The Buffalo Bills have made some major changes in their wide receiver room this offseason. First, they allowed Gabe Davis to leave in free agency for a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Next, they traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans for a second-round pick, along with a swap of fifth- and sixth-rounders. And in the NFL Draft, they selected former Florida State wideout Keon Coleman.
The latest step in that revamp came on Friday, when the Bills announced that they signed veteran wideout Chase Claypool to a one-year contract. Claypool, a former second-round pick out of Notre Dame, has played for the Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears. He made a quick impact in Pittsburgh as a rookie, but has since seen his production wane with each passing season and has bounced around the league over the last two years.
In his debut with Pittsburgh, Claypool caught 62 passes for 873 yards and nine touchdowns, and also ran for two scores. But he has seen both his receptions and receiving yards total drop with each successive season, and has totaled only three touchdowns across the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons.
After falling out of favor with the Steelers, Claypool was traded to the Bears for a second-round pick, only to disappoint down the stretch of the 2022 season, fall out of the receiver rotation in 2023 and then get unceremoniously traded to Miami with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a sixth-rounder. He played just 51 regular-season snaps in Miami and only four in the team's blowout playoff loss to the Chiefs, and languished on the free-agent market until the post-draft period.
There is a talented player somewhere inside Claypool, as evidenced by his early-career production, but three different teams have been unable to tap into it over the last three years. Perhaps the Bills can unlock something the Steelers, Bears and Dolphins couldn't; but in the event that doesn't happen, it's a low-cost, low-risk investment anyway.
