Projecting AFC East records for the 2024 season

Bills record: 10-7 

A strong finish to the 2023 season saw the Bills win the division. They reached their Week 13 bye with a 6-6 record and then won six games on the bounce. Only the eventual Super Bowl winners, the Chiefs, could stop them.  

Like Miami and New England, the Bills will have a new defensive coordinator in 2024 as Bobby Babich steps up from his job as linebackers coach. He’s been in western New York since 2017, though, so it should be a pretty simple transition. Joe Brady will continue where he left off in 2023 as the offensive coordinator, but he’ll have to come up with a better plan than run it, run it, and then run it some more. 

A minor cap crunch meant the Bills weren’t as proactive in free agency as their Miami counterparts. Brandon Beane did sign in 19 newbies. But when 28 players left, and the new faces are the likes of Chase Claypool and Mitchell Trubisky, it’s difficult to say they have improved their talent pool. In all, they brought in nine new wide receivers (although they have since released Quintez Cephus). After seven departed, they have leaned into rebuilding their defensive front, bringing in nine new defensive linemen. 

The Bills didn’t have a first-round draft pick, having traded away their 28th and 32nd picks. They acquired the 33rd pick from the Panthers to draft wide receiver Keon Coleman. Coleman averaged 13.1 yards per reception in college (Javon Baker averaged 17.5).

But what Coleman lacks in consistency he makes up for with highlight reel plays. He’s 6 feet 4 inches tall, too, so he’ll bring the red zone threat that left when Stef Diggs agitated his way to Houston. After signing 14 undrafted free agents and inviting 12 more to minicamp, there will be a youthful feel to the 2024 Bills. 

The football gods shone brightly on them when they gave them a cupcake game to begin the season, though. They host a Cardinals team that will also have many new faces trying to bed in (as many as 26). But they come back to earth hard in Week 2 when they have to travel to Miami.

The last time the Bills visited Hard Rock Stadium in September, four players left the game with what was described as “heat illness.” That game was played later in September, too! The Bills’ bye comes in Week 12 and is followed by the toughest part of the schedule. They play at home against the 49ers and then travel to Los Angeles to play the Rams.

They will follow that game up with a trip to Detroit. They end the regular season with three divisional games, two against New England and at home against the Jets. It’s going to be a brutal culmination of a testing season.