The Buffalo Bills are adding to their wide receiving corps after selecting Keon Coleman with their first draft choice.
On April 29, the team declared that they had signed receiver Quintez Cephus, a free agent, to a one-year contract. The former pass-catcher for the Detroit Lions is returning after a one-year suspension for breaking the league’s gambling prohibitions, a move that infuriated some fans.
Quintez Cephus Arrives in Buffalo with a Light Resume
After being selected by the Lions in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Cephus spent his first three seasons in Detroit, playing a supporting role. With only 15 receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns in 2021 and just two catches for 15 yards in 2022 due to intermittent ailments, Cephus had a poor 2021 and 2022 season after having a strong rookie season with 20 receptions for 349 yards and two scores in 13 games.
Due to his suspension for breaking the gambling regulations of the league, Cephus was unable to play in 2023. He received the harshest punishment of all—an indefinite ban that would last the entire season—among the three Lions players punished, as reported by The Associated Press.
According to the report, “Cephus was one of three players suspended indefinitely last April for placing bets on NFL games in 2022.””Two receivers on the team at the time, Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams, were suspended for six games for placing bets on non-NFL games inside the team facility.”
General manager Brandon Beane stated immediately after the NFL Draft concluded that the team had worked out a receiver and intended to sign him, as Bills writer Chris Brown wrote on X. Fans were divided over the decision, with some wondering if Beane and head coach Sean McDermott would be a good fit for the culture they have been fostering.
Quintez Cephus is a marginal roster player who just got out of suspension; I’m not really sure what the incentive was to bring him in, a fan commented on X.
Bills Concerning the Broad Receiving Corps
The Bills have made some moves to add new talent after losing top receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans and losing No. 2 receiver Gabe Davis to free agency. In the NFL Draft’s first round, Beane made two trade-backs before selecting Coleman with the first pick of the following round.
When Coleman visited Buffalo prior to the NFL Draft, he stated he connected with the city right away and urged the team to select him.
“We have a lot of common interests, so when I arrived for my [Top 30] visit, I was like, ‘Why am I being allowed to leave?'” “I intend to return,” Coleman declared. “Therefore, we managed to make that happen.”
Following the NFL Draft, the Bills also got to work, signing undrafted free-agent receiver Xavier Johnson Jr.Dane Brugler of The Athletic pointed out that Johnson excelled in multiple sports as a high school student and on Ohio State’s special teams.
“A three-star prospect, he received ten football offers (along with multiple basketball offers) but decided to walk on at Ohio State, his ideal school,” Brugler wrote. “Over the course of the last five seasons, he earned a spot on special teams and finished his career with an impressive 899 snaps and 14 tackles.”Days
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