Bills give Josh Allen some much-needed wide receiver help

If the Buffalo Bills are going to take full advantage of Josh Allen's abilities they need to do some serious work to get him help at wide receiver, especially with Gabe Davis leaving in free agency. On Thursday evening the team took a big step toward doing that by reportedly agreeing to terms with free-agent wide receiver Curtis Samuel.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it is a three-year contract that will pay Samuel $24 million. 

The former Ohio State receiver spent the past three seasons playing for the Washington Commanders, but he has some familiarity with a lot of people in the Buffalo organization. Samuel was originally drafted by the Carolina Panthers when Buffalo's current general manager – Brandon Beane – worked in the front office. Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady also briefly coached Samuel with the Panthers.

While Davis was a great deep-threat option for Allen, he did not offer much in the way of consistency and would oftentimes be a non-factor on offense for extended periods of time. While Samuel does not have the big-play ability that Davis provided, he is a more versatile and consistent player who can be used as both a runner and pass-catcher. 

Samuel has caught at least 62 passes in three of the past four seasons, with the 2021 season being the only exception during that stretch (he was limited to just five games that year). He has also rushed for 715 yards and seven touchdowns for his career. 

Even before Davis' departure the Bills needed to add play-makers around Allen. 

Stefon Diggs is a great No. 1 option, but the depth after him left something to be desired.

The addition of Samuel, the continued development of Khalil Shakir and potentially a significant addition in the draft might help make an already strong Bills offense even better.

You only get so many prime years with a franchise quarterback before your championship window closes. The Bills are getting close to reaching that point and have yet to make a Super Bowl with Allen. Surrounding him with more play-makers could help get them there.