The Bills, under new coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, have been willing to make several bold trades and, even with Buffalo surprisingly in playoff contention, that mentality will not change. That was proven true again on Friday when the Bills traded Marcell Dareus for a late draft pick, creating significant payroll flexibility in the process.
The Bills would also be willing to move veterans Cordy Glenn and the recently-un-retiring Anquan Boldin at the right price, sources said, as the organization continues to focus on assets that can move them forward in the long and short term.
Buffalo has been one of the feel-good stories of the first half of the season, with the rookie coach and GM reshaping the roster in the wake of the ugly fallout of the demise of the Rex Ryan/Doug Whaley regime. They have already shipped out recent top draft picks like Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby, Cardale Jones, and others. Even after those moves, the Bills have other commodities who could be gone by Tuesday's deadline like Dareus, who did not feature in their plans beyond this season, as previously reported.
It would take something of real value to land Glenn, who signed a big-money extension with the Bills under their prior management, but he too could be had. The Bills are the rare team that is deep at tackle, with several young, cheap and talented options, and given the dearth of pass protection in the NFL, teams will continue to explore Glenn to the deadline. And Boldin had been out of the Bills' plans since shocking the team with his retirement announcement midway through the preseason.
The team's brass was surprised, again, when Boldin informed them he had changed his mind last week and now wants to resume playing. At this point the Bills are committed to the players on their roster and developing youngsters like second-round pick Zay Jones, sources said, and, given that it might take Boldin time to round into playing shape, anyway, opted to allow him to pursue a trade before the deadline. They retain his contract rights in the interim, but the prospect of landing a draft pick with the ability to help the team over a multitude of years is intriguing as they seek to improve the roster at numerous spots.
With the Bills winning games while Glenn was injured and having never played a game with Boldin on the roster, one could make the case that, like Dareus, landing picks for both would be addition by subtraction. That's to say nothing of the future payroll flexibility gained from no longer paying big bucks to Dareus, something that would hold true in the event of a Glenn trade as well. If nothing else, the Bills will be listening to offers.
