Orchard Park, N.Y. — The lack of production from the Buffalo Bills’ wide receivers has been a constant point of frustration for fans over the past year.
According to data from Sumer Sports, the Bills ranked 24th in the NFL in wide receiver production in 2025 with 2,107 receiving yards as a group. The Bills were one of only six teams in the NFL that didn’t have at least one receiver catch five touchdowns (Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman each caught four). The 11 total touchdowns by Bills receivers ranked 23rd in the league.
The Bills’ receiver room will likely look different in 2026 as new coach Joe Brady establishes his vision for the offense without any additional oversight.
Bills president of football operations and general manager Brandon Beane sat down with reporters for a lengthy season-ending interview last Thursday. He discussed the past year at the receiver position and what went wrong in 2025.
“To me, where we erred was, we didn’t kind of pick a group, keep them healthy and roll with them,” he said.
The offseason approach to receivers was heavily scrutinized by fans and the media. Beane signed veterans Joshua Palmer and Elijah Moore after losing Amari Cooper and Mack Hollins in free agency.
“Mack Hollins went into free agency, he had a relationship with Josh McDaniels,” Beane said. “They pay him the most money he’s ever been paid.”
The Bills wanted Hollins back after he led the team with six touchdowns in 2024. But Beane was forced to pivot, and he was already interested in Palmer. Beane’s scouting staff tabbed Palmer as a fit in Buffalo’s offense because of his route-running and separation ability.
The issue for Palmer, who finished with zero touchdown catches for the first time in his career, was that he couldn’t stay healthy. Beane said Palmer injured his heel in the spring workout program, and then a groin injury popped up early in training camp. Going into the season, Beane said Josh Allen and Palmer were never able to get on the same page because of Palmer’s injuries.
Once Palmer was healthy, Beane felt like things might be coming together ahead of the Week 6 game against the Atlanta Falcons.
“Because of where we were with our roster going into that Atlanta game, there was a lot in the game plan (for Palmer),” Beane said. “Like if you watch our practice film (before that game), and we start out the first play, he hits the big ball, and then the play he got hurt on was a big play. And he never recovered.”
On what looked like some variation of a hip-drop tackle by Falcons cornerback Dee Alford, Palmer’s season changed on one play.
“He got his ankle, his knee, and his hip on that play,” Beane said. “His ankle, he’s still here (in Buffalo) rehabbing his ankle. We finally put him (on injured reserve) because he couldn’t run certain routes.”
The Moore signing never seemed to pick up enough steam to allow the former second-round pick to find ways to contribute.
“If you go back, he was making plays for us, but the returner position got in the way,” Beane said. “We got Curtis Samuel back healthy … then we started Curtis because the first game Curtis was active was to put him as the kick returner. Ray Davis had not solidified that job yet.”
Moore played in nine games for the Bills and caught 9 passes for 112 yards. His lone touchdown came on a reverse against the New York Jets, the team that drafted him.
When Samuel came back, Moore was made inactive.
“This guy’s never been down in his life, and he’s a very accomplished receiver,” Beane said. “It became, ‘Is he up? Is he down?’ Well, that’s not going to foster a healthy dynamic of trust and knowing where you are going to be, if you are the quarterback. You don’t even know on Tuesday or Wednesday if the guy’s up or down yet.”
Coleman’s issues have been well-documented. He’s struggled with the maturity piece in the NFL. He was benched twice in 2025 for tardiness to team meetings and Beane said that affected trust on the field.
“He obviously got off the rails a little bit with the maturity stuff, the time factor, and that was disappointing,” Beane said. “What happened was you do it a couple times, you get suspended a game. Now it’s like how do you get him back in? Who do you put him back over?
“And every game he’s missing, the trust and the camaraderie is kind of dropping for him. Like, that’s just the truth. I don’t know if that fully ever recovered.”
Beane isn’t running away from responsibility for the receiver room’s struggles in 2025.
“At the end of the day, that is on me, all that stuff is on me,” Beane said. “I take that … I know damn well Elijah Moore can play. He helped us win some games. But I (didn’t) get into some of those decisions.”
Many fans want a big swing in free agency, or even a trade, this offseason to help reshape the receiver room. Beane was reportedly in the mix for several receivers who moved (Jakobi Meyers and Rashid Shaheed) and even for several who didn’t (Chris Olave, Jaylen Waddle, and Deebo Samuel) at the trade deadline.
Beane is open to acquiring a player via trade this offseason, but any deal must fit under the salary cap (the Bills have work to do to get cap-compliant), and teams must be willing to move a player.
“Everyone wants to win it all in March and April,” Beane said.
He referenced the Cooper trade with Cleveland as one that wasn’t possible before the season.
“They’re not open to trading Amari Cooper and Vegas, (with) Davante Adams, you get more takers in season once the season is starting to declare itself,” Beane said.
Beane thought Brandin Cooks, who joined the Bills late in the season as a free agent after he was released by the New Orleans Saints, was a great addition. The Bills GM is definitely open to bringing Cooks back if he wants to run it back in Buffalo for a full season.
As for other big additions, Beane is willing to make moves.
“I would love to, but it’s got to be the right move,” he said. “Got to be able to fit the salary, and the team’s got to be willing to part with (a player).”
