The Buffalo Bills are rapidly approaching the 2023 NFL trade deadline, and the entire organization needs to admit one thing: The Bills offense is broken right now. Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and quarterback Josh Allen aren’t on the same page, and the supporting cast isn’t up to snuff even if they were. With that in mind, here are the three Bills trades the team needs to make before October 31 comes and goes.
To understand the Bills trades that need to happen at the NFL deadline to boost the team’s predictable offense, we must first diagnose the problems. First, the offensive line is simply average.
Looking at the PFF grades for the season thus far, left tackle Dion Dawkins is ranked 19th among his position group, right tackle Spence Brown is 29th, center Mitch Morse is 20th, and guards Connor McGovern and O'Cyrus Torrence are 42nd and 45th, respectively.
It would be nice to upgrade along the line, but there aren’t any impact O-linemen available, and even if there were, getting them up to speed would be tough.
The next problem is Allen should be getting the ball out of his hand fast, but his receivers — outside of the amazing Stefon Diggs — aren’t getting open quickly and on a consistent basis. Gabe Davis is a complete feast-or-famine player and the QB badly misses having a slot receiver like Cole Beasley (in his prime).
Finally, the run game is brutal. Whether it’s because Dorsey doesn’t call creative run plays well or he doesn’t do so because the Bills offense doesn’t have a dominant between-the-tackles back, the takeaway is that run game is a big problem.
Buffalo’s O has a lot of work to do on many levels, but bringing in some talent upgrades at the 2023 NFL trade deadline is a good place to start.
Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow
The issue the Bills offense needs to fix first is the lack of a secondary pass-catcher after Diggs. First-round pick Dalton Kincaid was supposed to fulfill that role this season, but for some reason (one that is even unknown to him), the tight end isn’t getting much usage.
On the other side of the country, the 2021 Pro Bowl wideout Hunter Renfrow isn’t getting the burn he used to either in Las Vegas. After a 100-plus-catch 1,000-plus-yard campaign two seasons ago, Renfrow dealt with injuries in 2022, and this season, he’s playing just 36% of the Raiders’ offensive snaps.
The slot receiver has just 12 targets, eight catches, 73 yards, and no touchdowns this season.
Playing with Josh Allen (instead of Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, and Aidan O’Connell) could do Renfrow a world of good. He could return to his Pro Bowl form in Buffalo, and the Bills offense will be much improved if he does.
Renfrow has another season left on his deal, so this could be more than a half-season rental. If it doesn’t work out, though, Buffalo can easily get out of the deal this offseason with just $5.5 million in dead cap.
Titans RB Derrick Henry
James Cook is an excellent back. PFF ranks him No. 10 overall at his position, and he is one of the best change-of-pace RBs in the league. That said, he is miscast as an every-down RB1.
Buffalo needs a between-the-tackles bruiser to get the hard yards when the team needs them and kill the clock when the Bills are up late in games. Of all the backs in the NFL, Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry has been the best at that in the last half-decade.
Also, adding Henry would do several things to the Bills offense. It would force Dorsey to call more run plays, it would put Josh Allen under center more, where he’s excelled this season, and it would give the team another scary weapon that teams would actually have to game-plan for.
Additionally, the Bills could still play Cook almost as much. The second-year back is so talented and versatile that lining him up in the backfield with Henry or as a wide receiver would bring a new, creative dynamic that the formations and play-calling are currently lacking.
Henry is a free agent this offseason, so unlike Renfrow, he will be a half-season rental, and that’s OK.
Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy
As long as the Bills are making (hypothetical) trades at the 2023 NFL trade deadline, let’s add one more for good measure. Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy is on the block, and he sure would look good in red, white, and blue.
Jeudy is a WR2 miscast as a WR1 because of his lofty first-round pick draft status. Gabe Davis is a WR3 miscast as a WR2 because he had 210 yards and four touchdowns in an AFC Divisional Round game.
So, the Bills should bring in Jeudy to play alongside Diggs. That will make the incoming WR a clear-cut No. 2 and slide Davis down a peg to No. 3.
Contractually, Jeudy has his fifth-year option left on his rookie contract. But even if he’s a complete disaster, that $12.9 million number next season isn’t a back-breaker for the Buffalo salary structure.
Yes, all this will be expensive and will cost a good deal of draft capital over the next two seasons. However, with the way the Bills offense is completely broken right now, and each season Josh Allen doesn’t win a Super Bowl is a wasted opportunity, it is 100 percent worth it to make these NFL trade deadline moves happen.
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