Buffalo Bills can still add UFAs to fill roster holes

Q: What positions are the Buffalo Bills looking to fill with unrestricted free agents?

The Bills are looking to fill gaps in edge rusher, wide receiver, linebacker, defensive tackle, guard, safety, offensive tackle, and cornerback positions.

Q: Who are some potential unrestricted free agents the Bills might sign?

Potential targets include DJ Reader (defensive tackle), Bobby Okereke (linebacker), and Martin Emerson (cornerback).

Q: When did the second wave of unrestricted free agency start for the NFL?

The second wave of unrestricted free agency began unofficially on Monday at 4 PM ET.

Q: How many draft picks did the Buffalo Bills add to their roster recently?

The Buffalo Bills added 10 draft picks to their roster over the weekend.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - NOVEMBER 03: Martin Emerson Jr. #23 of the Cleveland Browns yells while running onto the field prior to a game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Huntington Bank Field on November 03, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images Second wave of free agency starts today. General Manager and President of Football Operations Brandon Beane added 10 draft picks to the Buffalo Bills’ roster over the weekend. And while there are places on the final 53-man roster and practice squad available for the edge rusher, wide receiver, linebacker, defensive tackle, guard, safety, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, and two cornerbacks the Bills selected, roster construction season doesn’t end after pick #257. Undrafted free agency is well underway and will add to the 90-man roster the Bills will take into the spring and summer, but the second way of unrestricted free agency kicked off (unofficially) Monday at 4 PM ET. That time marked the beginning of the period where teams can sign unrestricted free agents without there being impact on the compensatory pick formula for their teams for next offseason. It also coincides with the desires of veterans and their agents as well; they can wait to see what positions a team selects with premium draft picks before deciding to sign on the dotted line in the hopes of not getting usurped on the depth chart before playing a snap for their new team. The Bills addressed a lot of their perceived roster needs during the 2026 NFL Draft, but there are a few names out there that, if signed, would represent reinforcements or even upgrades at positions of lesser strength for the team: DJ Reader – Defensive Tackle Reader has been heavily linked to the and visited them prior to the draft, but is worth at least a minor note here. Brandon Beane told WGR550 on Monday morning that if the team lined up to play today, second-year DT , who flashed in spurts last season, . It should be noted that Beane has consistently elected to not pursue a traditional nose tackle during the draft and new defensive coordinator not only saw a tackle utilized in the middle of his defensive line who was listed at 305 pounds on the team website, but also had a 310 pound defensive tackle in Keanu Benton playing over the center during his Wisconsin days. These items in combination make a Reader addition highly unlikely, and he hasn’t provided the same level of juice to a defense as he did between 2020 and 2023 but has consistently demonstrated ability to impact a team’s front seven in an area where the Bills are weak: rush defense. – Linebacker Another player who makes a lot of sense for a team that’s not domiciled in Western New York, Okereke may end up in Nashville as a member of the . The Bills, however, only utilized a fourth round pick on TCU’s Kaleb Elarms-Orr during the draft and saw and both depart while ostensibly having Elarms-Orr competing with for the second inside linebacker position next to veteran and 2025 re-signee . In the event they’d prefer not to hope that Williams and/or Elarms-Orr are ready for the challenge of starting in the NFL, they may choose to bring in a veteran backstop like Okereke. Adding the previously-mentioned Thompson to the linebacker mix last year proved to be a high-level move by Brandon Beane, as the former ended up needing to play a notable snap load and was effective in the defensive run by former defensive coordinator Bobby Babich and previous head coach Sean McDermott. Martin Emerson – Cornerback Brandon Beane said in his post-draft press conference that his number one need on the team coming into the weekend was cornerback. He drafted two of them, using a second-round pick on and a seventh rounder on But given the scar tissue clearly present after the team was forced to play the backups to the backups in meaningful games over the last few years, he may want to consider bringing it a veteran backstop. Emerson was viewed as an ascending player for the Cleveland Browns before a particularly ill-timed 2025 Achilles tear wiped out the final year of his rookie contract. The injury occurred during training camp, though, and although he may not be at full strength until 2027, it may provide an opportunity for the cash-strapped Bills to get a younger veteran with heavy man coverage experience to come in and compete for that outside cornerback role with “IGB” behind penciled in starters and . I wouldn’t anticipate the Bills making some sort of splash by signing a name like wide receiver or , but post-draft, the opportunities are back on the table for the team to make additions to the team now that agents are picking up the phone. …and that’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’m Bruce Nolan with Buffalo Rumblings. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram and look for new episodes of “The Bruce Exclusive” every Thursday on the Rumblings Cast Network —