The Buffalo Bills cut ties to wide receiver Gabe Davis, their fourth-round draft pick in 2020, prior to the 2024 season, and it would be hard to argue that it was a bad move.
Davis moved on to the Jacksonville Jaguars where he proceeded to put up career-low numbers in yards per catch, yards per game, catch percentage and other important categories â before tearing his left meniscus in a November 17, lopsided 52-6 loss to the Detroit Lions.
The 26-year-old Central Florida product missed the remainder of the season and on May 8, the Jaguars released him due to a failed physical exam.
However, the player signed by the Bills in hopes that he would serve as an upgrade over Davis also turned out to be a disappointment. Buffalo inked former Ohio State pass-catcher Curtis Samuel to a three-year, $24 million free agent contract before last season. But it would be difficult to say that, at least in the first year of his deal, the Bills got value for their money.
Addition of Elijah Moore Makes Samuel Expendable
Samuel, the second-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2017 out of Ohio State, where he won a national championship in the 2014 season, managed only 253 receiving yards in just 46 targets all season. He got into the end zone for the Bills only once.
After the draft in 2025, the Bills added free agent receiver Elijah Moore, on a reported one-year, $5 million contract. For the Cleveland Browns in 2024, Moore recorded 538 yards on 102 targets.
The Bills also signed free agent receivers Joshua Palmer and Laviska Shenault to go with seventh-round draft pick Kaden Prather out of Maryland. That quartet joins Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Samuel in the Bills wide receiver room. Someone, in all likelihood, will have to go.
“Palmer was signed to a three-year deal, and Moore is more explosive than Samuel. It would not be a surprise to see Samuel get released by the Bills at the end of the summer if he cannot beat out these new teammates in training camp,” wrote Fansided Bills reporter Brandon Ray on Sunday.
“While Samuel does have the advantage of already knowing the Billsâ offensive scheme, itâs all about what you can do on the field,” Ray continued. “Up to this point, Samuel hasnât proved it with the Bills.”
Last week, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report also foresaw a grim future for Samuel in Buffalo.
Bills Take $12 Million Dead Cap Hit to Cut Samuel
“The Bills are chasing a championship and could decide that an extra roster spot is more valuable than Samuel’s price hit,” Knox wrote, explaining that from a financial perspective, cutting Samuel would gain the Bills only $430,000. “After adding Joshua Palmer, Elijah Moore and rookie Kaden Prather this offseason, Buffalo could view Samuel as expendable.”
But Ray noted one element that could be working in Samuel’s favor.
“The only important factor to consider is that if the Bills were to release Samuel, they would take on a $12 million dead cap hit,” he wrote in an earlier essay calling for Samuel’s release. “That itself might keep Samuel on the roster. However, (general manager Brandon) Beane has taken on a dead cap hit before when it comes to letting go of a specific receiver that Bills fans should be very familiar with.”
Ray was referring to receiver Stefon Diggs, who was traded by the Bills to the Houston Texans prior to last season. To get rid of Diggs, Beane was willing to absorb a massive, $31 million dead cap hit.
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