PHOENIX — The 2026 NFL Meetings takes place this week in Arizona as representatives from all 32 teams gather to discuss topics pertinent to the upcoming season.
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane spoke Monday morning on a variety of topics, including roster updates, draft preparation and news items from league meetings.
Here's what we learned.
Roster updates on Josh Allen, Dalton Kincaid & more
QB JOSH ALLEN
Several roster updates were addressed Monday, including updates on the health of quarterback Josh Allen as well as the futures of tight end Dalton Kincaid and cornerback Dorian Strong.
Beane shared that Allen is still recovering from an offseason foot procedure and is on track to participate in voluntary workouts in April. So far during the offseason, the Bills medical team has checked up on the quarterback periodically. Allen has also talked directly to the surgeon to share his progress.
"The foot is, I don't want to say it's 100 percent, but he's good. When he gets back in April, we expect him to be full go," Beane said.
TE DALTON KINCAID
Buffalo has officially picked up the fifth-year option for Kincaid. The Bills submitted it to the league and notified both Kincaid and his agent.
"That secures him for the next two seasons," Beane said.
CB DORIAN STRONG
The playing future of the 2025 draft pick is still up in the air after Strong underwent a "specialized surgery" on his neck after the season ended.
"It's just in the healing phase right now. There's not a lot of rehab to it. It's just kind of see how it does," Beane said. "Beyond that, not a lot of details. It's still an unknown where that is and whether he'd be able to return."
Bills-Browns have "tentative" joint practice scheduled this summer
While the full NFL schedule won't be released until later this spring, we learned that the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns have an agreement to hold a one-day joint practice during the preseason.
The current plan is to host the joint practice in Cleveland during the second week of the preseason.
"We have tentatively lined up for a one-day. We have to wait until the league confirms that it is week two," Beane said.
The Bills have scheduled road joint practices during the second preseason week the last two seasons, practicing against the Steelers (2024) and Bears (2025) before playing a preseason game against that opponent.
How would Beane approach a potential 18-game schedule?
One topic that is expected to be discussed by the owners during the league meetings is the idea of expanding the regular season to an 18-game schedule. While the 2026-2027 season is fully locked into 17 games, there is potential to move to 18 games in future seasons.
Beane was asked by local reporters about his thoughts on the matter and he expressed the need for big roster sizes if the schedule increases. This includes both the 53-man active roster and the 48-man game day roster.
"I think we'll have to look at everything. Right now, we're 48 players on game day. I personally am pushing for us to hopefully get more at some point," Beane said. "But I think those are the numbers you're going to talk to. Does 53 go up to 55 or 56 and does your game day roster get at least to 50 and maybe more? I think it's even hard. We talked about it. I think it's hard right now with the 17 games."
The GM also suggested trimming the preseason schedule to two games down from three.
"I would guess you would reduce the preseason. Right now a lot of people are doing the joint practice thing and not playing guys definitely that third preseason game," he said.
Impact of the DJ Moore trade
After meeting with the local media, Beane appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and revealed an additional nugget on how the trade went down. Beane shared that he initially reached out to the Bears during the 2025 season around the trade deadline to gauge interest in a trade for Moore.
"He was one of the guys we called on and checked — I mean we checked a lot of guys just to see. Chicago shut it down, they were trying to make a run," Beane told McAfee.
Beane added that Chicago reached back out in Indianapolis to re-engage in conversations and the two sides made a deal work. Now that Moore, a four-time 1,000-plus yard receiver, is a Bill, there is plenty of excitement to see what element he adds to the offense.
"A guy who's a dynamic player," Beane said. "He's a player that we tracked all the way back to the year [Allen] was drafted, and obviously had a good career in Carolina, then gets traded some years back to Chicago … he adds another dimension, another guy that's a run after catch with big-play potential."
Though the Bills spent a premium asset (a second round pick) to acquire Moore, it doesn't rule them out from selecting a receiver in the first round, Beane shared.
"Definitely still open to that," Beane said. "Yes, if there's a dynamic player that can help us — starter or not — at receiver, we would take him at 26.
How recent signings at offensive line impact roster competition
After the initial blaze of free agency calmed down, the Bills continued investing in their roster by looking for key depth pieces. Last week, the team signed center Lloyd Cushenberry III and center/guard Austin Corbett, among other moves.
Beane labeled Corbett as an "interior guy" who has experience at both guard positions as well as center. Corbett's immediate fit will be someone who is going to compete for the starting left guard position.
"There will be competition there with Alec [Anderson] and him, and we could have other guys as well. But he's a proven starter," Beane said.
Cushenberry is a "probably a center first" type fit with the team, but he will get some reps at guard this spring.
"We'll give him reps [at guard], but I would say competing to be that top backup behind Connor [McGovern]," Beane said of Cushenberry's fit.
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