The Buffalo Bills may not be done adding to their wide receiving room this offseason, with a new report claiming they are holding a workout with two big pass-catchers including a former Miami Dolphins wide receiver.
Ryan Talbot of Syracuse.com reported on Twitter that the Bills were holding workouts with free-agent wide receivers Marcell Ateman and Preston Williams on June 1. Williams may be familiar to fans from his seasons with the Dolphins, which included a big game against the Bills back in the 2019 season.
Bills Looking to Boost Receiving Corps
The workouts scheduled this week show that the Bills have an interest in adding size to their wide receiving corps, as both Williams and Ateman stand at 6-foot-4.
Williams appeared in 25 games during his four-year NFL career, making 56 catches for 787 yards with seven touchdowns. His best season came as a rookie with the Dolphins, when he made 32 catches for 428 yards and three touchdowns in eight games before being placed on injured reserve. Williams’ best game that season came in a Week 6 loss to the Bills when he made six catches for 82 yards.
Williams spent part of last season on the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers, appearing in one game. The team announced on May 18 that he had been released.
Bills to work out Preston Williams, Marcell Ateman
Though he has yet to sign with a team, Williams has attracted some attention this offseason. Click2Houston’s Aaron Williams reported on May 24 that the “big athletic downfield target” had a workout with the Houston Texans.
Ateman appeared in 19 games over three NFL seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders, making 20 catches for 270 yards and one touchdown. The 28-year-old receiver is coming off a season with the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks, where he caught passes from former Bills quarterback A.J. McCarron. Ateman played in six games, making 19 receptions for 259 yards.
Another Major Move Could Be Looming
As the Bills look to potentially add depth to their roster ahead of the start of mandatory offseason workouts, another major roster move could be looming. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said in a May 29 appearance on ESPN Radio that the Bills and rival Kansas City Chiefs were frontrunners in the race to sign Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins;
“My money would still be on the Bills or the Chiefs working something out,” he said. “I still suspect that you have two contenders in the AFC that are sort of trying to combat each other, make sure one doesn’t get Hopkins over the other, so it’s a little bit of an arms race there.”
Though the Bills are tight against the salary cap, Fowler said the Bills could have an advantage over the Chiefs after Kansas City already used up precious cap space in signing Donovan Smith.
The Bills have already made smaller moves to add skill to their receiving corps, picking up speedy receiver and return specialist Deonte Harty and former Dolphins receiver Trent Sherfield. The Bills also traded up in the first round to grab tight end Dalton Kincaid, who is expected to take snaps in the slot this coming season.
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Bills Hold Workout With ‘Big, Athletic’ Former Dolphins WR