CLEVELAND, Ohio — As the 2025 NFL season draws closer for the Browns, it’s time to look at what each of the teams they will play this season has changed ahead of the season.
I will provide these opponent breakdowns over the next several weeks leading up to the start of the season as we look at the biggest addition, subtraction, best draft pick and what they all mean for when they play the Browns.
We conclude this series today with a look at the Browns’ Week 16 opponent: the Buffalo Bills.
Despite Josh Allen earning MVP last season, the Bills suffered a familiar fate: losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. It’s the fourth time in five years that the Chiefs eliminated the Bills from the postseason.
Did the Bills do enough to finally end that streak?
Here is a look at the Bills offseason.
Check out links to earlier editions of this series at the bottom of this post.
Biggest addition: DE Joey Bosa
Despite being 11th in the NFL in scoring defense in 2024 (21.6 points per game allowed), the Bills were tied for 18th in sacks with 39, even with Von Miller.
To try and address that, the Bills signed the former Ohio State Buckeye to a one-year deal worth $12 million. He had five sacks in 2024, which was the fifth Pro Bowl season of his career.
Health has been an issue of late for Bosa, who has played just 28 games over the last three seasons due to injury. But this is exactly the kind of low-risk bet a team like Buffalo needs to make. A healthy Bosa has proven over his career he can be quite the difference maker.
Biggest subtraction: Miller.
When the Bills signed Miller in 2022, it felt like he could be the missing piece to get Buffalo past Kansas City. But that didn’t happen, and the Bills cut Miller in March to free up about $8.4 million in cap space.
Miller had 14 sacks over three seasons with the Bills, playing largely in a rotational role during the last two seasons.
He signed with the Commanders in July. And while he wasn’t the same player in Buffalo that he was earlier in his career, Miller just has a presence that will be hard to replace.
Best draft pick: CB Maxwell Hairston.
While I didn’t like the Bills draft as much as other teams, I had no problem with their strategy of leaning heavily on defense. They started their draft off by taking the speedy cornerback from Kentucky with the 30th pick.
After letting Rasul Douglas go and trading away Kaiir Elam, the Bills needed corner help on a defense that ranked 24th against the pass.
Hairston is a shorter corner at 5-11, 183 pounds. But he clearly made himself some money at the NFL Combine when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.28 seconds, including a 10-yard split of 1.5 seconds. He has good ball skills with 10 pass breakups and six interceptions in his last two seasons at Kentucky.
Hairston will likely be a rotational corner as a rookie behind Tre’Davious White and Christian Benford. But there are plenty of tools to get excited about with the speedy rookie.
What it means in their matchup with the Browns
The moves the Bills made this offseason were geared to do one thing: beat Kansas City. The Chiefs scored their most points of any game all last season against the Bills in the AFC Championship Game, forcing Buffalo to bolster its defense once again.
Offense isn’t an issue in Buffalo. With Allen coming off his MVP season, plenty of great skill talent around him and the addition of a solid veteran receiver in Joshua Palmer, the Bills will be tough for any team to slow down.
By Week 16, the Bills should be geared up for a playoff push, meaning the Browns will likely get Buffalo’s best on both sides of the ball. It could be quite the litmus test for the Browns to see how far they have to go to catch the elite in the AFC.
Buffalo’s pass defense is a concern after struggling in 2024. We’ll see by that point if their new additions on defense are gelling or if those problems are still there.
Catch up on the series
Cincinnati Bengals, Weeks 1 and 18
Baltimore Ravens, Weeks 2 and 11
Green Bay Packers, Week 3
Detroit Lions, Week 4
Minnesota Vikings, Week 5
Pittsburgh Steelers, Weeks 6 and 17
Miami Dolphins, Week 7
New England Patriots, Week 8
New York Jets, Week 10
Las Vegas Raiders, Week 12
San Francisco 49ers, Week 13
Tennessee Titans, Week 14
Chicago Bears, Week 15
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