How does a team help its fanbase emotionally recover from the offseason departure of a bonafide No. 1 wide receiver?
By going out and acquiring another, of course.
The Buffalo Bills revamped their receiving corps in the 2024 offseason, allowing former complementary piece Gabriel Davis to depart as a free agent before trading perennial Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs, the franchise’s fourth-all-time leading receiver, to the Houston Texans. Buffalo supplemented their departures with value free agents and high-upside rookies like Curtis Samuel, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Keon Coleman; these players, when combined with third-year pass-catcher Khalil Shakir and sophom*ore tight end Dalton Kincaid, figure to keep the Bills’ passing game afloat, but the offense, on paper, isn’t as fearsome as it was just a few months ago.
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This notion is what has the Buffalo faithful acutely interested in Brandon Aiyuk, a reigning second-team All-Pro pass-catcher who requested a trade from the San Francisco 49ers this week amid a shattered contract negotiation. San Francisco has already publicly dismissed the idea of trading the wideout, but that hasn’t stopped fans around the country—Western New York included—from dreaming about Aiyuk donning their preferred team’s uniform.
And boy, is the possibility intriguing. Aiyuk, despite his recent national recognition, is perhaps still one of the more underrated wide receivers in the game; he’s caught 269 passes for 3,931 yards and 25 touchdowns throughout his four-year professional career, his quickness and elite route-running ability making him one of the more fun pass-catchers to watch in the NFL. Pairing the 26-year-old with an otherworldly quarterback in Josh Allen would undoubtedly result in frequent fireworks, a sentiment that’s recently been echoed by ESPN.
Reporter Dan Graziano recently penned an article for the outlet breaking down the league’s five best fits for Aiyuk, circling the Bills as a potential match. The writer notes Buffalo’s offseason moves at receiver and its need for more high-level pass-catchers as potential motivations for the move.
“No, they also don't have the cap space to take on $14.125 million, but the Bills aren't far off and likely could get there with a couple of small moves,” Graziano. “Having traded Stefon Diggs to Houston and lost Gabe Davis to Jacksonville in free agency, the Bills certainly have a need at the position. Rookie Keon Coleman is still an unknown, and at this time Buffalo looks likely to try and build its 2024 offense around second-year tight end Dalton Kincaid and third-year running back James Cook while their wide receiver situation sorts itself out. Adding Aiyuk would obviously leave the Bills with less to sort out.”
Though a trade for Aiyuk isn’t impossible, it doesn’t seem likely at this juncture. Whichever team acquires the receiver (should he ultimately be traded) will have to promptly give him an extension; he has one year remaining on his rookie contract, and his lack of a financially suitable long-term deal is a significant part of the motivation for his trade request. Though the Bills freed up long-term financial flexibility with its offseason moves (namely the Diggs trade), they’re still strapped for cash in the immediate future; Buffalo currently has just over $10 million in salary cap space, per OverTheCap, and the Bills are very much a team that likes to have cash available should they need it in a pinch in the regular season.
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Buffalo likely could make Aiyuk’s roughly $14 million cap hit fit on its books in 2024, but his potential extension is another story; the former first-round pick is reportedly seeking a contract with an annual average value of roughly $28 million. This is a significant financial commitment for any club, especially a team with a murky salary cap situation; according to OverTheCap, the Bills are currently $3.7 million over the cap for the 2025 season (they’ll obviously work their way out of this with releases and restructures, but this paints a clear picture of the team’s still partially unsolved financial woes).
Consider that Buffalo would also have to part with significant assets in order to acquire Aiyuk (likely one—or several—premium draft selections), and it’s difficult to imagine the team acquiring the receiver this offseason, regardless of how fun it would be to see him play with the likes of Allen and Coleman. Perhaps it will be positioned to make a run at him next spring should he hit free agency, but seeing Aiyuk don the charging Buffalo helmet in the 2024 campaign does not seem feasible.
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