The Buffalo Bills found great success with their “everybody eats” approach to the passing game in 2024, leading quarterback Josh Allen to a league MVP award as he spread the targets out to a wider group of pass-catchers.
That approach fell flat in 2025, however, as Bills receivers struggled to get separation and opposing defenses put significant pressure on Allen. One NFL analyst believes the Bills must deepen their talent pool for the next season, suggesting they take another run at a game-breaking receiver and return specialist who is currently headed to the Super Bowl.
Bills Urged to Land Rashid Shaheed
Analyst Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus broke down the top potential free agency target for all 32 NFL teams, suggesting the Bills make a run at Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed.
“New head coach Joe Brady will inherit a Bills roster that needs attention on both sides of the ball, but the team’s receiving corps seems the most dire,” Locker wrote. “With Khalil Shakir returning as the lone consistent contributor, Buffalo needs more weapons for Josh Allen.”
The Bills were connected to Shaheed at this season’s NFL trade deadline, but he ultimately landed with the Seahawks and gave their offense and special teams another weapon.
Locker suggested that Shaheed would be a great fit alongside Allen in Buffalo’s offense.
“Shaheed owns a career 74.2 PFF receiving grade, including posting a 61.5 receiving mark since being acquired by the Seahawks midseason, but he would be a strong fit with Allen,” Locker wrote. “The 27-year-old has dropped only two passes across his four-year career, and his 95.7 deep receiving grade is the 12th-highest among qualified receivers since 2022. Shaheed would help inject perimeter speed to Buffalo’s offense without breaking the bank.”
Joe Brady Faces Another Wide Receiver Decision
The Bills face some other decisions with their existing wide receiving corps, including what to do with wayward receiver Keon Coleman. He was benched twice last season for disciplinary issues after missing team practices or meetings, then failed to meet the expectations set during his rookie season.
Coleman became something of a punching bag after the team fired head coach Sean McDermott, with owner Terry Pegula assigning blame to McDermott for pushing the team to draft Coleman.
Coleman did get a vote of confidence from new head coach Joe Brady, who said at his introductory press conference that he believed the second-year receiver could turn things around.
“He’s going to continue to grow, but the elements that we saw in the draft process — the confidence that I have in him and his ability — and as long as he’s handling what he needs to do off the field, I have no doubt that he’s going to be successful on the field,” Brady said, via ESPN.
Brady also made it clear that he wasn’t in line with the owner’s criticism of the receiver.
“Mr. Pegula can literally do whatever Mr. Pegula wants to do,” Brady said. “And part of the thing that I’ve loved about this is, look, the communication and airing your thoughts and your feelings, that’s what I want. That’s part of our culture.
Bills Urged to Add Game-Breaking WR as New Weapon for Josh Allen