Tag: bleacher report buffalo bills

B/R suggests O-line trade for Bills ahead of 2022

B/R suggests O-line trade for #Bills ahead of 2022:

The Bills have had an eventful offseason so far.

The team has been active in adding talent to their roster in the draft as well as through free agency. With Super Bowl hopes they’ve aimed to improve their squad and move closer to winning a championship.

As the beginning of the 2022 NFL season draws closer, the team still has time to add to areas of need. Bleacher Report’s Ian Wharton has suggested a trade that could help Buffalo by way of his “1 Trade Each NFL Team Should Offer Before 2022 Training Camp Starts” list.

Here is a look at who he identified as a trade target.

Buffalo Bills: Trade for Walker Little

Bills get: OL Walker Little

Jaguars get: 2023 fourth-round pick

As with most Super Bowl contenders, the Buffalo Bills have leveraged their cap sheet as much as they can in order to maximize their roster quality. With just $5 million of cap space, we went bargain hunting. The Bills also don’t have many needs, so we had to find a young player with upside who could benefit from a positional change or new scenery.

The Bills’ biggest weakness is along the interior of their offensive line. Signing veteran Rodger Saffold was a good short-term addition, but there’s uncertainty at left guard beyond 2022, and the right guard spot will be decided between Ryan Bates and Cody Ford. Bates played just 294 snaps last year, and Ford has never established himself despite being a second-round pick in 2019.

With the Jaguars re-signing Cam Robinson to a massive new deal and investing into Jawaan Taylor as an early second-round pick, there’s no room for Little to start in Jacksonville. He could benefit from a move to guard in Buffalo since he’s a solid athlete but struggles with dealing with power rushers off the edge.

The best case is Buffalo adds a starting-caliber guard for a Day 3 pick. The worst case is they bolster a position of need for two years until Little is a free-agent.

Given how he’s buried on the depth chart behind talent at his position on the Jaguars and how that could prevent him from gaining meaningful gameplay experience and opportunities, the trade makes sense for Little and the Jags.

As for Buffalo, Wharton makes good points in terms of the versatile ways Little could slot in during a tenure with the team that make sense as a cap-friendly addition consistent with some of the short-term deal lengths the Bills have signed players to.

Bills GM Brandon Beane has made it clear he will always look to improve the trenches on both sides of the ball and has even expressed emphasis at times this offseason in regards to strengthening the offensive line specifically.

It’s entirely possible if not likely he’ll continue to do so entering the season, and a trade for a player like Little could be one possible way to do just that.

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B/R: Bills save money, upgrade OL with suggested trade

B/R: #Bills save money, upgrade OL with suggested trade:

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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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