Dynasty Fantasy Football Free Agency Preview 2026: Buffalo Bills

We do this series every year. And the following paragraph is verbatim what we wrote to start last year’s:

The story of the Buffalo Bills has been the same for some time now. This team CAN win. But they don’t. They continue to come up short. And every year it’s our job to comb through the wreckage and figure out how they can get over the hump. Maybe this time will be different?

And the harsh reality is that, in any one of these seasons, the Bills were good enough to win the Super Bowl. But there were other great teams as well, and things need to break just right to win. This time they have fired their head coach with hopes that that will spark some life. But they still have holes to fill in free agency and, later, via the NFL Draft. It’s our job to look over the Bills' roster, the contracts, and the cap space to predict what they might do in terms of offensive weapons.

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*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*

Buffalo Bills Depth Chart 2026 (Fantasy Football Relevant)

KEY

• White = free agent
• Green = role is safe
• Yellow =  role in flux
• Orange = likely a depth piece
• Red = roster spot not guaranteed

Buffalo Bills Free Agency 2026

• CURRENT PROJECTED 2026 SALARIES: $288M
• CURRENT ESTIMATED 2026 CAP SPACE: -$12M

Free Agent Types

Unrestricted free agent: Any player with four or more accrued seasons whose contract has expired. They are free to negotiate with any team.

Restricted free agent: A player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. The CBA allowed for NFL teams to tender these players to one-year qualifying offers to retain them. Another team can sign them, but would need to provide the tendering team with compensation. In layman’s terms, if a new team signs a player, the current team can match it, or they receive the corresponding pick from the new team. These are the projected RFA tender levels per OverTheCap.com:

• 1st Round - $7,893,000
• 2nd Round - $5,658,000
• Right of First Refusal - $3,453,000

Exclusive rights free agent: Any player with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract. If his original team offers him a one-year contract at the league minimum, the player cannot negotiate with other teams. If the team wants the player back, these contracts are a no-brainer, as the player either needs to play on the contract or sit out.

Bills Quarterback Depth Chart

Josh Allen

Josh Allen is the franchise, and he’s locked up through 2030 on an extension. Bills fans have not had the overall success that they’d like, but it’s also hard to complain too much when you have a franchise QB in the MVP conversation every year. Fans of teams like the Cleveland Browns certainly don’t want to hear it.

For fantasy football, Allen is an interesting topic given what we know about true rushing quarterbacks. There have now been three QBs to run over 100 times at the age of 28 or older: Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Josh Allen. Allen has the size to run like a bruiser, but so did Cam Newton, and we know how that ended. We also have quotes from Josh Allen dating back to 2023, where he acknowledges that he will eventually need to run less.

Of course, we’ve seen rushing QBs transition their game into more passing and remain highly fantasy relevant into their 30s. The best example would be Russell Wilson, who went from “rushing QB” to more “mobile QB,” where he still ran at times but focused more on moving the pocket and downfield passing. Allen can certainly be that kind of guy while still battering in some rushing TDs, so he’s more of a hold for us, whereas guys in similar positions sometimes end up being a sell. He doesn’t NEED to run 100 times as he has in 7 straight years - we’d take 5 times a game, which is about 85. 

Mitchell Trubisky

The Bills want Trubisky back. He reportedly has a great relationship with Josh Allen, who bounces things off him. But he’s also mentioned that he may want a chance to compete again to potentially play, which simply isn’t on the table in Buffalo. If he’s back in Buffalo, we can assume those options aren’t out there at this time.

• Reserves/Futures: Shane Buechele

BILLS QB FREE AGENCY TAKE: As mentioned above, the Bills would be happy to have Mitch Trubisky back. So that’s plan A. If he’s gone, they don’t really need a development project, so the ideal candidate is a veteran to help Allen. Bonus points if he has some mobility and they don’t need to change the scheme much if Allen goes down.

• POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Mitch Trubisky, Marcus Mariota, Tyrod Taylor, Tyler Huntley

Bills Running Back Depth Chart

James Cook

James Cook got the big extension last offseason, and he rewarded them by leading the league in rushing yards. He gives up some snaps on pass downs as well as some of the “garbage time” when they are either up or down big, but he gets most of the high leverage snaps. The one format where it might be wise to sell high is full PPR, as he doesn’t get the targets that some of the top backs do. That’s why, despite leading the league in rushing yards, he wasn’t a top-five back in PPR. 

Ray Davis

At 220 pounds, Davis is the bruiser backup to James Cook. If anything were to happen to Cook, we’d expect Ray Davis to start and Ty Johnson to operate on pass downs. With bad teams, we aren’t generally interested in this kind of backup, but on a team like the Bills, he has fantasy appeal based on touchdown equity alone. 

Ty Johnson

One of the reasons that James Cook isn’t putting up big numbers in the pass game is Ty Johnson. Despite playing one fewer game, Johnson played 262 pass snaps to 336 for James Cook. He’s under contract for 2026, and they are generally happy with his performance, so we don’t expect any change there.

Reggie Gilliam

The fullback is a fan favorite, and they brought him back on a one-year deal in 2025. He’s an unrestricted free agent and, as the Kyle Shanahan tree spreads, fullbacks become more and more in demand. 

• Reserves/Futures: Frank Gore Jr 

BILLS RB FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Bills are pretty much all set at the running back position with everyone still under contract from 2025. Whether or not they bring back Reggie Gilliam isn’t super consequential for fantasy football purposes. 

• POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: N/A

Bills Wide Receiver Depth Chart

Khalil Shakir

The Bills are a weird team when it comes to wide receivers. A lot of teams have a guy out of the slot who leads in targets. But usually that player is a full-time guy. Not here. Khalil Shakir only played more than 75% of the snaps in one game. He does skew more towards “pure slot” than slot/flankers like CeeDe Lamb or Chris Godwin. 

That makes Shakir a pretty format-specific guy in fantasy football. If you play in a full PPR league with either a lot of teams or a lot of roster spots, Shakir is useful. If you play in a shallow league or standard league, he’s not particularly appealing. His best season in four years is 821 yards and 4 touchdowns. Personally, this is the kind of player I sell in all formats.

Keon Coleman

They drafted Keon Coleman with an early draft pick to be their big-bodied split end. But, so far, the results have not been great. It’s never a good sign when the owner of the team blames the coach he just fired for drafting you. Coleman has been benched at times for missing meetings, and now it sounds like a change of scenery might be his only path to success.

Brandin Cooks

After being released by the Saints, Cooks jumped on with the Bills to add a field-stretching element. His route tree and target share aren’t what they once were, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back, as he did make a couple of impactful plays in the playoffs. He’s an unrestricted free agent. 

Joshua Palmer

The contract they gave Palmer virtually locks him in for at least two of the three years, as he has ~$11M guaranteed with only half a million in savings if released. He did not make the impact that they had hoped, but their hands are tied in terms of him being on the roster in 2026. 

Curtis Samuel

Samuel is another guy they signed who didn’t help as much as they expected. Unlike Palmer, he can be released for ~$6M in savings and only $3.45M in dead cap. If he is released, as I suspect, it will happen during the next calendar month, as he has a roster bonus that hits on March 15th, where an extra $1M becomes guaranteed. 

Tyrell Shavers

The undrafted Shavers picked up more snaps as the season progressed, especially in the playoffs. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL, which he miraculously played through in the Jaguars playoff game. I expect him back in 2026, but he’ll almost certainly start on the PUP list. 

Gabe Davis

The familiar face rejoined the Bills midseason after being released by the Jaguars in the offseason. Like Shavers, he suffered a torn ACL in the Jaguars playoff game. Unlike Shavers, Davis is not under contract for 2026, and I’m not sure the Bills will look to reunite with him given the conditions. 

• Reserves/Futures: Mecole Hardman, Stephen Gosnell, Jalen Virgil

BILLS WR FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Bills spent an early second-round draft pick on Keon Coleman, hoping that he would be their big-bodied split end on the outside. That’s looking like a bust, meaning that role is still open. They could opt for a speedy field stretcher and just use multiple tight end sets instead of a true split end, but they’ve been doing that for years, and that hasn’t worked. So, if I were the Bills, I would try to find the best option that fits that mold as a true X receiver on the outside. These guys don’t often become available, so they may need to look back to the draft. 

• POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: George Pickens, Mike Evans, Alec Pierce,  Romeo Doubs, Brian Thomas Jr (via trade), Brandon Aiyuk (via trade),

Bills Tight End Depth Chart

Dalton Kincaid

The story here hasn’t changed much. They like Dalton Kincaid in the pass games. That’s why he leads the league in stats like targets and yards per route run. But he’s not reliable in the run blocking game - and often ends up injured. The highest snap share he played all year wsa 55%, and he didn’t play more than 50% of the snaps in a game after Week 5. And, believe it or not, these are the kinds of guys we like to buy in dynasty.

The Bills are likely to pick up the fifth-year option on Kincaid, per comments from Brandon Beane. And the floor for Kincaid has been pretty decent, even as a part-time player, because Josh Allen is a great QB. The ceiling for Kincaid could be even higher if they expand his role or he inevitably leaves for a bigger role, like Evan Engram did after the Giants kept him through his fifth-year option. So he’s a reasonably priced player to target in dynasty. On the sheet, we have his role marked as yellow, which means potentially in flux, as the Dawson Knox situation below could have a big impact.

Dawson Knox

Where Dalton Kincaid has lacked in reliability, Dawson Knox has made up for it. He skews more blocking but offers more durability. Unfortunately, his contract situation could land him on the chopping block as they could save $12M by making him a post-June 1 designated release. He has a $1.5M roster bonus that hits on March 15th, so the decision will likely be made before then. I could also see them working out an extension that frees up some cap space, as they like Knox - the contract is the issue. I personally think they find a way to figure it out, and keep Knox so tight is one less position to worry about.

Jackson Hawes

Hawes is the primary blocking tight end, blocking on over 30% of his pass plays. It’s rare for guys used this way to later transition into more of a pass-catching role, but we’ve seen it with guys like Martellus Bennett. I’m not betting on it. 

Keleki Latu

Latu was the TE4 who was called up at various times when guys like Kincaid were injured. He primarily appeared on special teams while serving as depth. He’s not a roster lock as he has zero guaranteed money tied to him.

• Reserves/Futures: N/A

BILLS TE FREE AGENCY TAKE: Everything really boils down to Dawson Knox here. If they just keep Knox on his current contract or they find a way to rework it, the Bills don’t need to do much. If they release Knox for the cap space, that’s where they need to find affordable help on the blocking side of things. Maybe they even trust Jackson Hawes in that role and go really cheap, who knows.

• POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Adam Trautman, Foster Moreau, Austin Hooper, Daniel Bellinger, Grant Calcaterra, Charlie Kolar

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