From afar, Curtis Samuel knew Josh Allen was an elite quarterback, and as you might imagine, that opinion has not changed now that he is on the verge of becoming one of Allen’s primary weapons in the revamped Buffalo Bills passing game.

“It’s everything I thought it would be, honestly,” Samuel said after practice Friday. “He’s a great quarterback in this league and my job is to go out there and make sure I’m in tune with the playbook, make sure I know what I’m doing, build that trust with him to know that I’m out there, and understand what my assignment is.”

Samuel signed a three-year, $24 million free agent contract in March, leaving the Washington Commanders and going from Sam Howell to Allen. Sort of like moving from downtown to uptown.

Sign up for the Bills Blast newsletter Delivered straight to your inbox, additional Bills analysis, insight, stats, quotes and team history from Sal Maiorana

The soon-to-be 28-year-old receiver was originally a second-round pick of the Panthers in 2017, and in his last season there in 2020 current Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady was in that role for Carolina. That was Samuel’s most productive season to date in the NFL as he caught 77 passes for 851 yards, rushed 41 times for 200 yards, and scored five touchdowns.

Brady used Samuel all over the field - outside, in the slot, and even as a running back - and that versatility paid off when he signed with the Commanders as a free agent.

However, his three years with Washington were unfulfilling as the team missed the playoffs all three seasons and Samuel was hindered by mediocre to poor quarterback play. Thus, when he went looking for a new team, he leaped at the chance to sign with the Bills when they showed interest, not only because of Allen, but Brady, too.

“Me and Joe been together before, and if you see how he used me there, you kind of got an idea so I’m not gonna give out the conversation, but I just put all my trust in him to put me in the right spots, in the right position to succeed in this offense,” Samuel said. “Having some experience with Joe Brady and Carolina definitely influenced me a lot. And from the outside looking in, great team, you can tell they have that family bond, great coaching staff, great organization as a whole. You can tell by how far they go every year and just about how they move around, how they carry themselves.”

One of Samuel’s favorite experiences as a Bill occurred a few weeks ago when Allen and several of the offensive skill position players gathered in Nashville, Dawson Knox’s hometown, to go through some voluntary work, making sure they would hit the ground running at Fisher.

“It just was good to go out there with the guys, just not really have coaching around and be able to control,” Samuel said. “Running a lot of routes, tried a lot of different things out there as far as routes and have the quarterbacks out there coach us and help us and try to get us on the same page.”

Allen has done this in past years because he feels it’s beneficial to get time in with his guys, and he agrees with Samuel that to do it as players, without coaches, is nice because it’s more than football, it’s bonding.

“It’s not as much for the throwing as it is for the getting together and going out to dinner and learning people on a personal level,” Allen said. “Don’t get me wrong – we were out there working for two hours in the Nashville heat, you know 90, 90-plus degrees and 100% humidity, so the boys were getting after it, but more so just leaning into each other and sitting by different people at dinner and talking and discussing family and life off the field. And the more that you can trust somebody off the field, the more you can trust them on the field.”

Replacing Stefon Diggs was never what the Bills were looking for Samuel to do. However, he is a veteran player who can lead the way for young guys like rookie Keon Coleman and third-year pro Khalil Shakir, and Shakir is already reveling in having him around.

“Curtis is awesome,” Shakir said. “He’s somebody, you put him anywhere and get the ball in his hands and special things are gonna happen. When he steps on the field, he’s always doing the right thing, getting open and he’s definitely someone that when he’s on the field, if I’m on the sideline, my eyes are glued watching what he’s doing, how he’s seeing things, and when he comes off asking him like, ‘What were you thinking there?’”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out every Friday during training camp and the preseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills' Curtis Samuel could become primary weapon for Josh Allen