90 Buffalo Bills players in 90 days: WR Trent Sherfield

The Buffalo Bills have poured multiple resources into their wide receiver group over the last few years. Whether those resources have come in the form of draft capital or straight money, general manager Brandon Beane has tried to provide quarterback Josh Allen with the players needed to produce on offense.

Last year, though, the team had issues finding a slot receiver — so much so that they ended up re-signing their former slot wideout, Cole Beasley, when the veteran was out of work for most of the season. Buffalo has added multiple players at receiver this offseason in an attempt to avoid the same issues they had last year.

In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we’ll discuss one of Buffalo’s newest additions. He’s not necessarily a slot receiver, but he’s actually someone who can do it all for the club this year.

Name: Trent Sherfield

Number: 16

Position: WR

Height/Weight: 6’1”, 205 pounds

Age: 27 (28 on 2/25/2024)

Experience/Draft: 6; signed with the Arizona Cardinals following the 2018 NFL Draft

College: Vanderbilt

Acquired: Signed with the Bills on 3/20/2023

Financial situation (per Spotrac): Sherfield signed a one-year contract with Buffalo in March. That deal is worth a total of $1.77 million. The contract includes a total of $750,000 in guarantees, which is also the dead-cap number the Bills would be responsible for if Sherfield were to be released prior to the season. As a vested veteran, the entirety of his base salary, which is $1.42 million, becomes guaranteed if he makes the roster for Week 1.

2022 Recap: Sherfield followed Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel from the San Francisco 49ers to South Beach last year, and that decision led to a career-year for the former undrafted free agent. He played in all 17 games for Miami, making four starts. He set career highs in targets (51), receptions (30), receiving yards (417), and receiving touchdowns (2). In Miami’s playoff loss to the Bills, Sherfield saw two targets but did not catch either. In addition to playing 611 snaps on offense for the Dolphins, Sherfield also played 183 snaps on special teams. He made three special teams tackles on the season.

Positional outlook: Sherfield joins a large wide receiver group, as he is one of 13 players vying for a roster spot. Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Khalil Shakir, Deonte Harty, Justin Shorter, KeeSean Johnson, Dezmon Patmon, Jalen Wayne, Bryan Thompson, Tyrell Shavers, Isaiah Coulter, and Marcell Ateman are the others.

2023 Offseason: Sherfield is healthy and he participated in all offseason workouts to date. He earned praise from quarterback Josh Allen during mandatory minicamp.

2023 Season outlook: This is a sneaky-good signing for the Bills, who struggled mightily to find consistent production from a third receiver last year. Sherfield gives Buffalo tons of versatility, as he can play in the slot and as a “Z” receiver. While some may suggest that his use as a “Z” is limited with Stefon Diggs, may I also remind those folks that Diggs is absolutely electric in the slot, as well, so a lineup consisting of Sherfield, Diggs, and Gabe Davis gives the Bills a lot of versatility. Khalil Shakir is another player who can travel both from the slot to the outside, so half of Buffalo’s projected top six wideouts can cause issues from multiple spots. That’s not even mentioning Harty’s versatility as a jet-sweep guy, too.

If Sherfield plays well, fits the offense, and doesn’t see himself outside of the system, it also gives the Bills a one-year period to break him in just in case Davis prices himself out of a second contract with the club. Throw in the fact that Sherfield has been a special teams mainstay in all of his other stops, and he’s the perfect third, fourth, or fifth wideout for the Bills. I can envision Sherfield doing a little bit of everything as he puts up numbers very similar to his line from last season. He’s a quality player for offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey to utilize.