This past Sunday, the Buffalo Bills and the rest of the NFL had to get their rosters down to the final 53 players, and that meant tough decisions had to be made. There were a lot of players who were waived, released, and also traded.
The Bills weren't part of a lot of trades on Sunday, but they make one of the more early ones when they traded away center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger to the Indianapolis Colts. Tom Pelissero had reported the trade. Buffalo sent Van Pran-Granger and a 2027 7th-round pick in echange for a 2027 6th-round pick, per Pelissero.
Buffalo was very smart for Sedrick Van Pran-Granger trade to Colts
First, Van Pran-Granger's contract was extremely easy to trade because he was drafted in the 5th-round of the 2024 NFL Draft. So, he still has two years left on his rookie deal. Not to mention, the Bills signed Lloyd Cushenberry III in free agency who will now be the backup center to Connor McGovern.
That's right, the Bills took the new veteran player who is on a one-year deal over the rookie that they drafted and still has two years left on his deal. Buffalo is definitely changing things up from what they used to be.
Trade grade involving Van Pran-Granger is lower than fans may have expected
Chris Landers of FanSided.com graded every NFL trade that happened on the roster cutdown day on Sunday, and the trade involving Buffalo and Indianapolis for Van Pran-Granger was listed as even trade as both the Colts and Bills received a “B” grade.
"If you caught any of Indy's preseason finale, you probably couldn't help but notice just how dire the Colts' backup center situation was. They were even struggling to deliver accurate snaps consistently. So, just a day or so later, Chris Ballard did something about it, snagging a perfectly adequate backup in Van Pran-Granger who was buried on the depth chart behind Connor McGovern in Buffalo. That's a smart find." said Landers.
Now, getting a "B" is not bad at all. However, it's surprising that both got the same grade considering the fact that Van Pran-Granger was pushed down to the third string center behind Cushenberry and McGovern. Not to mention, the Bills also have Austin Corbett as a backup who can play both center and guard.
The Bills managed to get an extra 6th-round pick from the Colts, and since they had already made a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders during the NFL Draft in which the Bills acquired an extra 2027 7th-round pick, they still have a selection for the 7th round in the 2027 NFL Draft. So, they cleared up roster space and added an extra draft pick in doing so without losing a pick for a round.
Sure, the Colts land themselves a backup center to help solidify the offensive line depth. However, the Bills got value back for a third-string center...you don't see that often, if at all.
Add us as a preferred source on Google