The Buffalo Bills need a receiver, and with free agency and the NFL Draft on the immediate horizon, soon general manager Brandon Beane will be at the plate to make his swing.
Rumors circulated out of the NFL Combine that he’s winding up for a big swing, with names like A.J. Brown, Mike Evans, and Rashid Shaheed being linked to Buffalo in the aftermath. Still, without any of those names on the roster just yet, and the prospects who just performed in Indianapolis fresh on the minds of fans and analysts around the league, it’s still fair to play matchmaker between the Bills and a rookie pass catcher.
That said, there are plenty of proper ways for Beane to address the position of need. Certainly, there are bad ways to go about it, too, and one proposed trade for Buffalo is just that.
Draft class context makes Bills' massive Draft day trade-up proposal hard to justify
CBS Sports’ Ryan Wilson recently proposed that the Bills should trade up high into the first round to pursue Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, largely considered the top receiver in the draft class, adding that,”It would likely cost Buffalo its 2026 first-round pick, its 2027 first-round pick and a mix of second- and third-round selections.”
Wilson aimed to compare the Bills' pursuit of Tate to the Atlanta Falcons’ pursuit of Julio Jones in 2011. In a separate recent mock draft, he had the Bills move up to No. 3 to select Tate. 15 years ago, the Falcons traded a haul of picks to the Cleveland Browns to move up from pick No. 27 to No. 6 to draft Jones, who quickly became arguably the best receiver in franchise history.
Tate could go just as high in this draft, though it’s not necessarily because he’s as talented as a potential Hall of Famer. While there’s some depth at wide receiver in this class, it isn’t brimming with elite talent. Tate is the best receiver in a middling class. Jones was one of the top receivers in a top-heavy class that also featured A.J. Green.
Further, Jones had 4.3 speed, and his production at Alabama, while still elite, was hampered by a heavy run-first scheme at the time and the overwhelming attention he received from opposing defenses that no other Crimson Tide wideout at the time could pry away from him. While Jones may have eventually won out as the most productive and talented receiver from the 2011 class, he was still taken after Green.
Tate, on the other hand, has benefited from playing second fiddle to the likes of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jeremiah Smith, both of whom carry much more exciting draft profiles than Tate. In fact, if any of these three Buckeye receivers has a realistic comparison to Jones, it's Smith. If this proposal were for one of those two in their draft classes instead, then there’d probably be little pushback on the idea.
Again, Tate isn’t a bad player, and he’s worth his stock in this class as the top wideout. But Tate doesn’t scream instant success in the same way that Jones did, even by removing my own crimson-tinted glasses. We’re comparing a strong prospect against guys who were marketed as generational-type talents coming out of college.
Wilson even said himself that while he thinks Tate is a bona fide WR1, he’d still be in favor of this trade if you categorize Tate as a WR2 because he fits the Bills’ offense so well. Look, it’s opinion season, and you’ve probably read some of my opinions in recent weeks and thought they were way off the mark. It comes with the gig. But no one in the NFL is trading two first-rounders and change for a WR2 with WR1 upside, regardless of how well they fit the scheme.
The Bills are rumored to be entertaining adding Mike Evans in free agency. He’s a great fit and fills the WR1 void instantly at a much cheaper price. A.J. Brown is also on the radar, and while he will also cost at least a first-round pick, he also instantly fills the void for a lower price than this Tate proposal.
Other receivers in this class fit at pick No. 26 or in the mid rounds on Day 2 just as well. They might not have the same level of talent as Tate, naturally, but the draft is about value as much as it is about getting the guys you want.
Thankfully, it seems highly unlikely the Bills will go in this direction. But it’s worth reiterating clearly that treating Tate like Julio Jones and selling the farm for him is a bad idea from top to bottom.