Bills Predicted to Add ‘Significant Weapon’ for Josh Allen at Trade Deadline
The Buffalo Bills have developed a well-rounded passing attack, with quarterback Josh Allen spreading the ball around to a talented group of receivers, tight ends, and running backs as the team has jumped to a 4-0 start.
But the Bills have been lacking one major element in their passing game — a true field-stretching wide receiver. One insider believes they can find one at the trade deadline, adding the deep threat that the team has been lacking since parting ways with Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis last year.
Bills Aim for Raiders Receiver
Reporter Matt Verderame of SI.com broke down trade proposals for all 32 NFL teams ahead of the deadline, predicting the Bills will take aim at Las Vegas Raiders receiver Jakobi Meyers. As Verderame noted, Meyers has made it clear that he wants to find a new NFL team and could find a new opportunity in Buffalo.
“Meyers requested a trade before the season but didn’t get his wish,” Verderame wrote. With the Raiders in last place in the AFC West and Meyers on an expiring deal, it would make sense to move him for the best offer.
Verderame predicted the Bills could land Meyers for a relatively affordable price, suggesting the Raiders would part ways with him in exchange for a fifth-round pick. That would make Meyers cheaper than last year’s trade-deadline addition, veteran Amari Cooper, who had only a limited impact over the second half of the season for the Bills.
Meyers would also give the Bills a receiver who can stretch the field and keep opposing defenses honest, he wrote.
While the Bills have an offense ranked second in points and sixth in passing yards per game, they don’t have terrific boundary receivers, with Joshua Palmer and Keon Coleman,” Verderame wrote. “The duo has 341 yards and one touchdown through four games. Trading a mid-round pick for Meyers, who has 21 catches and 258 yards, would add a significant weapon for Josh Allen.”
Bills Hint at Bigger Role for Another Receiver
The Bills are into their second year of the approach that offensive coordinator Joe Brady calls “everybody eats,” which calls for contributions from several receivers rather than leaning more heavily on one or two.
The Bills made some veteran additions this offseason to help that approach, including Joshua Palmer. Brady hinted this week that he can see Palmer growing into a bigger role with the team, noting that he has done well so far with more limited targets.
Palmer has 10 receptions for 138 yards so far this season, but Brady said he could start seeing more targets.
“Josh is a pro’s pro,” Brady said. “He’s embodying what we’re doing, that we’re trying to win games, obviously did a great job on the second play of the game yesterday. I’ve had no issues with his work ethic, his approach, everybody’s still trying to figure it all out right now, we’re still early in the season. He’s one of those guys that I like where he’s at, I could name about 10 guys I’d love to get more involved.”
Shedeur Sanders Destroyed for ‘Playing God’ After Lamar Jackson Injury
Shedeur Sanders is in the process of watching the Cleveland Browns elevate a rookie quarterback into the starting role, but it isn’t him.
Dillon Gabriel will take the reins of Cleveland’s anemic offense heading into the team’s Week 5 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in London on Sunday, October 5, per a report from CBS. Meanwhile, Sanders might also be starting the first game of his career next weekend had he not shunned the Baltimore Ravens when they reached out to his camp in April and expressed interest in drafting the QB in the fifth round.
NFL commentator and personality Emmanuel Acho was an outspoken critic of Sanders in the wake of the news that he’d spurned the Ravens. Acho took a victory lap on his position Tuesday, September 30, after the Baltimore Sun reported that the team will be without two-time MVP and starting quarterback Lamar Jackson for up to three weeks due to a hamstring strain.
“Shedeur Sanders turned down going to Baltimore. Everybody said, ‘Acho, that’s a backup mentality. Acho, you talking like a backup.’ I said, ‘No, you can’t play god,'” Acho said. If Shedeur Sanders was a backup with the Baltimore Ravens right now, he’d probably be starting this week — in Baltimore, with Derrick Henry behind him, with Zay Flowers out wide, with DeAndre Hopkins out wide. Instead, Kevin Stefanski is still oscillating between starting [Joe] Flacco or Dillon Gabriel. This is why I said you can’t play god, because you never know what’s going to happen.”
Lamar Jackson’s Injury History Renders Ravens Better QB Destination Than Shedeur Sanders Realized
GettyBaltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Sanders’ reasoning for telling the Ravens he wasn’t interested in coming to their organization boiled down to a math problem. Jackson is a two-time MVP with a long career yet ahead of him, and Sanders’ desire to elevate into a starting role with relative immediacy wasn’t timeline compatible with the calculus of Jackson’s career trajectory.
Critics of Sanders’ viewpoint said he undervalued organizational character and structure, and ultimately shortchanged his own development by not accepting a backup role with the Ravens for two or three years.
And there is also Jackson’s injury history to consider. He missed five games in 2021 and 2022. Tyler Huntley stepped in both times and actually earned a Pro-Bowl nod in 2022 for his work in Jackson’s stead. That, coupled with the superior skill-position talent in Baltimore compared to Cleveland, and Acho’s point stands up.
In fairness to Sanders, there is no way he was going to win the job from Jackson with two or three weeks of starting rope early in his rookie season. But had he earned the chance to play, he’d be getting the experience and exposure he both desires and needs if he wants to prove himself a viable starter for any of the league’s 32 teams.
Shedeur Sanders May Not Be Starting Week 5 Even if He Were With Ravens Instead of Browns
GettyBaltimore Ravens quarterback Cooper Rush.
Baltimore also paid Cooper Rush north of $6 million to leave the Dallas Cowboys and back up Jackson for the next two years, so there is no guarantee Sanders would get the nod this week if he were in the Ravens QB room.
Rush has played 40 career games, he is 9-5 as a starter and has thrown for 3,515 yards, 20 TDs and 10 INTs across his eight-year career. But whether or not Baltimore would choose to start Sanders over Rush if they had the option, Sanders clearly believes he should already be running an NFL team.
“I know if you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that,” Sanders said. “[It’s] obvious a lot of teams would be playing me, but that’s not in God’s plan right now.”
