The new Bills receiver was catching passes at OTAs.
The Buffalo Bills signed former New York Jets and Cleveland Browns receiver Elijah Moore right after the 2025 NFL Draft in an attempt to shore up their wide receiver corps after not picking one until the seventh round that weekend. With a pretty full corps of receivers already on the roster, coupled with what we eventually found out about his contract, it was fair to question where Moore would align in the pecking order. We have our first early indications from Bills OTAs.
At this time of year, Bills beat reporters are prohibited from saying in communications where players are lining up and who is running with the first team or second team. Even if they do report it in other ways, head coach Sean McDermott said there isn’t really a depth chart right now while acknowledging that at least Josh Allen will be a first-team player.
So it’s noteworthy, then, that Allen and Elijah Moore connected on several passes in the first on-field practice of the offseason per Sal Cappaccio of WGR 550. At the bare minimum, Moore is working in with portions of the first-team offense.
This offseason, the Bills signed Khalil Shakir to a pretty nice-sized contract extension, but he plays primarily in the slot. They drafted Keon Coleman in the second round in the 2024 NFL Draft, so he’s likely to have a role outside. Buffalo added Josh Palmer in 2025 free agency at a hefty salary number and has Curtis Samuel on a generous number from 2024, too. We didn’t hear anything about who Laviska Shenault or former draft picks Jalen Virgil and KJ Hamler were working with.
At least as far as investments go, Moore would seem to be fifth in hierarchy. Working in with the ones is a good indication that we will see him get a shot to make a big impact on the field.
That being said, Chase Claypool had a great spring at OTAs and didn’t make the final roster. Marquez Valdes-Scantling was in the top five at the WR position heading into training camp in 2024, barely managed to make the team, and was released in October when the Bills traded for Amari Cooper. So please take all of this with a grain of salt.