By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills attempted to trade for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Hours later, that ended.
According to reports, the Bills and Steelers were close on a deal, but Brown interfered and said he wouldn’t join his potential new team in the Bills. Naturally, Buffalo then backed out.
While the Bills didn’t land the All-Pro receiver, the move still sent ripples across the NFL by just attempting the move.
With that, here are five takeaways from the Bills’ attempt at landing Brown:
Swinging-big
One thing is clear following the aftermath that is the Brown to Buffalo saga: the Bills will leave no stone unturned and the front office, led by Brandon Beane, deserves credit for putting themselves out there as they did.
Anyone with a slight pulse on the NFL scene would’ve told you that it was a realistically possibility that Brown could’ve decided to not come to Buffalo if they traded for him. Exactly that happened, but kudos to the Bills, they’re trying.
On top of that, just the news of the attempt could do wonders. The players in Buffalo’s locker room can take a sense of belief in them from the front office and coaching staff. They were all-in. Even potential future players, too. They know the Bills aren’t a team that won’t make a gutsy move and they want to win… right now.
Faith in draft class
The Bills currently enter the 2019 NFL Draft with 10 picks in total. Beane stockpiled his selections and the team’s first pick is slated for ninth overall. There the Bills could land one of the draft’s top wide receivers. Most presume that to be DK Metcalf from Ole Miss.
Metcalf and the rest of the NFL hopefuls just ran through the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine last week. Beane, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott, and the rest of the crew were front and center.
So perhaps the Bills were unimpressed by Metcalf and the rest of the receivers there so they decided to go the trade route? Or on the flip side, could Buffalo be targeting another position group with their first pick? Or a trade? Lots of connecting ideas with the draft.
Current roster
While some observers of the Bills might believe they need a No. 1 receiver like Brown, that doesn’t mean the team thought that. It was a realistic possibility that the Bills could’ve just tabbed Zay Jones as their top wide receiver. In his rookie season in 2017, Jones had a tough go and battled injuries. He had 27 catches for 316 yards and two touchdowns.
In year two, everything went up. Jones had 56 catches for 652 yards and seven touchdowns. Another step forward in 2019 and Jones is pushing perhaps 70 to 75 catches and just under a thousand yards receiving?
Jones can still do that, but with this attempted move, it proves that the Bills do think they need to add a playmaker ahead of Jones and Robert Foster.
Stigma alive and well
For residents of Buffalo and western New York, they don’t need to be told this. But Buffalo ain’t all that bad.
Unfortunately, many folks who simply take a trip from an airport to Orchard Park on a Sunday, or who have never been to Buffalo, will make their negative remarks.
AB didn’t want to go there. Ha-ha!
Buffalo certainly is a tough sell to those outsiders sometimes, especially with free agency around the corner.
But another thing is true, too. Despite those shots, many that do come, will continue to stay or send their praises after giving the area a chance.
Eric Wood set the record straight this morning…
“I explain this to people all of the time. The facility, staff, coaches, management, owner, etc make the experience bc you aren’t enjoying LA or Miami during the season and if you are you won’t be there long anyways”
…as did Jill Kelly, wife of former Bills and Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly, who famously didn’t want to go to Buffalo himself back in the day:
“And now he’d never leave!” she tweeted.
Now what?
So with Brown’s career in Buffalo ending before it began, where to the Bills go from here?
Well, looking back at our takeaway on the upcoming draft class, maybe that isn’t fully true. It’s not everyday a team can land the only player in the NFL who had six-straight, 1,000-yard receiving seasons. So maybe the Bills were just doing their due diligence and the price could’ve been low. They could still be high on the upcoming draft class.
If they do still want to add a No. 1 wideout immediately, they could still go the trade route still. There’s been rumblings about wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. The Bills would never land him though, right? Well, they almost had Brown, so that’s not out of the question.
Look at the free agency class, there isn’t a ton there either. There’s slot receivers Golden Tate and Adam Humphries, plus Tyrell Williams, Cole Beasley, John Brown, Devin Funchess, and Randall Cobb, just to name a few. There’s talent, but perhaps not top-target talent. Certainly not AB skill.
Buffalo’s options to find an immediate No. 1 receiver for Josh Allen is an intriguing idea to ponder. Without Brown, the Bills still do have near $75 million in salary cap space to find one.