Buffalo Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers (80) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Bryce Hall (34). Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Bills’ preseason hero switching to former All-Pro’s jersey number

Originally posted on Buffalo Bills on SI | By Khari Demos | Last updated Sep 1, 2025 5:10 PM ET

A new season on the 53-man roster for Buffalo Bills’ wideout Tyrell Shavers also means a new number is coming too.

After becoming a preseason star for the Bills and making highlight-reel plays throughout training camp, the San Diego State product is switching from No. 80 to No. 14 for the 2025 season.

The number is a callback for Shavers, as he wore 14 while playing for the Aztecs. But it’s a number that Buffalo fans have become familiar with due to several players in history.

No. 14, which was donned by Chase Claypool in 2024, was brought back to prominence with the Bills when Stefon Diggs began wearing it from 2020 to 2023 upon his arrival from the Vikings. And he wore the number tremendously, posting huge numbers on the field and garnering two All-Pro selections and four Pro Bowl nods.

In 2020, Diggs just missed out on the triple crown, as he led the league in both receptions and receiving yards.

Despite helping Buffalo clinch four-straight AFC East titles, Diggs and the Bills came to an impasse in 2024. Ultimately, he was traded to the Texans, and he’s now an AFC East rival, signing with the Patriots in March.

The number had been worn by another big-name WR for Buffalo, ironically, another volatile WR. When the Bills made Sammy Watkins their first-round pick in 2014, the Clemson product chose No. 14.

And while there were some moments of brilliance for Watkins, his time in Buffalo never reached its full potential. He would go on to have moderate success in his career, winning Super Bowl LIV with the Chiefs.

Another fairly recent Bills’ player to rock No. 14 is a true fan favorite. Not many players captured the hearts of Buffalo fans like Ryan Fitzpatrick, whose journeyman career had its most significant stop with the Bills from 2009 to 2012.

While “Fitz” wasn’t able to end the Bills’ dreaded playoff drought, the Mafia holds him in a special place in history because he was the closest thing Buffalo had seen to a franchise quarterback since the retirement of Hall of Famer Jim Kelly.

So, Shavers will have lots of eyes on him with No. 14. And for Bills Mafia’s sake, hopefully, he can have the same production Diggs had, without all the extracurriculars.