By Clint Brooks / Billswire.usatoday.com
With a quarter of the 2018 NFL season officially in the books, many teams around the league have formed a picture of how good or bad they’ll be for the remainder of the campaign.
Through four games, the Buffalo Bills are sitting at the bottom of the AFC East with the New York Jets and the entire NFL with a 1-3 record. Statistically, the Bills haven’t been the worst team, but Buffalo is projected, and on pace, to be one of the last place teams in 2018.
Although you can never say never, realistically, the playoffs are far out of sight for this young, inexperienced and talent-less Sean McDermott-led squad. While possessing a few big-name veteran players on a team with little to no expectations this year, it would be logical to assume that the Bills’ brass are looking for a reasonable return on these players to build for the roster they’re envisioning for the future.
With that, here are three players Buffalo should consider moving at the NFL trade deadline on October 30:
LeSean McCoy
He’s been an electric and sensational running back the past three seasons in Orchard Park, but the sense is running back LeSean McCoy’s time with the Bills is coming to an end.
In three games played, McCoy has struggled along with the entire offense, mustering only 85 yards on the ground and 41 yards through the air for an embarrassing total of 126 yards.
McCoy’s poor stats are primarily a product of the lack of weapons and talent around him. Without the presence of a top wide receiver or a respectable passing game for that matter, opposing defenses put the majority of their time and effort to shut down McCoy in an otherwise lackluster Buffalo offense.
At 30 years old, to say time is running out for McCoy would be an understatement. If McCoy has aspirations to make a deep postseason run and capture that ever elusive Super Bowl ring, it would be in the best interest of both parties for the Bills to send their six-time pro bowler to a contender and add future considerations to stock up on.
Kelvin Benjamin
Another obvious candidate, Kelvin Benjamin has simply not lived up to expectations as the No. 1 wide receiver in Buffalo.
After acquiring him from the Carolina Panthers last season at the trade deadline, Benjamin was expected to fill the void Sammy Watkins left as the team’s No. 1 wide receiver. In 10 games as a Bill, he’s gathered only 309 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 23 receptions. His production has all-in-all not been enough for a player of his size, talent and the place he was drafted (28th overall) in 2014.
Ultimately for the Bills, while the cupboards are bare at the wide receiver position, it would be the right move to extract some value in return for a player that is highly unlikely to re-sign at a negotiable price after the season.
Charles Clay
When he signed a five-year, $38 million dollar deal back in 2015, Buffalo thought they finally found a difference maker at the tight end position in Charles Clay.
Fast forward to 2018, and although the signing hasn’t been a complete bust, with Clay earning top money at the tight end position, the Bills haven’t necessarily reaped the rewards from their No. 1 tight end.
Clay has been inconsistent as an impactful weapon on offense on a week-to-week basis during his time in Buffalo. There have been a few games where he was the go-to option in the passing game, but there have been far too many games where he looked invisible and nonexistent.
Once again, it would be a logical move for the Bills to trade Clay and create additional cap space to spurt the team’s rebuild going forward.