A highly sought veteran for the practice squad last season, can Virgil break camp with the Bills this summer?
The Buffalo Bills place a high priority on a wideout’s ability to block. Granted, I’m sure that most NFL teams, if not all of them, want their receivers to be fundamentally sound while helping in the run game. The Bills, though, seem to hold receivers who can block in high regard.
If that’s the first thing someone is discussing about a receiver, though, is that code for saying that player isn’t very good at his main job, which is catching the football? When I was a young assistant baseball coach, one of my mentors once said that “If the first thing we say when we’re discussing a player is that ‘he’s a great kid,’ that usually tells us what we need to know about his ability.”
In today’s edition of “90 players in 90 days,” we discuss a wideout who is a fantastic blocker.
Name: Jalen Virgil
Number: 13
Position: WR
Height/Weight: 6’1”, 210 pounds
Age: 26 (27 on 7/13/2025)
Experience/Draft: 4; signed with the Denver Broncos following the 2022 NFL Draft
College: Appalachian State
Acquired: Signed with Bills’ practice squad on 8/28/2024
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Virgil signed a reserve/future deal on January 28. That contract is worth $1,034,500 for one year. If he makes the 53-man roster, that number also represents Virgil’s cap hit for the season. If he’s released, the Bills will carry a dead-cap hit of $4,500 for the season.
2024 Recap: Virgil began the league year with the Broncos, and he spent the preseason with the team. In three preseason games, Virgil saw just two targets — catching one for 13 yards.
Denver released him as part of their final cuts on August 27, but he wasn’t on the open market for long. He joined Buffalo’s practice squad the following day, and that’s where he remained until October, when myriad injuries at the position led the Bills to activate him from the practice squad against the Seattle Seahawks and the Miami Dolphins in Weeks 8 and 9, respectively.
Buffalo signed him to their 53-man roster on November 8, and he appeared in the team’s next four games. On December 14, the Bills released him, but they re-signed him to the practice squad the next day. He appeared in one more regular-season game — Buffalo’s 24-21 Week 16 victory over the New England Patriots — but did not appear in a playoff game.
Virgil played 37 offensive snaps and was not targeted in the passing game. On special teams, he played 83 snaps, totaling two tackles.
Positional outlook: Virgil is one of 13 receivers on the current roster. Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir, Laviska Shenault Jr., Tyrell Shavers, Stephen Gosnell, Kelly Akharaiyi, Joshua Palmer, Elijah Moore, K.J. Hamler, Kristian Wilkerson, and Kaden Prather are the others.
2025 Offseason: Virgil is healthy and participating in offseason work.
2025 Season outlook: Barring some unforeseen uptick in his receiving usage or ability, it’s hard to say that Virgil has a real chance at the 53-man roster this season. Even if there are injuries ahead of him, there are likely five players — Shakir, Coleman, Samuel, Palmer, and Moore — whom I’d call safely ahead of him, and a handful of others—Shenault Jr., Shavers, Hamler, and Prather—whose receiving ability I’d prioritize over Virgil’s.
If Virgil is going to make the roster as WR6, he’ll to be as good as Mack Hollins was last year on special teams, and I’d argue that he’d have to show at least some of the potential as a wideout. My lean for that sixth spot is Shenault Jr. given his prowess as a returner, but it’s possible that Virgil can put himself in position with a strong preseason. Ultimately, I think he’s headed elsewhere or to Buffalo’s practice squad in 2025.