Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘His chances of making the Bills’ 53-man roster are slim, but he could be a candidate for the practice squad because it is known that McDermott believes his skill set and strength could really benefit him in the middle of the defensive line.’

‘Signed on May 14 to a one-year free agent deal after playing four seasons with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and the last two in Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes, the 6-foot-4 Valdes-Scantling brings ideal height, but even more important, great deep speed which makes him a legitimate vertical threat. That’s something the Bills have lacked on the outside for most of Josh Allen’s time in Buffalo.’

‘“I’ve never been through nothing like this couple years,” Elam said Tuesday following an OTA workout at One Bills Drive. “I’m not gonna lie, I’m not gonna sit here and say I’ve been going through it my whole life. Mentally, I feel like it kind of ate at me. Well, not kind of, it did eat at me.”’

‘“You’re gonna put together the offense around the guys that you’ve got. So for us to just say, ‘Hey, we’re going to scrap everything because everything was broken.’ That wasn’t the case. There’ll be some elements of things that I believe in, but it’s more of like, tell me who we have on our football team and what they can do well and we’re going to do that.”’

‘The beaded bracelets are in Bills colors along with “Let’s Go Bills.” Logan, who lives in Spencerport and is a fourth-grader at Taylor Elementary School, included a drawing of Coleman scoring a touchdown. The letter told Coleman he hopes to meet him at training camp and gave Coleman some western New York foodie tips: “The Best pizza is Imperial. Try Wegmans sandwich ultimate chocolate chip cookies with the frosting in the middle.”‘

‘We seem to say it every year, but the Buffalo Bills are facing yet another daunting schedule in 2024. Of course, this is what happens when you win the AFC East four years in a row; you draw a first-place schedule and this season, the Bills will play seven games against 2023 playoff teams – that includes the Dolphins twice. And they play 11 games against teams that finished above .500.’

‘Valdes-Scantling is by no means a star in the NFL, but the 29-year-old is going into his seventh NFL season and if nothing else, brings some deep speed to a Buffalo receiver corps that needs it.’

‘“Oh, it was great,” Frank Jr. said Friday on the first day of the Bills’ rookie mini camp. “I came to like three games. It was cold when they played the Jets at the end of season. But I loved it here – what do they say, ‘Hey, hey, hey hey.’ Yeah, I loved that. This is like one of the most enthusiastic places I’ve ever been.”’

‘Brown finished out the 2022 season, then handled play-by-play throughout 2023 with analyst Eric Wood at his side. It is expected that Brown will be officially named as Murphy’s replacement, but there has been an indication that others will be interviewed for the position.’

‘Claypool is a massive target at 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, but he has not been able to utilize that size and has just 175 career receptions for 2,261 yards and 13 TDs. His best two seasons were his first two with Pittsburgh when he caught 62 and 59 passes and totaled 11 touchdowns, but Mike Tomlin grew tired of his inconsistency and moved on. With the Bears and Dolphins, he was a non-factor.’

‘amuel, Shakir and Coleman figure to be the main ingredients in the Bills’ preferred three-wide formation but at this point, the receiver room is not nearly as dangerous as it was last year. Shakir has made nice strides, but he’s not drawing double teams from anyone, and Samuel’s career-best season came in 2020 – the year Brady was the OC for the Panthers and he caught 77 balls for 851 yards and three TDs. Coleman will need to hit the ground running, but his college production did not scream No. 1 receiver in the NFL.’

‘Here’s how NFL experts graded the Bills’ draft…’.

‘”Where’d you all get all the snacks from?” Coleman asked reporters. “I’m good. Them cookies looking good, though. I ain’t lying to you.”‘

‘Frank Gore Jr. has an NFL pedigree. Gore Jr. was a two-time All-Sun Belt running back and led Southern Mississippi in rushing yards in each of the last four seasons, totaling 4,022 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns in his career. Gore Jr. will have a chance to compete for a roster spot on a Bills team that isn’t deep at running back. James Cook is the starter but behind him are rookie fourth-round pick Ray Davis along with Ty Johnson and Darrynton Evans.’

‘It seemed clear to me that general manager Brandon Beane was hoping that LSU’s Brian Thomas would fall to No. 28 in the first round, but the Jaguars took him at No. 23. We don’t know whether Beane tried to trade up to get in position to pick the player who was widely regarded as the best receiver prospect after the undeniable top threesome of Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze, all of whom went in the first nine picks, but I’d guess that he was working the phones pretty hard.’