Bills quarterback Josh Allen ended his eighth NFL season requiring surgery to fix a broken bone in his right foot.
He'll begin Buffalo's offseason program at the start of April with a clean bill of health in head coach Joe Brady's first spring at the helm.
"He's good to go," Brady told NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero at the Annual League Meeting on Saturday. "The thing about Josh Allen, he got surgery after the season, but he's playing as if you think there's nothing wrong with him. The guy could barely walk, and then he's playing games and it's not impacting [his play]. He's built different. And let's hope it continues that way, but he'll be good to go in the offseason. I talk with him regularly. He's just excited to get going with guys like DJ Moore, kind of figure out what it's going to look like, just this new kind of era."
Allen will also at long last benefit from having a certified WR1 on the roster, something Buffalo's piecemeal wide-receiving corps has sorely lacked since the team traded away Stefon Diggs two years ago.
Moore didn't fit seamlessly into the Bears' operation by Year 3 in Chicago. He also faced some blowback for his route-running after his final offensive play resulted in an interception that shifted a Divisional Round tilt the Rams' way. However, an off year still produced 50 receptions for 682 yards, both of which would have placed second on the Bills, and his six touchdown catches would've led the way.
Now, he's in line for a fresh start with a familiar face thanks to his trade to Buffalo.
Brady served as Moore's offensive coordinator for a season and change with the Carolina Panthers from 2020 to his firing in December of 2021. He was then working with a wide receiver very much on the ascent. Five years later, as Moore enters his age-29 season and Brady operates as an NFL head coach for the first time, he sees little difference in the wideout's ability to make one.
"You try not to go into it and be like, 'Hey, I remember what the player was and let's just do it.' It's natural in football," Brady said. "Five years is a long time. But the player that I turned on the tape wasn't any different in terms of the way that he moved, the skill set, the opportunity, the big plays, using him in a bunch of different ways. I saw that, and I didn't see a guy that has had any drop-off. I saw a guy that there's a clear vision for how we're going to utilize him and get the ball in his hands. I know him and Josh, there's been a lot of work this offseason getting them on the same page, but I'm really excited about where that's gonna go."
Whatever outside narratives remain regarding Moore losing a step or not, he fits into the Bills' plans. He's a boundary wideout who pairs perfectly with Khalil Shakir manning the slot and adds another red-zone threat alongside tight end Dalton Kincaid. He takes some pressure off Keon Coleman after some awkward finger pointing over who exactly wanted to draft the 2024 first-rounder. Plus, Brady knows how to use him; Moore's most prolific campaign as a big-play threat, when he averaged a career-high 18.1 yards per reception, came under his new head coach.
For all those reasons, Brady is fully buying into Moore as someone who can help propel Buffalo's fourth-ranked scoring offense to an even better place. That was evident when Buffalo sent a 2026 second-round pick to Chicago for Moore and a '26 fifth-rounder, and again made plain through Brady's words Saturday.
"I know the person, the player, the skill set," Brady said of Moore. "I know we had a really good offense last year. Adding DJ to it should only make Josh's life a lot easier and make Khalil Shakir's life a lot easier. He's dynamic and he's going to make our team a lot better."
A lot better remains the goal for a club that's fallen short in seven straight playoff trips and made a coaching change because of it.
