Bills came painfully close to pulling off a blockbuster trade that could have completely changed their season’s outlook
So close, but yet so far away.
The Buffalo Bills and general manager Brandon Beane are going to do whatever it takes to help bolster the roster. That’s including taking some big swings on players who some would otherwise believe Buffalo was out of the running for.
At least that’s what the latest update from an NFL insider revealed.
It’s been reported that Buffalo was deep in talks for superstar pass rusher Maxx Crosby before Crosby ultimately landed with the Baltimore Ravens. The deal was for a pair of first-round picks as one of the league’s most dominant pass rushers finds a new home in Baltimore.
As Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported, Buffalo was aggressively pursuing the pass rusher.
“At the combine, the Raiders found a robust market for Crosby, as you’d expect,” Breer wrote. “The framework of Vegas’s ask at that point was built off the Dallas-Green Bay blockbuster in August, which brought Micah Parsons to the Packers for two first-round picks and DT Kenny Clark. Because of Crosby’s age (he will be 29 in August), the Raiders knew it might be tough to find that kind of haul. But with the Bills, Bears, Cowboys and Ravens among those lined up as the league descended on Indianapolis, the Raiders had leverage to drive the price up.”
The price was just too high for the Buffalo Bills and Brandon Beane to bite
The Buffalo Bills were a good football team, and that’s ultimately why they weren’t able to land Crosby. With Buffalo selecting toward the bottom of the first round, they would have needed to pair that with an additional second-round pick to get the job done, a price too high for Beane and company. It simply didn’t hold enough value for the Raiders to consider the trade.
“A dividing line for the Raiders was where the picks being discussed landed in the first round,” Breer wrote. “The Cowboys held the 12th pick, while the Ravens had the 14th selection. And it led to teams bowing out. The Bills were the most prominent example, holding the 26th pick, which was 500 points on the Jimmy Johnson draft chart, less valuable than Dallas’s pick, and 400 points less valuable than Baltimore’s pick. [ . . . ] That meant Buffalo would essentially have to add a second-round pick to whatever Dallas or Baltimore offered, which is why, in the end, the Bills bowed out of the bidding.”
It could be a sign of things to come this free agency period, with Buffalo looking to bolster its defense under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. Buffalo could use free agency in an attempt to bring in a solid pass rusher to add to the mix.
Breer even mentioned John Franklin-Myers as a potential option for the Bills once free agency began. As Sports Illustrated reported, Buffalo was tied for 20th in the NFL with 36 sacks in 2025, a number they desperately hope increases once the 2026 season rolls around.
For now, we can all just dream about what Crosby would have looked like in a Bills uniform until the team actually makes a trade for a difference-maker on the defense.
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Get it done, Brandon Beane.
