Brandon Beane and the Buffalo Bills took on a ton of heat once last season’s trade deadline passed and even with a huge need at wide receiver, no deal was made that involved One Bills Drive. Bills fans were mad and the entire NFL world was laughing at the Bills, and rightfully so.
The Bills needed to be buyers to improve their chances of making a deep playoff run, but they stood still and finished out the season where they lost the AFC East and were eliminated in the divisional round of the playoffs despite not having to play guys like Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, or Lamar Jackson.
There were three receivers traded before the deadline passed; John Metchie III to the Jets, Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars, and Rashid Shaheed to the Seahawks. The Jets acquiring Metchie didn’t make a difference at all. Meyers had a great impact for the Jaguars and Shaheed shined for Seattle and helped them reach the Super Bowl.
The Bills were rumored to be involved in the trade sweepstakes for Meyers and Shaheed, but could not ultimately get either of them. Meyers would have been a solid addition, but he was not the kind of receiver that Buffalo needed. Shaheed is someone that can stretch the field and also contribute on special teams. He would have been the best addition for Buffalo.
Instead, he was traded to Seattle from New Orleans and he is now a Super Bowl champion while the Bills had another heartbreaking playoff loss.
Bills missed out big time on impact Rashid Shaheed provided for Seahawks
Alex Kay from Bleacher Report revisited the trades that happened and when you look back on the Shaheed trade, it shows what the Bills missed out on with Shaheed. The Seahawks were given a B- when the trade happened, and now Kay is giving the Seahawks an A+.
"Come the playoffs, Shaheed continued to give Seattle a massive special teams edge. He only returned four kickoffs across the team's three-game run to the Lombardi Trophy, but the dynamic playmaker amassed a whopping 167 yards in total—including a 95-yard return for a touchdown to open the NFC Divisional Round win over the 49ers—on those runbacks." said Kay.
Shaheed had 687 receiving yards between the Saints and Seahawks this past season, which would have ranked second on the Bills only behind Khalil Shakir (719). He also had two touchdowns on offense in addition to his special teams touchdowns both with Seattle.
Who knows how Buffalo’s season would have ended if they acquired Rashid Shaheed, or just a receiver in general. All we know now is that Beane and his staff must bring in a solid wide receiver or two to make up for the lack of work that they have done the last two seasons at that position.