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The Bills have an important offseason at hand.
The team is close to being a Super Bowl-caliber squad and making the right additions and personnel moves could help move them close towards championship contention.
While free agency and the draft will be where most roster additions will take place this offseason, trades have the ability to add impactful talent. The Los Angeles Rams used the trade market to add star players who helped them win a Super Bowl.
The Bills themselves have been one of the beneficiaries of a blockbuster trade in recent years, adding pro bowler and number one receiver Stefon Diggs to the team thanks to a trade with the Minnesota Vikings.
Even Buffalo GM Brandon Beane’s infamous asset trades landed the team the NFL Draft pick position at which they used to select franchise quarterback Josh Allen.
As the offseason has begun, so has the process of looking at how the Bills might add talent that can help them win a Super Bowl. Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine offered his take on a trade that could help Buffalo, in “The Ideal Offseason Trade Scenario for Every NFL Team” list he presented.
Here is a look at who he zeroed in on as a trade prospect.
Buffalo Bills Trade for C Erik McCoy
The Buffalo Bills could save themselves money and upgrade a key position on the offensive line with two moves that make a lot of sense.
The first is to cut Mitch Morse. The center is set to be the fourth-highest-paid at his position in 2022, but the majority of his cap hit ($8.5 million) would become cap savings if they release him.
The second would be to call up the New Orleans Saints and work out a trade to bring in Erik McCoy.
The Saints face an uphill climb in creating cap space now and in the future. They are currently slated to be more than $75 million over the cap. McCoy doesn’t make a ton of money. He’s only owed $3.4 million in the final year of his rookie deal, but the Saints would save nearly $3 million by trading him.
That might not seem like much, but it also takes off the pressure to sign him to a long-term deal. The Bills, meanwhile, would get a reasonable replacement for Morse at a much cheaper price. McCoy has only allowed two sacks over his first three seasons in the league, per PFF.
Ballentine makes solid points on all fronts as far as why McCoy would be a fit for Buffalo in a trade as well as why it would make sense for New Orleans on their end.
Beane spoke recently about trades while providing some of the thinking that can go into weighing such a decision.
Similarly, there is the matter of cap space, which is something Buffalo could use for more offseason moves.
Ballentine’s suggestion does sound like it makes sense economically and talent-wise. There are also Beane’s recent quotes to consider, in which he was quick to point to the trenches as an area he will look to improve while prioritizing protecting Allen.
Suffice to say the GM will find a way to do just that, and time will tell if we’ll see some of the O-line being fortified through trade as suggested.
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