NHL Best Bets for Tuesday (11/19)
Kenneth Le
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After three seasons in Washington, WR Curtis Samuel is on the move again, signing a reported three-year deal worth up to $30 million with the Buffalo Bills. Samuel, who turns 28 in August, is the Bills’ second WR addition of the free agent period after the team signed Mack Hollins.
Samuel has a versatile skill set, with three different seasons of over 100 rushing yards. He has topped 90 targets and 600 receiving yards in four of the last five seasons, only missing in 2021 when injuries held him to five games. In Buffalo, he’ll be the favorite over Hollins to be the No. 3 receiver behind Stefon Diggs and Khalil Shakir, and he could be the 2b to Shakir’s 2a. Samuel has enough speed and versatility that he could see some carries out of the backfield alongside James Cook, as the Bills struggled to settle on a backup running back last year.
Despite all that, it’s a low-ceiling role in Buffalo. Diggs is likely to still command a heavy target share, and Cook will get plenty of work as well. Add in Shakir, TE Dalton Kincaid and the carries for QB Josh Allen, and there will only be so many targets for a 28-year-old free agent.
It’s also worth noting that the Bills’ offensive coordinator is Joe Brady, who was the coordinator in Carolina in 2020 when Samuel went for a career-high 851 yards and added another 200 on the ground. Brady certainly had a hand in Samuel’s signing. In the end, Samuel’s fantasy appeal in Buffalo is mostly as an emergency fill-in, though he could develop into more than that.
Samuel never seemed very likely to return to Washington, but this cements it. As it stands, whichever quarterback the team drafts next month will have Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson as his top two targets, with TE Zach Ertz around as well, but there still needs to be another pass-catcher addition in Washington this offseason.
