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Elijah Moore ready to make bet on himself with Bills pay off
The wide receiver signed as a free agent this offseason from the BrownsOrchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Elijah Moore had a security blanket he could have easily wrapped around himself for the 2025 season.
Right after the 2025 NFL Draft had concluded, the Browns placed a rare unrestricted free agent tender on the wide receiver, guaranteeing him close to $3.5 million to return to Cleveland for another season.
However, he was still free to sign elsewhere, if he received a better offer.
Or a better opportunity.
In Buffalo, he got what he felt was the latter. Less guaranteed money ($2.5 million) with a chance to make more, up to a total of $5 million, through his own performance.
Bills sign wide receiver Elijah Moore to one-year deal
The way Moore saw it, that wasn’t a financial risk, but rather a bet on himself.
"I just know what I can do," said Moore on Tuesday when asked why he chose Buffalo for less guaranteed money, but more possible reward. "At the end of the day, you've got to believe in yourself. The world is already moving out of the way to where people are scared to take risks. But it's not a risk. I know what I believe in."
Prior to the 2021 NFL Draft, plenty of Bills fans felt Moore would be a great addition to their offense. However, the 5-foot-10 wideout from Ole Miss was selected in the second round by their AFC East rivals, the New York Jets.
After two years in New York, the Jets shipped him off to Cleveland in a trade with the Browns, where he's spent the previous two seasons.
The Browns were clearly comfortable with having him back after placing the UFA tender on him, while the Bills were still looking for some explosiveness in their wide receivers room.
Moore could have taken the Browns money and his spot back on their depth chart. So why did he choose to pack his bags and take the short trip East on the I-90?
"I know what I can do,” Moore explained following Tuesday's opening session of organized team activities (OTAs). "I work my ass off every single offseason, I work my ass off every single season. I just know that I'm the type of player that's going to show it."
It’s not that Moore hasn’t shown it already in the NFL. Through his first four seasons, he’s averaged over 500 yards receiving per-year, including 120 catches for 1,178 yards over the past two seasons in Cleveland alone.
Last year, he was targeted 102 times, collecting 61 catches for 538 yards.
By comparison, his 102 targets would have led the Bills last season, and his catches and yards would’ve both been second only to Khalil Shakir.
And then, of course, there’s the difference in who’s throwing him the football.
Over the his time in New York and Cleveland, the quarterbacks sharing the roster with Moore read like a phone book:
- Zach Wilson
- Mike White
- Joe Flacco
- Josh Johnson
- Chris Streveler
- Deshaun Watson
- P.J. Walker
- Dorian Thompson-Robinson
- Jeff Driskel
- Jameis Winston
- Bailey Zappe
In Buffalo, he’s now catching passes from the National Football League's Most Valuable Player, Josh Allen.
"Beautiful passes all day," Moore said of Allen. "When I wasn't in, I was just watching him, because obviously I'm on the other side of it and I've been playing against him for going into four years now. It just looked better now that he's on my side. The balls were pretty. The way that he practices, he jokes around, but at the same time, he's locked in. I can't even explain it. Catching passes by him just makes me feel good."
Moore is aware enough, however, to know it’s not just about the quarterback.
"Just got to get in the right system," he said. "And I kind of slept on it, kind of going in, thinking that kind of didn't abide. Maybe you got players and sometimes not the best systems who can't turn it around, but it does take all 11 [players]. It definitely takes all 11."
The organizations Moore played for haven’t seen much team success recently. The Browns did make the playoffs his first year in Cleveland in 2023, but then won three games last year. The Jets went 11-23 in his time in New York.
The Bills, on the other hand, have won the AFC East every year Moore has been in the NFL, part of five-straight divisional titles and six-straight playoff appearances.
He says he’s already noticed several things that have stood out to him about his new organization, even pointing them out to his wife when he goes home from the facility.
"They're really tight-knit," Moore said. "When they're in the building and everyone takes their notebooks out in team meetings, they're writing down everything the coach is saying. The way they lock in and just show the respect for the coaches and everyone around. When people say something once, someone listens, and it's stuff like that you see is why it kind of adds up over time, because those are the little things. It's never really the big things. It's always the little things. So I'm seeing that and just the way that everyone is so light, it's nothing too over-tight. We've been playing football since we were young, and that's something that's felt by players. So it's just a different atmosphere, and I could definitely feel it."