An optimist's guide to the 2025 Buffalo Bills

Allen finished last season as the league’s 14th-leading passer with 3,731 yards and 28 touchdowns, his lowest totals since 2019. But his six interceptions were a career low and 12 fewer than he had the year before.

His 483 attempts were also his fewest since 2019 when he threw 461 passes in 16 games, although you’d never know it to look at his career-best 77.3 QBR. It seems the newlywed quarterback and coaching staff have finally realized that a measured Allen is a better Allen, which bodes well for 2025.

2. Familiarity 

Per Sports Illustrated's Ronnie Eastham, the Bills will welcome back 84.2% of last year’s roster in 2025, well above the 59.3% of players that returned in 2024. 

Among the team’s returning free agents are RB Ty Johnson, FB Reggie Gilliam and S Damar Hamlin. While not exactly Pro Bowlers, the three have 16 years of NFL experience, 11 with Buffalo.

3. James Cook

Assuming Cook and the Bills come to terms in the offseason, the 25-year-old running back may hold the key to an AFC championship. Cook is due to make $5.7M this year but is looking for a new contract as he enters the final year of his rookie deal.

While many expected Cook to hold out after skipping OTAs, he was present for the team’s mandatory mini-camp on Tuesday. 

"I mean, why not (participate)?" Cook said. "I'm here, I'm part of the team, and just not practicing, I'm a leader, so just got to practice."

After scoring four touchdowns in his first two seasons, Cook tied Baltimore's Derrick Henry and Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs for the league lead with 16 touchdowns last year. He also ran for 1,009 yards after posting 1,122 yards the year before, good enough for a second straight Pro Bowl nomination.

4. Defense 

The Bills entered the offseason determined to upgrade their 17th ranked defense and look to have done a good job through the draft and free agency.

The defensive line will welcome former Ram Michael Hoecht, former Bengal Larry Ogunjobi and longtime Charger Joey Bosa. Both Hoecht and Ogunjobi will be suspended for the first six games of the 2024 season after violating the league’s PED policy, but the defense still has plenty of young talent coming in from this year’s draft.

Six of Buffalo’s nine draft picks were used on defensive players including highly-ranked prospects like cornerback Maxwell Hairston, the team’s first-round pick, and defensive tackle T.J. Sanders, its second-round pick.

Starting the season without Hoecht and Ogunjobi won't be easy, but aside from a Week 1 matchup against the Ravens, Buffalo won’t face a winning team until Week 9 when it hosts the Kansas City Chiefs. If the Bills don’t have the division wrapped up by Thanksgiving, something will have gone terribly wrong.