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Alaina Getzenberg, ESPN
BUFFALO, NY — Bills kicker Tyler Bass sits on the bench with his helmet strapped after missing a 44-yard field goal. As the clock wound down – after a failed 6 minute and 40 second drive filled with squandered opportunities – the Kansas City Chiefs continued to move the ball. Bass put his helmet in his hand.
Finally, a timeout was played and the Chiefs sideline celebrated as fans in the stands at Highmark Stadium threw snowballs at the bench filled with red shirts.
The Bills’ 2023 season ended with a 27-24 loss to the Chiefs in the divisional round again.
The location was different – the Bills traveled to Kansas City for their second playoff appearance of the year – but the result was the same old story.
As Bass walked off the field, quarterback Josh Allen noticed the kicker behind him and gently offered him a hand and a hug, symbolic of his future.
The team that left the field that day will look different when the Bills walk down the same tunnel to play the Arizona Cardinals in week 1 on September 8.
The Bills enter the 2024 season after making changes and preparing for the future. The task will be to stay competitive and take advantage of the play of Allen, who is entering his seventh year. Buffalo will depend on the franchise quarterback to continue to grow as a leader and new and young players to take significant roles on and off the field in an effort to win a fifth straight division title and build the team to achieve the goal.
MARCH 6 A day of change for the Bills.
One day ahead of NFL free agency, the team began to move on from longtime franchise players — releasing cornerback Tre’Davious White, safety Jordan Poyer and center Mitch Morse — in addition to other contributors.
Less than a week later, wide receiver Gabe Davis agreed to terms with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
On April 3, the Bills traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans.
After the dust settled, the Bills were left with two of the team’s eight captains from the previous season – Allen and Von Miller. (Former captain and safety Micah Hyde continues to contemplate retirement and says he will only play for the Bills.)
Changes marked the departure of coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane – most of the departed players had a significant role in all or most of McDermott and Beane’s seven years with the Bills.
Each decision has a combination of financial, performance and / or age. For the decision on Diggs, who is 30, the captain’s performance for the third time in four years in Buffalo broke countless records, but the right trade came along with the winter cap space and the concept of capital in mind given the stage of Diggs’ career.
There is also a desire to find new ways of doing things, and as Beane said in January. Part of the job in the offseason is to be “honest, real” and find ways to achieve greatness, he said.
“Change is not always bad. Change can be difficult when you have stability in some positions,” Beane said in April. “A lot of people are captains, so is it uncomfortable? Yes, but sometimes your team needs to grow.”
TIGHT END DAWSON KNOX is one of the players left with the Bills since being drafted in 2019. He said being on the team this year is the most fun he’s had in football. Whether it is because of the comfort in the career, the energy in the locker room – “different personalities come from different teams” – or some combination, it is allowed to be able to “fly around” and “not (be) afraid. to make mistakes.”
Features Bill 2024 changes beyond the players. There are two new full-time coordinators in Joe Brady and Bobby Babich, both of whom have been praised by the players for their energy. That also applies to other areas, such as team strength and conditioning, medical and sports science staff looking for ways to improve, as McDermott noted this spring.
Questions remain about how new center Connor McGovern and a wide receiver room with just one returner — Khalil Shakir — will perform, as well as unknowns around the safety position.
In fact, the number of changes is relatively normal for NFL teams, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, although player stature is important. As of August 28, the Bills had 24 players not on the team’s Week 1 roster last year, tied for 12th most in the league at the time. While the Bills are moving on from some veteran players, the average age of the current roster — 26.8 years — is only slightly lower than last year (27.1), per Elias.
“You never change someone like (Diggs), a player like that. No two players or people are the same,” McDermott said. “… This is an opportunity for people to take on new roles, to expand themselves. To take on the responsibility of others for others. . You are developing leaders.
Allen has taken a step forward in that regard. Last year, Allen started meetings only leading players, and that ramped up this year, according to Knox.
“He stuck his head in the tight back room twice, ‘What do you see here?’ … and then also, they get a lot of extra work, too,” Knox said. “It seems like he only calls when he’s out there until the second he comes out after everyone else leaves.”
Shakir described him to ESPN as “probably one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around just because of the fact (that) Josh was like, ‘Hey, pick up your shield and sword and let’s fight,’ No question. I’ll take it and go.”
It’s more of a “ratcheted up” leadership in Allen, as McDermott explained before camp. Sounds like middle linebacker Terrel Bernard, nickel corner Taron Johnson and left tackle Dion Dawkins, who have filled that role before.
Bernard listed Hyde — who Beane said the team hasn’t closed the door on when he returns — as someone he looked up to in his first few years and tried to emulate.
“Everybody needs to raise their game, and especially the ones who have been here, so that’s a point they know,” Bernard said. “I think it’s in the back of all our minds.”
last year, before history repeats itself, the bills continue to run unexpectedly – from 6-6 to win the division despite a 4% chance of this happening, according to ESPN Analytics, after Week 13.
Finding time to get in the groove is also needed for the Bills this year, with various new players missing most of training camp due to injury.
“We feel confident in the group we have. We would probably have liked to maybe play a little more of the offense, but the situation dictated it to be a little different.” said Beane. “… Are we going to be a finished product next week? No. But hopefully we can get off to a good start and keep getting better.”
“Very proud of the coach and players who are at 53, ready to move forward.”
