No matter how great a team has a solid front office/coaching staff, there are always going to be misses. Perfection does not exist in the NFL (well, unfortunately it does for the 1972 Dolphins but that’s a completely different conversations). Either way, it’s extremely difficult for a team to make a solid move for the franchise.
The Buffalo Bills are just like any other team in the NFL when it comes to this concept. Sure, under Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott they have completely turned the ship around for the better. The Bills are a powerhouse under this regime and have won the AFC East the last five consecutive seasons and have made the playoffs in all but one season under the McBeane team (2018).
However, they had their growing pains of course just like any other rebuilding franchise would. They’ve missed on a couple of draft picks and have made some big swings via free agency or trade. One of those trades, which was ranked as the worst by the Bills over the last decade by Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report, was trading for wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin from the Carolina Panthers.
Here's a bit of what Knox said about the Benjamin-to-Buffalo trade:
"Benjamin did not bounce back with Buffalo. He lasted a little over a year with the franchise, appearing in 18 games and producing 571 receiving yards, before he was waived in early December 2018."Kristopher Knox, Bleacher Report
Trading for Kelvin Benjamin was a big time mistake by Bills
After a strong rookie season in 2014, Benjamin was never the same player. He never reached over 1,000 yards after his rookie season and he missed 2015 with a torn ACL. However, during the 2017 season, the Bills were surprisingly making a push for the playoffs and Beane decided to bring the 6-foot-5 receiver to Buffalo from Carolina to help push the offense over the top.
While he did have a solid play here and there, Benjamin was a complete miss in Buffalo for the rest of 2017 and the 2018 season. As a matter of fact, his production was so bad in 2018 the Bills opted to release Benjamin before the end of the regular season.
Thankfully, the Bills have built themselves up from mistake of a trade but it was painful to watch. Benjamin never panned out to be the player that a lot of us thought he would be.