The Buffalo Bills are closing in on their window where they need to find a way to dethrone Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC or risk losing the window to maximize an ultra-talented roster led by one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, Josh Allen.
While they have reached the playoffs the last five seasons in a row, which included two (13-3) and another two (11-6) finishes during that span, they haven’t been able to get past an AFC Championship and have only reached that point in the playoffs once over the last five seasons.
In 2020, Josh Allen and the Bills made it to the AFC Championship game but were knocked off by Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who have become the kryptonite they can’t get past. In 2021, the Buffalo Bills took the Chiefs to overtime in the Divisional round but still fell short.
The next season they fell to the Bengals in the Divisional Round — and last year after knocking off the Steelers with ease to open the playoffs — they once again were outlasted by the Chiefs in the Divisional round yet again, falling by a slim 27-24 margin.
The Bills have been as close as any team could be to dethroning the NFL’s newest dynasty, but they haven’t gotten it done when it mattered the most.
The 2024 campaign feels even more significant for Buffalo than past seasons. This feels like the year Sean McDermott has to prove he can reach a Super Bowl and not continue the same trend this team has been plagued by.
Regardless of what happens following 2024, the Buffalo Bills are entering the new NFL season without one of their biggest weapons over the last four years. Stefon Diggs — who formed one of the best QB/WR tandems in the NFL with Josh Allen — was traded to the Houston Texans in a move that sent shockwaves through NFL circles.
Diggs has been as consistent as any wideout in the league, posting 6-straight seasons with more than 1,000 yards receiving, including the last four in Buffalo. He had at least 8 touchdowns in all four of his seasons with the Bills and it’s impossible to replace that kind of talent overnight.
The Buffalo Bills also parted ways with Gabe Davis, who emerged as the No. 2 target for Allen, finishing the last two seasons with at least 750 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns in 2022 and 2023.
The Buffalo brass attempted to fill the massive void at wideout by drafting Florida State WR Keon Coleman in the first round of April’s NFL Draft — and while he looks the part to come in and thrive right away as a No. 1 NFL wideout — there are no certainties transitioning from college to the NFL. Beyond Coleman, Buffalo added Curtis Samuel, who just posted back-to-back seasons with Washington where he finished with at least 600 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
The Bills are in need of a veteran wideout who can fill in as the No. 3 option and can line up at all the positions required of a receiver. And according to ESPN Insider Adam Schefter, they are hosting a player that fits that mold exactly.
Buffalo Bills Hosting Chiefs WR Marquez-Valdez Scantling
Receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling is in Buffalo on a free agent visit with the Bills, Schefter reported on Monday.
Valdes-Scantling, 29, visited the Chargers last week, the first reported visit for him.
He played 16 games, with 10 starts for the Kansas City Chiefs, seeing action on 618 offensive snaps in 2023. Valdes-Scantling caught 21 passes for 315 yards and a touchdown.
If the Buffalo Bills are going to knock off the Chiefs, why not take one of their targets away?
In four postseason games, Valdes-Scantling caught eight passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. His score came in the Super Bowl victory over the 49ers, a 16-yarder in the third quarter that gave the Chiefs a 13-10 lead.
Valdes-Scantling played four seasons with the Packers and the past two with the Chiefs and has totaled 186 receptions for 3,155 yards and 16 touchdowns.
This is exactly the kind of receiver the Buffalo Bills need to fill out that room. Brandon Beane and company shouldn’t let him out of the building.
