NFL reporter thinks Bills should trade for untapped young DB

The Buffalo Bills made some major and unusual changes to their defensive backfield this offseason, parting ways with strong safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer. The pair have capably led Buffalo’s defense since the 2017 season, racking up 202 starts, three All-Pro nods and two Pro Bowls in their seven years with the club.

The Bills need two new starters at the position: Taylor Rapp, who played nearly 40 percent of the team’s defensive snaps last season, is expected to fill the safety role, while the other starter will be determined by an ongoing battle in training camp. Fourth-year defensive end Damar Hamlin, free agent Mike Edwards and second-round pick Cole Bishop are the participants in the competition, all three of whom have seen first-team reps through the first three days of camp.

Buffalo’s 2024 safety tandem, however it emerges, won’t necessarily be inexperienced (as Rapp, Edwards and Hamlin all have some starting experience), but it will be unproven. Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine believes the team should insert another name into the mix, suggesting the Bills make a deal for Atlanta Falcons safety Richie Grant in a recent article discussing a trade idea for every NFL club.

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“It might be worth adding another name to the mix before the season,” Ballentine wrote. “Targeting someone like Richie Grant could be a low-risk, high-reward play to fill the room. Grant was a second-round pick in the 2021 draft and has been a starter for the Falcons the past two seasons, but Jessie Bates III and DeMarcco Hellams could be the starting duo after the latter had a strong rookie campaign.”

“With Grant in the final year of his rookie contract, the Falcons might be willing to part ways with him in exchange for a pick. Perhaps playing in Sean McDermott’s defensive system would help him have a breakout season.”

Ballentine is proposing that Buffalo trade a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft in exchange for Grant; the Bills currently own two sixth-round picks in next year’s draft, their own and the New York Giants’.

The compensation isn’t significant, and Grant has shown promise throughout his three professional seasons. He’s recorded 261 tackles, 15 pass deflections and three interceptions since joining the Falcons. That said, he hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations placed on him as a second-round draft pick, and he’s not the most reliable coverage defender in the world; quarterbacks had a passer rating of 128.9 when throwing to Grant last season, according to PFF.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott has a penchant for good, overlooked defensive players (just look at Hyde and Poyer), but acquiring Grant would simply add another player to an already crowded competition. The Bills have several boxes checked with the players already in the position battle: Hamlin has significant scheme experience, Edwards brings general league experience and a championship pedigree, and Bishop brings youth and immense promise. Grant, 26, would also bring potential, but he would also take reps away from those already entrenched in the battle; first-team reps are already spread among three players, and adding another player could only muddy the waters.

It’s not necessarily an outrageous suggestion, but it doesn’t seem likely to come to fruition. Buffalo seems content with the safeties on its roster; if it ultimately decides to add another option, it will likely turn to Hyde, who is still a free agent, before turning to the trade market.

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