Buffalo Bills Trade Deadline Targets

The big question going around social media is should the Buffalo Bills make a move at the deadline? There was multiple reports floating around that the Bills offered a second round pick for RB Christian McCaffrey before the San Francisco 49ers acquired him. That begs the question. Are the Bills looking to improve at a particular position? (Maybe their run game again?) Here’s few players fans should watch for.

RB Cam Akers

The Rams made RB Cam Akers available for trade after reports came out that he and HC Sean McVay were not seeing eye-to-eye on the offense. Akers showed good production as a rookie in 2020, totaling 625 yards and two TDs on 145 attempts. After suffering a torn Achilles last season, Akers didn’t see any playing time until the last week of the regular season. Now, the Rams seem to value Darrell Henderson Jr. more, leaving Akers as the odd man out. If that’s the case, the Buffalo Bills should consider throwing a fifth or sixth round pick for him.

Akers is set making a base salary of $1.1M this year and will make $1.4M next year.

RB Antonio Gibson

Gibson seems like the most prototypical Bills RB that’s available right now. It seems like Washington values rookie back Brian Robinson Jr. more than Gibson. Last year may have been Gibson’s most productive season to date, getting it done both on the ground and through the air (1,037 yards and seven rushing TDs, along with 294 yards and three receiving TDs). However, Gibson did have a bit of a fumbling problem last year, losing the ball six times. Yet, 2021 is the only year he had that issue. Adding Gibson to the backfield with Singletary and Cook could give the Buffalo Bills one of their best RB corps since Fred Jackson/CJ Spiller in their primes.

Gibson is in the third year of his four year rookie contract, making a base salary of $1M this year and $1.2M next year.

S Johnathan Abram

With Micah Hyde out for the year and Jordan Poyer in the final year of his deal, the Bills may look to get ahead of schedule and acquire a young safety who’s in his fourth year in the league. The Las Vegas Raiders have talked to teams about trading Abram, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. After a solid 2021 season where he totaled 116 tackles, the Raiders started cleaning house. That left Abram without any certainty about his future with the team. In 2022, Abram has started all of their games and has played very well as of late. That could drive his price up if a team looks to trade for him before the deadline.

Abram is in the final year of his rookie contract, making a base salary of $2M.

TE Albert Okwuegbunam

The second-year Broncos TE seems to be the odd man out in Denver with rookie TE Greg Dulcich exploding onto the scene. Okwuegbunam was a healthy scratch last week, leading many to assume that he could be a trade candidate before the deadline. Aaron Wilson reported that teams are interested in the third year pro. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler backed that report, saying Denver has received calls about their TEs, with Albert drawing the most interest. After being drafted in the fourth round in 2020, he ended up missing most of his rookie season due to a torn ACL. This year, he may have fallen out of favor with first year HC Nate Hackett. If that’s the case, the Bills should make the call for Albert. With just Tommy Sweeney and Quintin Morris behind Dawson Knox in the TE room, the Bills should look to improve at the position.

Okwuegbunam is making a base salary of $895K this year, and $1M next year.

The trade deadline is November 1st.

Featured Image: Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press