4 Buffalo Bills who won’t be back in 2025 after another gutting playoff exit

Another year, another heartbreaking — and controversial — Buffalo Bills playoff exit at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. Josh Allen once again brought Buffalo to the precipice, but once again it was Patrick Mahomes making the plays (and getting the breaks) when it mattered, while Allen's opportunity to orchestrate a game-winning drive slipped through the outstretched hands of tight end Dalton Kincaid on 4th and 5.

And now Bills players, coaches and executives find themselves in an all-too-familiar place: staring down a long offseason, wondering what they can do to finally get their team over the hump next year. They good news is that Buffalo will have a surplus of draft picks to work with, thanks to an extra second-rounder from the Stefon Diggs trade, extra fourth- and sixth-rounders from other deals and a compensatory fifth-rounder from losing Gabe Davis in free agency. They also won't be under quite as dire a salary cap crunch as they were last spring, although there still isn't a ton of room to work with.

So, where does GM Brandon Beane go from here? He'll need to start by making some tough choices regarding his own players — starting with these four who likely won't be back in Buffalo in 2025.

4. DT DaQuan Jones

Jones has guaranteed money remaining in 2025 thanks to the extension he signed last March, but designating him as a post-June 1 release can still save the Bills some $5.5 million against the cap. That's not nothing considering how much financial restructuring Buffalo has ahead of it this offseason.

The New York native has been a stalwart in the middle of Buffalo's line, but he also just turned 33, and he and the rest of the team's defensive interior underwhelmed a bit this season. It could be time for Beane to look for an upgrade next to Ed Oliver, as the team tries to be a bit firmer and more disruptive against the run moving forward.

3. CB Rasul Douglas

Douglas has been largely excellent since coming over from the Green Bay Packers midway through the 2023 season, but he's started to show his age a bit in recent weeks, and ahead of his 31st birthday, will Buffalo really be willing to compete with the market for his services? It just feels like the Bills have too many other priorities, and given the demand for outside cornerbacks, someone is bound to pay up for him in a way that Beane isn't quite comfortable with.

It helps that Buffalo has been developing young talent behind Douglas for a while now, and players like Kaiir Elam and Ja’Marcus Ingram could be ready for starting roles in 2025. Again, this isn't an indictment of Douglas as a player; but given the overall trendlines and where Buffalo is at with the rest of its roster, a reunion might not make much sense depending on how free agency plays out.

2. EDGE Von Miller

The most glaringly obvious cap casualty on the roster is Miller, now strictly a rotational edge rusher at this point in his Hall of Fame career. The 35-year-old (who will be 36 by the start of next season) took a heavy paycut ahead of the 2024 season to remain on the Bills roster, and while another restructure could be on the table, it seems more likely that Beane will opt to just cut ties: Designating Miller a post-June 1 release would save Buffalo some $17.4 million against the cap, and that money could go a long way to finding more significant roster upgrades.

Miller still might have a little bit left in the tank — he did have six sacks in 13 games this year, after all — but he can't be counted on for a significant snap count at this stage, and it might not be worth the trouble to hammer out a new deal when Beane can likely find some cheap third-down pass-rush juice elsewhere.

1. WR Amari Cooper

Cooper might be the thorniest question Beane faces this offseason. He was by all accounts an exemplary teammate during his time with Buffalo, but the production was disappointing, to say the least: The former top-five pick caught just 20 balls for 297 yards and two scores over eight regular-season games with the Bills, then followed that up with just six catches for 41 yards across the team's three playoff contests.

Cooper's track record would suggest that he still has plenty of juice left, if not as a true WR1 then as something close to it, and he's likely to see a pretty robust market in free agency next spring. Will that market price him out of Buffalo? Allen needs more weapons on the outside, but Cooper's age, lack of recent production and cost might not make him the right fit.