Wild trade rumor emerges featuring one of the Bills’ best playmakers as free agency is set to begin
Please, Buffalo, don’t do this. Please.
The Buffalo Bills are going to look vastly different from the way they did during the 2025 season. Changes are coming to One Bills Drive. The team was one bad call away from an AFC Championship Game, but with the salary cap the way it is, and with the team’s needs staring right in front of the front office, there could be some more adjustments coming to Western New York.
Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano wrote an article discussing the 2026 NFL combine buzz with all the intel for free agency and the draft, and Buffalo was mentioned throughout the article. One name to keep an eye out for, though the men said that Buffalo would not be shopping for the player, was that of defensive tackle Ed Oliver. Oliver’s name comes as a surprise, if you ask me.
“There has been speculation that defensive tackle Ed Oliver could be available in trade, but I am told that the Bills have no interest in moving him and that they expect him to be on the team in 2026.” – Jeremy Fowler
Ed Oliver was dominant when he was on the field in 2025
Oliver, when healthy, is a one-man wrecking crew on the defensive side of the football, and it was evident during his play — even if you just look at his Week 1 performance. Oliver’s 2025 season was derailed after suffering torn biceps that had him sitting out a majority of the season. Still, when he was active, he made his presence felt on defense in a big way.
The talented defensive tackle was only able to play in three games, totalling one forced fumble, three sacks, and 12 combined tackles before his injury forced him out until the playoffs. Oliver fought hard and even got to see some action in the divisional round loss to the Broncos before reaggravating his injury.
Oliver should bounce back in a big way in 2026, health-wise, which would make using him as trade bait a bad decision in my book. He’s too valuable to the defense to just ship away, regardless of what may be coming back in return. Put simply, they need him in that defensive front under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
Buffalo doesn’t need to create new holes just to plug old ones. Yes, trading Oliver would provide some cap relief, but not to the level that would allow Buffalo to take a massive swing on another player. If anything, the team should just elect to extend Oliver to clear up some extra space.
If the Bills are serious about taking the next step in 2026, it starts with keeping their foundational pieces intact. Oliver is one of them. You don’t trade away interior disruption like that when you’re trying to get over the hump, especially not after only three games in a season cut short by injury.
With a full offseason to get right and Leonhard building a defense that thrives on aggression up front, Oliver could be one of the biggest X-factors on the roster. The Bills were a bad call away from the AFC Championship without him at full strength.
Imagine what that front looks like if he’s actually healthy.
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