Plausible X/#1 receiver trade candidates — are there any?

[Nihilarian]

Okay, my last attempt at this.

 

If everyone gets healthy after the bye, what happens? The run defense does get better with the additions of Hoecht and Ogunjobi, and Milano is back. However, the secondary with Rapp, Bishop, and Tre White, I'm pretty sure they still stink. Jordan Poyer, really?

 

The offense, with everyone healthy and playing well, returns to a top-scoring offense. If the playcalling gets better, the run game works, and Allen has his top targets back. Shakir, Coleman, and Kincade, with the latter having the highest catch success rate at 66.7%.  NO Saints WR Chris Olave has a 50% catch success rate.

 

Josh Palmer can get separation, as we saw before he was injured against the Falcons, 2 targets, 2 receptions for 60 yards. We also know that Curtis Samuel can run a 4.31, Moore a 4.35, and Shakir a 4.43. More than enough speed to break away. It's all about how the Buffalo offense is schemed and set up. Right now, the Buffalo Bills are a run-first team that has a power run game, second in the NFL in rushing yards, attempts, and TDs. 

 

Bills OC Joe Brady has stolen my heart with his run scheme, but alas, his passing schemes appear somewhat flawed if he can't get the most out of his players like he does with RB James Cook. And even with Cook, he simply doesn't utilize him enough in the passing game. I can see perhaps why, with him having a 35.7 receiving success rate. pretty stinky. So, have him work with the JUGS more often. 

 

BTW, fans that say that Amari Cooper opened up the offense just by being on the field seem to ignore that it stayed open even when he was on the bench. 

 

McD should tell Joe Brady to get his crap together with the passing offense, or he will hire a passing game coordinator 

 

 

[MasterStrategist]

2 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

It's just really hard to buy this given the total lack of any attempt to add one. He's made exactly 1 WR pick in the top 100 of the draft since 2021. In fact Shakir is the only WR other than Coleman that was a top 150 pick during that period. It's almost impossible to invest such a small amount into any position over 5 years, let alone a premium position. There have been several WR trades and signings made over the years that he has failed to make. It's pretty clear to me that he just doesn't value the position nearly to the level that he should.

 

Beane spent all of the 2024 offseason resetting the team's salary cap to prepare for the 2nd window of Allen's career. He then used the vast majority of that freed up cap space to re-sign good but not great defensive players instead of using it on a legit offensive weapon. 3 of his top 4 free agent signings were defensive linemen. His first 5 picks were defensive players. If Beane "would love to have" a legit #1 WR he sure hasn't acted like it.

 

You can't excuse the quality of the WR room away as just bad luck or bad timing. Repeatedly and intentionally he has valued every single position higher than WR. His words and his actions make it impossible to deny that.

Problem is Beanes philosophy of winning with #2 types, or who they thought would be #2s.

 

He invested a 1st in Kincaid --- a move alot of this board liked.  But it wasn't what we needed.  He panicked when Addison went off the board IMO.

 

Essentially a 1st in Keon.  Someone who you liked, but isnt winning his matchups.

 

Then decent #2/3 money, in Shakir, Palmer and Samuel.

 

Im not against this approach of Beanes.  He has just majorly whiffed on alot of these player decisions.

 

To say we haven't aggressively gone after a #1, is like saying we know our 2023 1st and 2024 1st were gonna suck out of the gate.  Those are legit chances to get a borderline #1 type.  He screwed the cap with decisions on #3 WR types --- thats massively hampered us - and obviously made poor decisions.

 

So my biggest gripe isnt what positional decisions, its their constant "misses"

[Nihilarian]

48 minutes ago, PayDaBill$ said:

That’s on Brady his 50 50 “chuck” balls on the sideline usually vs the opposing teams no 1 CB is a dumba$$ play call.  Coleman needs to be used differently. He needs quick-hitting passes, and more vertical targets where he can use physical strength and size.  Brady’s been a clown in the passing game with just about every wideout we’ve had! He made Diggs look washed.

 

Trading Coleman and bringing in a wr1 isn’t going to do squat until Brady figures out how to scheme a passing game.

 

This! 

 

 

 

BTW, wasn't Joe Brady the passing game coordinator/wide receivers at LSU with Ja'Mar Chase and Justin Jefferson, and Joe Burrow at QB?

Well, for one year anyway. 

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Nihilarian said:

Okay, my last attempt at this.

 

If everyone gets healthy after the bye, what happens? The run defense does get better with the additions of Hoecht and Ogunjobi, and Milano is back. However, the secondary with Rapp, Bishop, and Tre White, I'm pretty sure they still stink. Jordan Poyer, really?

 

The offense, with everyone healthy and playing well, returns to a top-scoring offense. If the playcalling gets better, the run game works, and Allen has his top targets back. Shakir, Coleman, and Kincade, with the latter having the highest catch success rate at 66.7%.  NO Saints WR Chris Olave has a 50% catch success rate.

 

Josh Palmer can get separation, as we saw before he was injured against the Falcons, 2 targets, 2 receptions for 60 yards. We also know that Curtis Samuel can run a 4.31, Moore a 4.35, and Shakir a 4.43. More than enough speed to break away. It's all about how the Buffalo offense is schemed and set up. Right now, the Buffalo Bills are a run-first team that has a power run game, second in the NFL in rushing yards, attempts, and TDs. 

 

Bills OC Joe Brady has stolen my heart with his run scheme, but alas, his passing schemes appear somewhat flawed if he can't get the most out of his players like he does with RB James Cook. And even with Cook, he simply doesn't utilize him enough in the passing game. I can see perhaps why, with him having a 35.7 receiving success rate. pretty stinky. So, have him work with the JUGS more often. 

 

BTW, fans that say that Amari Cooper opened up the offense just by being on the field seem to ignore that it stayed open even when he was on the bench. 

 

McD should tell Joe Brady to get his crap together with the passing offense, or he will hire a passing game coordinator 

 

 

If everybody is healthy I like our chances as long as Hairston can start and at least be average.  We have more options scheme wise with him in there.  
 

Hopefully Hancock can step in for Rapp and be the guy next to Bishop.  I fear we won’t be winning a Super Bowl if Rapp or Poyer is starting (and I love me some Jordan Poyer, but let’s be real).  
 

or we have to make some moves.  Chauncey must be a real ****** if we aren’t bringing him in.  He wants a path to playing time.  He has one in Buffalo

[LEBills]

47 minutes ago, MasterStrategist said:

Problem is Beanes philosophy of winning with #2 types, or who they thought would be #2s.

 

He invested a 1st in Kincaid --- a move alot of this board liked.  But it wasn't what we needed.  He panicked when Addison went off the board IMO.

 

Essentially a 1st in Keon.  Someone who you liked, but isnt winning his matchups.

 

Then decent #2/3 money, in Shakir, Palmer and Samuel.

 

Im not against this approach of Beanes.  He has just majorly whiffed on alot of these player decisions.

 

To say we haven't aggressively gone after a #1, is like saying we know our 2023 1st and 2024 1st were gonna suck out of the gate.  Those are legit chances to get a borderline #1 type.  He screwed the cap with decisions on #3 WR types --- thats massively hampered us - and obviously made poor decisions.

 

So my biggest gripe isnt what positional decisions, its their constant "misses"

The misses are forced errors because of how badly he has planned out this roster at WR.

 

In 2018, all of our WRs were terrible

 

So in 2019, he fixed them with veteran WRs in Beas and Smoke. Good signings and something we could do with Josh on his rookie contract.

 

In 2020, we traded a 1st and 4th for Diggs, drafted Gabe in the 4th, and Josh had his most prolific season and we immediately went to the AFCCG.

 

In 2021, we didn’t draft a WR until the 6th round. Released Smoke and signed Manny Sanders. 13 seconds ended our year.

 

In 2022, we had the last chance at cap space and used it on Von. Released Bease and Sanders contract expired. Didn’t draft a WR until Shakir who is a good but limited player that we lucked into for the draft capital. Josh was now throwing to Diggs, Gabe, little dirty and had Shakir developing. They got smoked by the Bengals and all the talent they had on offense.

 

In 2023, Beane saw how bad our offense looked last playoffs and drafted Kincaid in the first because he knew he needed to add a weapon for Josh. Drafted Justin Shorter in the 5th round. We wound up bringing Bease and Smoke back at the end of the year lolol lost to the Chiefs.

 

In 2024, Gabe signed in Jax. Because it had been 5 years since we spent a better draft pick on receiver than we spent on Gabe, we had to go and sign Samuel for $8 mil a year instead of having a player on a rookie contract ready to step up. Then Diggs got himself traded and literally Shakir was the only player on the roster that had caught a pass from Josh. So then we used our first pick on Coleman because we were desperate.

In 2025, because all we had was Keon, Shakir and Samuel, we had to sign Josh Palmer to a 9.66 mill per year contract. Again, did not draft a WR until the 7th round.

 

In the time since we actually invested in the WR room in 2020, we have drafted one WR in the first 4 rounds. In that same timeframe we drafted 6 DL, 2 OL, 2 LB, 2 RB, and 2 CBs. Keep in mind that WR makes up 5 of the top 11 non-QB contracts in the league. So we have barely drafted one of the top 3 most expensive positions in football.

So I posit that the reason he has whiffed on WR draft picks and signings is because he has only drafted WRs when he absolutely has to, and then overpaid for players who are only in free agency because they are not that good. So has he whiffed on DL a lot making him have to use picks over and over on them instead of WR? yes. But he is whiffing on WRs because his strategy of how to acquire them onto the team is dumb.

[GoBills808]

I have news for all of you who think a different GM is going to solve the WR issue lol

[MasterStrategist]

12 minutes ago, LEBills said:

The misses are forced errors because of how badly he has planned out this roster at WR.

 

In 2018, all of our WRs were terrible

 

So in 2019, he fixed them with veteran WRs in Beas and Smoke. Good signings and something we could do with Josh on his rookie contract.

 

In 2020, we traded a 1st and 4th for Diggs, drafted Gabe in the 4th, and Josh had his most prolific season and we immediately went to the AFCCG.

 

In 2021, we didn’t draft a WR until the 6th round. Released Smoke and signed Manny Sanders. 13 seconds ended our year.

 

In 2022, we had the last chance at cap space and used it on Von. Released Bease and Sanders contract expired. Didn’t draft a WR until Shakir who is a good but limited player that we lucked into for the draft capital. Josh was now throwing to Diggs, Gabe, little dirty and had Shakir developing. They got smoked by the Bengals and all the talent they had on offense.

 

In 2023, Beane saw how bad our offense looked last playoffs and drafted Kincaid in the first because he knew he needed to add a weapon for Josh. Drafted Justin Shorter in the 5th round. We wound up bringing Bease and Smoke back at the end of the year lolol lost to the Chiefs.

 

In 2024, Gabe signed in Jax. Because it had been 5 years since we spent a better draft pick on receiver than we spent on Gabe, we had to go and sign Samuel for $8 mil a year instead of having a player on a rookie contract ready to step up. Then Diggs got himself traded and literally Shakir was the only player on the roster that had caught a pass from Josh. So then we used our first pick on Coleman because we were desperate.

In 2025, because all we had was Keon, Shakir and Samuel, we had to sign Josh Palmer to a 9.66 mill per year contract. Again, did not draft a WR until the 7th round.

 

In the time since we actually invested in the WR room in 2020, we have drafted one WR in the first 4 rounds. In that same timeframe we drafted 6 DL, 2 OL, 2 LB, 2 RB, and 2 CBs. Keep in mind that WR makes up 5 of the top 11 non-QB contracts in the league. So we have barely drafted one of the top 3 most expensive positions in football.

So I posit that the reason he has whiffed on WR draft picks and signings is because he has only drafted WRs when he absolutely has to, and then overpaid for players who are only in free agency because they are not that good. So has he whiffed on DL a lot making him have to use picks over and over on them instead of WR? yes. But he is whiffing on WRs because his strategy of how to acquire them onto the team is dumb.

How should he acquire them then?  

 

You're saying 2022?

 

My point isnt some longer drawn out history lesson.  Its that Beanes evaluation of WRs has been terrible.  Kincaid (glorified WR/TE flex), Keon, Samuel, and Palmer --- meh talent.  

 

He had several options to draft for 2023 and 2024, then in FA.  

 

And it's not just WR.  Its DL and secondary too.  Drafting ok players, hitting on some solid guys, but its the same story every yr --- no splash guys.   

 

We've put 30+ points, up till the last 2 weeks.  Im just as angry about the losses, but big picture im more frustrated that we need top 10 level Drafting and FA/cap mgt, when paying an elite QB like Josh.  

 

Brown, Beas, Sanders were all #2/3 types when Beane brought them here.  Problem is, similar player signings and draft picks have worked out terribly - has nothing to do about supposedly "forcing a pick".  Every team has holes to fill in the draft every yr --- its about who you pick, and in FA making smart decisions.  

 

Beane has been bad at both aspects going back the past couple yrs.

[LEBills]

1 minute ago, MasterStrategist said:

How should he acquire them then?  

 

You're saying 2022?

 

My point isnt some longer drawn out history lesson.  Its that Beanes evaluation of WRs has been terrible.  Kincaid (glorified WR/TE flex), Keon, Samuel, and Palmer --- meh talent.  

 

He had several options to draft for 2023 and 2024, then in FA.  

 

And it's not just WR.  Its DL and secondary too.  Drafting ok players, hitting on some solid guys, but its the same story every yr --- no splash guys.   

 

We've put 30+ points, up till the last 2 weeks.  Im just as angry about the losses, but big picture im more frustrated that we need top 10 level Drafting and FA/cap mgt, when paying an elite QB like Josh.  

 

Brown, Beas, Sanders were all #2/3 types when Beane brought them here.  Problem is, similar player signings and draft picks have worked out terribly - has nothing to do about supposedly "forcing a pick".  Every team has holes to fill in the draft every yr --- its about who you pick, and in FA making smart decisions.  

 

Beane has been bad at both aspects going back the past couple yrs.

He should acquire WRs via draft or trade. Signing mid level free agent WRs is dumb. It’s an expensive position to sign in free agency and almost none of them perform better than they did on their original team. 

 

WR is a tough position to evaluate in the draft. The Chiefs drafted Skyy Moore who was terrible but have drafted a WR in the top 4 rounds every year since and now have Rice and Worthy - not great but better than any WRs on our roster. So to me the biggest crime is not even trying to draft WRs early until Diggs forced his way out and we were desperate.

 

So we are not arguing opposite points. Beane is not a great drafter, and so he has to fill a lot of holes with expensive veterans in free agency who are only in free agency because their former team doesn’t think they are worth it. This makes him both not a great drafter and poor at managing the cap lately. But I will always believe if he drafted WRs early most years, some of them would be already be successes with Josh and then these other misses wouldn’t hurt as much.

[BillsFanForever19]

13 hours ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

A few snaps reactions:

 

1. Who is Dan Mitchell?

 

2. We almost never hear about the Bills being active in either Trade or FA markets. Then...BLAMMO moves are made sometime at night.

 

3. I always love when people make statements like this and circumvent it with a "That could always change" statement. 

 

Dan Mitchell doesn't know sh-t. He's an independent YouTube and TikTok Bills "content creator". A real annoying one at that.

 

He's like a Temu version of Buffalo Fanatics. Not surprising he's now doing the "what I've heard" BS clickbait grift.

[machine gun kelly]

Miami’s not trading Waddle even if it does implode.

 

So for me an out of conference trade is all that can happen which leaves Olave.  He does get hurt from time to time.  The only saving grace is if Palmer can heal up soon as he wont be necessary for Carolina, but after that we need him as a focal point.  I may have written this once before, but Moore better get in better synergy with JA17.  Coleman should sit except for red zone and accept it was a major screw up we drafted him.

 

It’s likely Hairston could get back by KC, and just accept hes going to make some mistakes, but has to start getting on the field.  Im also in the camp we probably could get Douglas from Miami in that he cost them nothing, is better than Tre, and they won’t care if they get a 7th rounder for him.

[cas22]

forget Olave his cap hit is over 6 mil and next year over 15 mil, we don't have the money, we would be better off bringing in someone who new how to draw up plays.

[Albwan]

The Bills aren't going to do anything. Nobody in this league is going to help the bills with a trade.

They have nothing of value.

Edited 52 minutes ago by Albwan

[Kirby Jackson]

Just now, Albwan said:

The Bills aren't going to do anything. Nobody in this league is going to help the bills with a trade.

No team is EVER trying to help the team that they are trading with. They are trying to help themselves. 🤣🤣🤣

[SC STATE NUPE]

18 hours ago, No_Matter_What said:

This is spot on.

 

I'd add Adonai Mitchell who has done nothing in Indy though they are steamrolling teams as some here love to say. And let's not forget about local hero Troy Franklin.

 

There is so much revisionist history here. Yeah I do know many here wanted McConkey and many wanted Worthy (who has about same stats as Keon), but as many people also  wanted Mitchell, Franklin or Leggete and are quiet now, or pretend that they always loved McConkey.

Thank you!!! Our OC doesn’t know how to use WRs properly. We want them to be blockers and short yardage guys. McConkey would look terrible in this offense! Keon would be the Chiefs and Chargers leading receiver…