The AFC has been a huge battle across the conference amongst many teams, and the Buffalo Bills have been part of the mix since 2020. Part of the reason why is because of Josh Allen being at quarterback and his ability to put on the Superman cape and carry the Bills as far as he can.
While Bills fans are extremely grateful to have Allen in Buffalo, they also are in an era where a lot of the other AFC teams are stacked at quarterback. Teams like the Ravens, Bengals, Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, Jaguars, and now the Patriots (once again), are in the mix as teams who have a serious chance at coming out of the AFC each season.
When a team is one of the best in the league, it’s not unusual to see them make big moves to try and get over the bump that they may have kept running into. The Bills have been one of those teams as they have made a variety of moves over the years.
Up until last season, the Bills kept getting their hearts broken at the hands of the Chiefs, so one of the biggest goals for Buffalo was to find a way to finally take down Kansas City. While Buffalo is looking to get past Kansas City, the Bills are also a bump for other teams who can’t seem to get past them. One team that immediately comes to mind are the Baltimore Ravens.
There is always a debate going on whether Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen is the better quarterback. Jackson has more MVP awards and more First-Team All-Pro honors. Yet, Allen has beaten Jackson twice in the playoffs, currently sitting at 2-0 against Jackson. In the NFL, awards are great but the ultimate goal is to go as far as possible. Allen has been further than Jackson in playoff football many times.
Both the Ravens and Bills changed head coaches this offseason, and both teams made huge trades as well to try and keep their championship window open…until the Ravens eventually backed out of their trade that they made with the Las Vegas Raiders for Maxx Crosby. Instead, they found a way to sign Trey Hendrickson to add a pass rusher.Â
However, the Ravens are still lacking offensive power in the passing attack, but a mock trade written by Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report has Baltimore pulling off a trade to try and catch Buffalo.
NFL mock trade has Ravens pulling off blockbuster trade to try and stay within top tier of AFC
In Knox’s mock trade, the Ravens acquire Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick.
"Baltimore could use a legitimate No. 1 receiver, and Pickens would certainly fill that need. He may also relish a chance to go up against the Pittsburgh Steelers team that jettisoned him a year ago." said Knox.
Pickens is certainly a spectacular receiver who had a breakout season last year in Dallas. If the Ravens were to pull off this kind of trade, it would certainly add another element to their offense. However, all that Bills fans would gather from it is that the move would be an attempt by Baltimore to try and get past Buffalo.
Fans can say what they want about the Jackson/Allen rivalry. At the end of the day, the AFC hierarchy has Kansas City at the top (yes, even including last year), and then Buffalo is right behind them. The Ravens have yet to show that they can get past both the Bills and Chiefs when it matters the most.