The Buffalo Bills spent most of their big offseason resources doing one of two things. They either came to agreements on contract extensions with existing players, or they added pieces to improve their defense. That constituted the majority of Buffalo’s moves during the spring and summer months.
However, general manager Brandon Beane did add one big-ticket wide receiver to the fold. While quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen will largely have the same group of pass-catchers to work with this year, Beane added one speedy wideout from an AFC foe to the Bills. This newcomer brings speed and a knack for separating at all levels of play.
Will that addition pay off immediately, or will chemistry take time to build between quarterback and receiver? In our latest edition of “90 players in 90 days,” we discuss that veteran newcomer at wide receiver.
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**Name:** Joshua Palmer
**Number:** 5
**Position:** WR
**Height/Weight:** 6’1”, 210 pounds
**Age:** 25 (26 on 9/22/2025)
**Experience/Draft:** 5; selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the third round (No. 77 overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft
**College:** Tennessee
**Acquired:** Signed with Buffalo on 3/13/2025
**Financial situation (per Spotrac):** Palmer signed a three-year contract worth $29 million overall. Of that total, $18 million is guaranteed. For the 2025 season, Palmer carries a cap hit of $4.31 million, and Buffalo would be on the hook for a dead-cap charge of $15.25 million if he were released.
**2024 Recap:** Palmer’s final season in LA was similar to most of his other seasons there, as people who were expecting it to be the year where he broke out as a legitimate top target were once again disappointed. After posting a 72/769/3 line on 107 targets in his second season, Palmer struggled to see that much usage again with the Chargers.
Last season, he played in 15 of Los Angeles’ 17 games, making seven starts. He saw 65 targets, catching 39 passes for 584 yards and a touchdown in a role that was mostly field-stretching in nature. He missed time due to elbow, foot, and calf injuries, including the Chargers’ 32-12 playoff loss to the Houston Texans.
**Positional outlook:** Palmer is likely to be one of Buffalo’s top three receivers this season, joining Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman on the field when all three are healthy. Curtis Samuel, Elijah Moore, and Tyrell Shavers are the other three wideouts, all of whom should push for snaps on offense throughout the season.
**2025 Offseason:** Palmer is healthy and ready to go for the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens on September 7. He had 23 receiving yards in two preseason games this summer.
**2025 Season outlook:** Palmer is more than just a deep threat, but even if that’s his main function in Buffalo’s offense, he will help to open up the short and intermediate levels of the field for the Bills’ other weapons. The team was missing a reliable field-stretcher last season, as Marques Valdez-Scantling didn’t pan out in that role and the offense struggled to replace his speed as the year progressed.
What will be interesting is seeing which receiver (or receivers) offensive coordinator Joe Brady chooses to take off the field when he uses heavier offensive packages. Palmer and Coleman are likely to be the main players on the outside, but I’d wager that Palmer is likely WR3 in reality behind both Coleman and Shakir, who is likely to see most of the slot snaps.
Using Palmer in conjunction with some of Buffalo’s other weapons — Shavers, in particular, seems like someone who could see time outside in certain situations — will be another interesting thing to watch throughout the year. While we’ll all say we won’t overreact to Week 1, we all know that the second something happens in the middle of that first real game, most of us are going to start in with the overdramatic opining about what kind of personnel groupings we’re seeing, what kind of performances the Bills are turning in early, and so on and so forth.
With that in mind, I’d almost expect Palmer to start slowly. Buffalo will likely try to dial up some sort of play-action deep shot for him early on in the first game, but it wouldn’t shock me to see that be his main use for a few weeks. Then, later in the year, Brady will unleash his full route tree, giving Allen and Palmer time to develop more chemistry in practice.
If you’re still clinging to the hope that Palmer can be a fantasy football darling, I think I’d let those dreams go. He’s not going to catch 75 passes here, nor is he likely to surpass 1,000 yards or score eight touchdowns. What he is likely to do is turn in a solid season in a receiver room full of multiple talented parts.
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