Adam Schefter dropped the kind of transaction news that barely registers in July but quietly tells you where a team's head is at: the Bills claimed wide receiver Quentin Skinner off waivers from the Jets. Not exactly a household name, but stick with this one, because the context makes it more interesting than your average waiver-wire shuffle.
Bills claimed WR Quentin Skinner off waivers from the Jets.
Skinner is a 6-foot-5, 195-pound receiver out of Kansas who went undrafted in 2025 after a college career that included 80 catches for 1,584 yards and 11 touchdowns. He caught on with the Jets, got cut in the final preseason trims, spent most of the year on New York's practice squad, and made his lone NFL appearance against Buffalo of all teams in the regular-season finale, one catch for 10 yards on 16 snaps. New York waived him off injured reserve, and the Bills swooped in within days.
To make room, Buffalo released receiver Deven Thompkins, a straightforward corresponding move but one that signals the Bills are actively churning the bottom of that depth chart rather than just letting camp bodies sort themselves out. The timing matters too — this all went down about two weeks before Buffalo opens training camp on July 28, exactly the window when teams start tightening their 90-man rosters into something resembling a real depth chart.
Here's the bigger picture: the Bills now have 14 receivers on that 90-man roster, and realistically only 6 or 7 make the final cut. DJ Moore, Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman are the established names, with fourth-round rookie Skyler Bell also in the mix. Skinner's size profile is the obvious appeal — a 6-foot-5 target with big-play college production is worth a flier even on a crowded roster, especially since he's basically a camp body with almost zero NFL tape against him.
The move also carries a subtext for Bills fans still holding out hope for a reunion: Brandin Cooks. The veteran, a former first-round pick, has publicly said Buffalo is "the place I'd love to be," but at 32 and with the Bills stacking bodies at the position with a Jets castoff instead, it's not looking like there's a clear path back for him. Adding an unproven camp body over a known commodity like Cooks tells you the front office is more focused on cheap developmental upside than a reunion tour.
None of this moves the needle for Buffalo's Super Bowl aspirations on its own — Skinner is a long shot to even make the 53-man roster. But it's a reminder that this WR room is still very much in flux behind the top 3, and every one of these small waiver claims is Buffalo auditioning bodies before the real evaluation starts in camp.