The Buffalo Bills shocked the league with a series of releases. Almost all of them have been important pieces in the Bills continued streak of postseason appearances.
Buffalo Bills Casualty #1: Mitchell Morse
Mitchell Morse has been with the Bills since 2019, on a deal that made him the highest-paid at his position. Morse has been a rock in Buffalo’s offense, one that has allowed quarterback Josh Allen to ascend through the ranks to become one of the league’s best quarterbacks. To let Morse go leaves Buffalo with Connor McGovern to slide over and assume the starting gig next season, while David Edwards will receive a nod to fill McGovern’s old slot at Guard.
Morse will enter free agency once again, where the Pittsburgh Steelers should seek to pursue his services after an offensively-lacking season in 2023 saw them only put up 18 points per game.
Mitch Morse didn't just lead the offensive line, he lead the team.
The two-year captain was known as being the "dad" of the group. That translated to being someone the team could rely on through the ups and downs of a season.
Read more about what Morse meant to the #Bills.… pic.twitter.com/VRDIbVF4Ab
— Maddy Glab (@MadGlab) March 7, 2024
Bills Casualty #2: Tre’Davious White
Tre’Davious White was Buffalo’s top selection in the 2017 NFL Draft. Have I mentioned how this only came about because Buffalo traded out of the #10 pick in 2017, which the Chiefs would use to select Patrick Mahomes? That aside, White has made multiple Pro Bowls with the Bills and has collected one Defensive Player of the Year nod in 2020. Injuries have limited him to just ten games in the past two seasons.
The spike in leaguewide salary cap did not save White, who will now test the open waters of free agency for the first time in his career.
Bills Casualty #3: Jordan Poyer
Poyer became one of the casualties of Buffalo’s cutdowns. The seventh-rounder in 2013 came to Buffalo in the 2017 offseason. In seven seasons in Western New York, Poyer has collected 22 of his 24 career interceptions, and has started all but seven games in that time. Along the way, Poyer received his one and only Pro Bowl nod in 2022.
Poyer will leave Buffalo at the age of 32, and is to turn 33 years old on the first day of the 2024 NFL Draft. Poyer’s services will almost certainly be pursued by teams who desperately need help at the position.
Has Buffalo’s Window Closed?
Make no mistake about it, Buffalo’s playoff follies of the 1990s decade and of present day bear striking similarities to one another. There are also plenty of differences to account for as well. While both periods share the common theme of falling just short, these modern Bills have failed to make a Super Bowl, compared to the teams of the 1990s making four consecutive Super Bowls (which remains an NFL record).
These Buffalo Bills will not see their window slam fully shut as a result of these moves, but to defend their AFC East crown and maybe, just maybe, finally return to a Super Bowl, they will have a deeper mountain to climb without these star players and contributors.
