Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills have dealt with myriad injuries at the wide receiver position this summer. Truthfully, they’ve dealt with injuries everywhere, but at wideout, there seems to be a bigger issue involving players who have a good chance at making the roster this season.
As for how many receivers will make the roster, there really isn’t any way to tell that as of yet. The Bills won’t keep fewer than five, but they are unlikely to keep seven, too. With twelve receivers in camp, the competition for those final two or three spots on the roster will be intense.
Some players have contracts that indicate what the Bills think about them, but what happens when a player doesn’t live up to that contract? It creates a dilemma for the club. Do they keep a player with a bloated contract? Or do they eat some dead money and move on, allowing other players the chance to step up and earn time?
In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we discuss a receiver whose play — or lack thereof — has landed him on the roster bubble in spite of his big contract.
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Name: Curtis Samuel
Number: 1
Position: WR
Height/Weight: 5’11”, 195 pounds
Age: 29 (30 on 8/11/2026)
Experience/Draft: 9; selected by the Carolina Panthers in the second round (No. 40 overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft
College: Ohio State
Acquired: Signed with Buffalo on 3/14/2024
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Samuel enters the second year of the three-year, $24 million contract he signed last March. If he makes the 53-man roster, Samuel carries a cap hit for the year of $9.065 million. If he’s released, Buffalo will carry $12.085 million in dead-cap money spread across two seasons. This year, Buffalo’s dead-cap number would be $8.635 million, with the remaining amount hitting the cap next season. If he’s traded, the only dead-cap amount for the Bills is $1.725 million, or the value of his void year in 2027.
2024 Recap: Samuel dealt with turf toe for most of last season, which is a major issue for a receiver who makes his money on speed, quickness, agility, and sharpness in his cuts. Between that, learning and fitting into a new offense, and Buffalo’s general strategy of allowing every pass-catcher to eat, Samuel had one of the worst statistical seasons of his professional career.
He caught 31 passes for 253 yards and one score. Samuel saw 46 targets in the passing game. He also ran the ball five times for 14 yards. In the postseason, he looked much more comfortable, logging six catches for 81 yards and two scores on eight targets.
He played in 14 games, making two starts, as that lingering turf toe issue combined with shoulder and rib injuries caused him to miss some time in the regular season.
Positional outlook: Samuel is one of a dozen receivers competing for a spot on the 53-man roster. Khalil Shakir, Joshua Palmer, Keon Coleman, Elijah Moore, Tyrell Shavers, Laviska Shenault...
