Breaking: Bills to sign Curtis Samuel: What to know about Buffalo’s biggest free agent addition.

The Buffalo Bills waited a day to let the initial burst of free agency settle, and then they made their first notable signing of 2024, wide receiver Curtis Samuel, formerly of the Commanders.

The deal is reportedly three years in length and worth up to $24 million with $15 million guaranteed, and it could climb to $30 million through incentives, a pretty big expenditure for a team that remains hard against the NFL’s salary cap.

You can always search for connective tissue and for this, it must be noted that Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane was still the assistant GM in Carolina when the Panthers took Samuel in the second round of the 2017 draft out of Ohio State. Beane, of course, left Carolina a week later to come to Buffalo so he never got to enjoy Samuel’s four seasons with the Panthers, during which he caught 185 passes for 2,087 yards and 14 TDs.

Samuel was still with the Panthers in 2020 when current Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady was calling the plays for head coach Matt Rhule. That year, Samuel had the best of his seven NFL seasons with 77 catches on 97 targets for 851 yards and three TDs. His reception and yardage totals, as well as his 79.4 catch percentage were all career highs.

Samuel then bolted for Washington when he signed a three-year, $34 million contract with the Commanders. In three years there, he caught 132 passes for 1,296 yards and eight TDs.

The 5-foot-11 and 195-pounder will only be 28 when the season starts. He will be a nice compliment to Stefon Diggs and Khalil Shakir, and this will also take pressure off rookie the Bills may draft in April because he can slowly integrate into the Buffalo offense behind three trusted veterans.

Samuel spent the first two seasons with Cam Newton as his quarterback in Carolina, but in 2019, former Bills backup Kyle Allen became the starter with Newton out most of the season with an injury. Teddy Bridgewater was next in 2020, Samuel’s best season, but then with Washington it has been struggle.

He missed all but five games in 2021 due to an injury, then had decent production years in 2022 and 2023 catching balls mostly from Taylor Heinicke and Sam Howell, but one would assume Samuel could reach new heights with Josh Allen as his quarterback, and Diggs, Shakir and Dalton Kincaid demanding coverage.

Prior to the 2017 draft, Samuel blazed a 4.31 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine which led many to believe he’d be a home run hitter in the NFL, but that never really materialized. His career yards per reception is 10.7, not what you would expect from someone with his speed.

He also has a career drop percentage of 7.6 which is not great. By comparison, Diggs’ career drop rate is 5.5. They have similar yards after catch averages of 4.1 for Diggs and 4.0 for Samuel while Samuel’s career catch percentage is 68.3 and Diggs’ is 70.4.

Beane was asked what he would be looking for in his search for receivers, both in free agency and the draft – a speedburner, someone with size, or perhaps someone quick and shifty who could work in the slot.

“We’re always looking for that speed, explosiveness at various positions,” Beane said. “You want guys that can explode without the ball but you also want RAC players, guys that Josh can get the ball in their hands in space, stuff that Joe Brady can scheme up, and they can turn a five-yard pass into a 55-yard touchdown or a big gain.

“You would love for them all to be 6-4, run a 4.42, have elite hands, football instincts, so you’re kind of weighing it all. There are some size guys that are 6-3 that play like they’re 6-foot and then you know, we had a guy in Carolina that was 5-9 in Steve Smith, he played like he was 6-4. He could jump, he was strong, great at the contact point.

“So if you added a guy like that, he can play big for you. We need to know what they do well, how we can accentuate their skill set, and then just make sure we have a variety of things, not just have all quick guys, all big guys or all fast guys. Just trying to have as many options as we can for Joe to set the offense.”

In Samuel, the Bills have a player who certainly has the speed to take the top off the defense, but who can also work the entire route tree and present Allen with a reliable target in all areas of the field.