a bit of a hit with the news that two of the newest players will be suspended for the first six games of the season.
The eye-popping move was certainly the Bills' decision to sign defensive end Joey Bosa to a one-year, $12.6 million contract.
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We've seen the Bills go down this veteran edge rusher road before. In 2022, they signed Von Miller in free agency, although he did get a deal that ended up being for three years.
In 2023, they gave a one-year contract to Leonard Floyd, who went on to lead the team in sacks.
So Bosa is just the latest example of the Bills bringing in a proven player to bolster the pass rush.
The big question about Bosa, of course, is whether or not he can stay healthy. Over the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, Bosa missed more games (23) than he started (18).
Last season, Bosa had a career-low snap count of 50%. He totaled five sacks, 13 quarterback hits and had a strong 13% pressure rate in 14 games played.
But again, I'll refer back to Miller and Floyd and their usage.
In Miller's first season with the Bills, he was on the field for just 42% of the snaps, but that number was affected by his season-ending knee injury suffered on Thanksgiving. His average snap count was in the 60%-65% range prior to the injury.
In Floyd's one season with the Bills, he was in on 53% of the defensive snaps.
I'm sure the Bills will be very smart when it comes to how they use Bosa, who will turn 30-years-old in July.
When he is on the field, Bosa is a difference maker, which is something the Bills need up front. He has 72 sacks in his nine-year NFL career, although over the last three seasons, Bosa has only managed to get 14 sacks.
Even though the Bills signed Bosa and extended the contract of Greg Rousseau, I fully expect Beane to attempt to add an edge rusher on one of the first two days of the 2025 NFL Draft.
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I think he will also be looking to draft a defensive tackle. They need to add a good young player at that position too.
The other free agent signing that stood out this offseason was wide receiver Josh Palmer.
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The Bills' current group of receivers isn't great, when it comes to route running and getting separation, but those are strengths of Palmer, who spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with Bosa and the Chargers.
In 2024, Palmer ranked 17th in the NFL in separation score, and was 12th in route win rate. He will also bring speed and deep-threat ability, another area where the Bills were lacking last year.
Last season, Palmer averaged 15.26 air yards per-target, and was 17th in the league with eight receptions of 20-plus yards.
Palmer will also bring some versatility. In 2024, Palmer was outside on 68% of his snaps and in the slot for the other 32%.
The 25-year-old's best season came in 2022 when he had 72 catches for 769 yards, but he has been under 600 yards in each of the last two seasons.
Any possible excitement over the additions of a pair of rotation pieces along the defensive line in Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi was tempered by the news that both will serve six-game suspensions due to PED violations.
However, the Bills are trying to put a roster together that is good enough to win a Super Bowl, and both will be back in plenty of time to help.
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Beane and company should be given credit for the way they were able to lock up a number of their key players, who would have been free agents after the 2025 season.
In addition to Rousseau, contract extensions were handed out to wide receiver Khalil Shakir, who had a breakout 2024 season, and playmaking linebacker Terrel Bernard, whose presence has become even more important with Matt Milano's injury issues.
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Unless running back James Cook comes down from his asking price of $15 million a year, I would expect him to hit free agency a year from now.
The other key player going into the final year of his contract is cornerback Christian Benford. Cornerback is already a huge need for the Bills, and I would love to see them get Benford secured for the long-term as soon as possible.
Speaking of cornerback, I was happy to see Beane get something back in his trade of former 2022 first-round pick Kaiir Elam. I figured the Bills would just have to cut their losses by releasing Elam, but Beane was able to get a couple of Day 3 draft picks in return.
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As it stands right now, none of these offseason moves have changed, what I believe, are priorities for the Bills in next month's draft. Before the league year opened, I felt they had to focus on wide receiver, defensive end, defensive tackle and cornerback.
I still feel the same way, and would expect three of those four positions to be addressed with the Bills' first three selections.