Bills Trade Ideas: Does Rookie James Cook Mean Move on Zack Moss?
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane likes to work the phones with other NFL general managers.
In 2017 alone, Beane's first year as Bills GM, he made seven trades. That may not seem like that big of a number until you remember all of them came after that year's NFL Draft because he wasn't hired until May 9.
Quarterback Cardale Jones was the first player traded by Beane. Then came wide receiver Sammy Watkins and cornerback Ronald Darby, both traded on the same day, but to different teams.
Other defenders like Reggie Ragland, Kevon Seymour, and Marcell Dareus would be sent to other NFL franchises before Halloween of that year, which is the day Beane spent draft capital for the first time in his tenure.
In all, Buffalo has executed 30 trades since hiring Beane - considered by some the NFL's best GM - and almost half of those involved sending a player away in exchange for future draft capital.
With that information in hand, Joe Marino of the Locked On Bills Podcast went to work identifying the next offensive roster members that could be sent elsewhere.
QUARTERBACK, CASE KEENUM
Marino admits he doesn't see a quarterback trade from Buffalo happening without some significant motivation, but setting the rules that he had to pick one player from each position group, Keenum is the first man out if a trade goes down.
"If a team's starter went down, he could be in play," says Marino. "Case Keenum did that whole thing in Minnesota where they had a couple of quarterbacks go down and (he) led them to the playoffs and had a really good season."
RUNNING BACK, ZACK MOSS
Drafted in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Moss was projected by Sports Illustrated as a power runner who ran a 4.65 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine but displayed the ability to break tackles at every level of the defense.
Knowing who the player was stylistically wasn't the issue though, it was injury concerns from his time at Utah. Unfortunately, the inability to stay healthy has followed Moss to the NFL and is one reason the Bills made yet another draft investment in the position group this year, adding James Cook from the Georgia Bulldogs program.
All of this drives Marino to believe Moss could be the odd man out if a trade involving the position comes this year.
OFFENSIVE LINE, CODY FORD
This is the position group Marino says is most likely to see a move happen within.
And 2019 second-round pick Cody Ford is just one of the players who could be dealt if the Bills look to gain some serious draft capital.
"Cody Ford's a talented football player - he was a top-40 pick for a reason," Marino said. "Just hasn't been very effective for the Bills and I think that there's some circumstances that have prevented him from really blossoming in Buffalo...But this could be your guy that you actually get something for."
In all, Marino identifies seven offensive players currently on the Buffalo Bills roster who could be part of the next Beane trade.
For the complete list, check out this recent episode of the Locked On Bills Podcast.
