Buffalo Rumblings
Since parting ways with Stefon Diggs, the Buffalo Bills have lacked a true number-one receiving target. Against the Atlanta Falcons last Monday night, quarterback Josh Allen and Buffalo’s offensive line faced a blitz on more than half the snaps. In those moments, it became clear that this wide receiver group isn’t going to get the job done in 2025.
It’s possible that wide receiver Joshua Palmer was going to have a career game after hauling in two big catches early in the first quarter, but then he was sidelined with an ankle injury. It could have been a big night for tight end Dalton Kincaid if he didn’t miss the game due to a nebulous oblique injury.
Regardless, the receivers room needs help, and soon. Wide receiver Elijah Moore has mostly been utilized as a gadget player this season by offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Then there’s wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who can’t stay healthy and has been a healthy inactive multiple games already this season. So, where can this team turn to for help?
The most obvious and immediate answer is wide receiver Gabe Davis, who’s currently on the practice squad. That may give a lot of Bills Mafia pause. During his first stint with One Bills Drive, Davis was hot and cold, either making truly great plays or nowhere to be seen. That’s not too unlike the current situation with wide receiver Keon Coleman. But back to Davis: Is he the alpha down the field when the offense needs a huge play?
Perhaps the move is to trade for someone, which must happen on or before the NFL trade deadline date of November 4. The problem facing general manager Brandon Beane right now is that Buffalo has very limited funds to make a major trade for anyone. How limited? Buffalo has just over $2 million to work with, which isn’t ideal when looking to bring in a difference maker.
That means the Bills have to look at more affordable free-agent options or perhaps a manageable trade. If Buffalo was to go the trade route then they would need to either look for a player at the end of their current low-dollar deal, or overpay a team in terms of draft compensation so that the trading team would eat a lot of that player’s contract.
It’s a difficult situation to be in, especially after Beane made Palmer a priority in free agency and they were finally out of the cap constraint blanketing them from trading away Diggs a season ago. But here they are, with the same problem to fix and the same concerns in trying to properly address it.
If social media was the end all be all then Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown would be on his way to Orchard Park, NY. He is a dominant WR1, the likes of which the Bills crave, but with that he also carries a bit of that WR1 mentality and trends as a malcontent when not getting targets. But Brown’s...
