Buffalo Bills enter 2024 training camp looking for new leadership

Leaders, by definition, are extraordinary. Followers are much easier to find.

The Buffalo Bills are hoping to prove that big guys can be expendable pieces. They enter training camp in 2024 after an unprecedented purge of captains. The roster is noticeably greener and undergoing a gentle reset, both economically and in terms of identity.

“With that,” quarterback Josh Allen said after an offseason workout, “there’s a lot of opportunity for our guys that are in this room as an offense and as a team to evolve and grow and become a new version of the Buffalo Bills.”

Buffalo’s locker room elected eight captains last year. Allen and edge rusher Von Miller are the only ones returning. And if Miller can’t make an impact on the field, then his influence won’t resonate.

Several players will wear a “C” for the first time and will perpetuate the new iteration of Buffalo’s established culture. In the case of former captain Stefon Diggs, the Bills are planning for addition by subtraction. The microaggressive star receiver came to be seen as more trouble than he was worth. By trading Diggs to the Houston Texans and eating his massive salary cap, the Bills expect healthier leadership options to materialize.

Buffalo also has two new coordinators compared to this time last year. Joe Brady is entering his first season as offensive coordinator. McDermott elevated Bobby Babich to defensive coordinator, though it hasn’t been decided — or at least announced — whether McDermott will step down as game coordinator. Greybeard defensive coaches John Butler (secondary and passing game coordinator) and Eric Washington (assistant head coach, defensive line) have also left the team.

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Terrel Bernard, the Bills’ defense man

“As far as leadership roles, there’s so many guys that have asked for everyone’s input that everyone is a leader in their own way,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said.

Allen is front and center, but he still needs to raise his profile. As one of the faces of the NFL, the cover boy of “Madden 24” has worked hard at One Bills Drive to be just one of the guys. Part of Allen’s incredible charm is that he comes across as just another guy, always approachable and eager to please. He’s been criticized internally for not separating himself from the other players, for not acting in a more noble manner.

Bills owner Terry Pegula implored coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane to push Allen toward a more executive-level demeanor, a transformation that never happened last year and likely contributed to Allen’s lackluster play through 10 games.

Allen appears to have confirmed that he had thought about this criticism.

“As a franchise quarterback, guys coming up on their second contract aren’t paid just to be the quarterback,” Allen said. “You’re paid to be the best leader you can be. The best quarterback, obviously, comes with that. Leadership is a lot of different things. You wear a lot of hats in this building.”

“Sometimes it’s not the easiest thing. I feel like I’m one of the guys, and sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m looked at a little differently. The guys rely on me a little more.”

While he’s not a new leader, Josh Allen’s leadership style is evolving. (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

In McDermott’s first six seasons, the Bills elected 41 captains, but changed only seven after this season. Three of them (center Eric Wood, defensive tackle Kyle Williams and linebacker Lorenzo Alexander) retired. So the Bills chose to part ways with just four reigning captains heading into this offseason.

Buffalo declined to retain six players who wore a “C” for a combined 17 seasons: receivers Diggs and Gabriel Davis, center Mitch Morse, safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde and special teams linebacker Tyler Matakevich.

Hyde has not committed to continuing his career. There is a greater than 0% chance that he could return to the Bills, even though the club has predicted that this will not be the case.

This type of rotation becomes necessary once a team has identified its franchise quarterback. His second gigantic contract makes it impossible to distribute large sums of money among players. Tough financial decisions are essential for long-term success. Some great players cannot be retained. This creates a revolving door for personnel to accommodate the longevity of the superstar quarterback.

Allen is brimming with youthful exuberance, but he turned 28 in May.

“It’s kind of crazy to think,” Allen said, “that I’m going into my seventh season.”

Young leaders need to emerge. Only seven Bills remain from the 2019 roster. Dawkins, linebacker Matt Milano and long snapper Reid Ferguson (the Bills’ last draft picks not selected by Beane) are the longest-tenured Bills, all entering their eighth seasons.

Top candidates for promotion include running back James Cook, receiver Khalil Shakir, tight ends Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid and center Connor McGovern on offense, inside linebacker Terrel Bernard, edge rushers AJ Epenesa and Greg Rousseau, cornerback Christian Benford and safety Taylor Rapp on defense.

McGovern and Bernard play positions that require inherent leadership, giving instructions and warnings before every play. Rapp will also be in the spotlight as the team’s top safety, a position of critical importance in McDermott’s defensive philosophy.

“It definitely adds a little bit of urgency to being a more vocal leader,” said Knox, who along with defensive tackle Ed Oliver are the only surviving 2019 draft picks. “I think my leadership style is more individual, more personal, more locker room focused. I’m not going to be the guy who gives pep talks or does things that make noise on game day.”

“But I think realizing that Josh and Dion are the only guys on offense that have been here longer than me, allows me to take that leadership to the next level, to have that extra confidence to speak up when I see something that’s not right or to really check on a guy that’s not doing well off the field.”

The training camp roster has only six players who will be over 30 this year. Two newcomers, receiver Mack Hollins and backup right tackle La’el Collins, are alone on offense. The others are Miller, defensive tackles DaQuan Jones and DeShawn Williams and punter Sam Martin.

Miller, 35, is the oldest. His track record and experience warrant a captain’s title, but reduced production always hurts a leader’s effectiveness. Miller remains a question mark. The two-time Super Bowl champion has played in 14 games, including the playoffs, but has not recorded a sack. He has three hits on the quarterback on the 198 dropbacks he’s seen. Pro Football Focus ranked Miller seventh in pass rush snaps, but he ranked 18th in pressure percentage among those with at least 125 attempts.

Miller intentionally reworked his contract to give Buffalo more room under the salary cap. It’s questionable whether he would have been among the veterans cut if his terms weren’t so prohibitive.

Regardless of Miller’s role in 2024, the roster has been revamped. The next wave of leaders must emerge for the Bills to maintain their dominance in the AFC East.

“As a human being, it’s a little bit different because of the different personalities, the different characters in the room,” Benford said. “But football doesn’t seem too different because we’ve already set the standard. We’ve internalized what we’re working for, what we’re working toward.”

(Top photo of James Cook and Khalil Shakir: Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images)