The Buffalo Bills head into Sunday’s Week 11 matchup against the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers having lost three of their last five games, and just struggling to hang on to a chance at their sixth straight AFC East title. Despite being led by reigning NFL MVP quarterback Josh Allen, much of the blame for the Bills’ struggles since winning their first four games has fallen on their passing attack — or lack of an effective one.
It’s not just fans and pundits complaining about the Buffalo passing game. The team’s own coach of nine years, Sean McDermott publicly points the finger in the same direction.
“It’s an important part of our offense,” McDermott said followings team’s humiliating 30-13 loss to the 3-7 Miami Dolphins last week, as quoted by
“We’ve got a great quarterback and you want to be able to move the ball two dimensionally. We should be able to move the ball with Josh through the air,” McDermott continued. “But it can’t just be one phase of your offense. It starts up front with the line of scrimmage. (Allen) made some amazing plays, which he does. We got to move the chains. We’re not holding the ball long enough.”
With those issues in mind, McDermott and the Bills took a drastic step in an attempt to inject some new energy into the Bills’ aerial attack, only about 24 hours before they were set to kick off at Highmark Stadium against the visiting 6-3 Bucs.
First, at least according to one report which has not been denied by the team, they benched 2024 second-round draft pick Keon Coleman, potentially placing the second-year wide receiver on the inactive list, even though the 22-year-old former Florida State Seminole is fully healthy.
At the same time, apparently to take Coleman’s place in the Bills’ offensive lineup, the team signed former Kansas City Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman to the 53-man roster.
Hardman was a 2019 second-round draft pick for the Chiefs out of Georgia, and in his rookie year caught 26 passes for 538 yards and six touchdowns as the Chiefs advanced to what was then their first Super Bowl since 1969.
Hardman, 27, had been out of a job since his release from the Green Bay Packers practice squad on September 23. The Bills signed him to their own practice squad on Monday, then signed him again, to the active roster this time, on Saturday.
“His speed and versatility make him both a vertical threat and a weapon to use on special teams, both areas the Bills need help in,” wrote SB Nation Bills analyst Sara Larson on Saturday. “The Bills have cycled through returners for much of the season, with Brandon Codrington frequently being downgraded to the inactive list as a healthy scratch.”
In a corresponding move, the Bills released Codrington on Saturday as well. Because the NFL trade deadline is now history, NFL rules require that Codrington will be placed on waivers before he is fully cut from the team.
The Bills game against Tampa Bay will be televised to most of the country by CBS in the 1 p.m. Eastern time slot. Only the Baltimore and Cleveland markets will not receive the game.
There’s still plenty of time in the 2025 regular season. But with Week 5 looming, the NFL trade deadline is actually quickly approaching, which means the teams most likely to be buyers is coming into focus.
On Thursday, CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin named the Seattle Seahawks one of his five teams most likely to be buyers at the NFL trade deadline.
“With Sam Darnold thriving as the new gunslinger and Mike Macdonald still directing a physical defense, they might be the clear favorites to survive a crowded NFC West race,” wrote Benjamin.
The CBS Sports analyst didn’t mention any specific potential Seahawks trade targets. But presumably, Seattle will seek offensive upgrades.
Entering Week 5, the Seahawks are ranked second in points allowed and sixth in rushing yards yielded.
Seattle is just 18th in passing yards allowed, but the team should improve in that area once all of its defensive backs return. Defensive backs Devon Witherspoon, Julian Love and Nick Emmanwori have all missed at least one of the first four games this season.
Although Seattle’s pass defense is in the bottom half of the league, the unit has performed better in other categories. Most notably, the Seahawks are seventh in net yards allowed per attempt. That’s because they are sixth in the NFL with 12 sacks in four weeks.
With all that in mind, the offense probably has greater needs. The Seahawks are 13th in passing and 18th in rushing entering Week 5.
It’s never a bad idea for NFL teams to add another pass-catching weapon. Jaxon Smith-Njigba leads the Seahawks with 26 catches and 402 receiving yards. But only one other player has more than 82 receiving yards for Seattle this season.
It’s often difficult to integrate an offensive lineman into an NFL lineup midseason. But the Seahawks could show interest in offensive line depth.
Seattle sits in the middle of the pack in sack percentage allowed after four games.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday other NFL teams could be “monitoring” Riq Woolen on the NFL trade market.
Some pundits, such as The Tacoma News Tribune’s Gregg Bell, found the report to have odd wording. It’s possible Rapoport’s report was actually from a source in the Seahawks organization who is trying to increase interest in the cornerback.
But shopping Woolen for a different piece could make sense for the Seahawks. As long as the team’s cornerbacks are healthy, Seattle doesn’t have a lot of use for the fourth-year cornerback.
Perhaps a team on the trade market is interested in the cornerback as a rental player. Woolen is on an expiring contract and will become a free agent next spring.
However, there could be complications for the Seahawks if they try to trade Woolen. More than likely, only contender will show interest in the cornerback because he’s a rental. Contenders typically want to give up draft picks, not players, in NFL trade deadline moves.
The Seahawks, though, probably don’t want a draft pick at the deadline because they are also a contender.
So, to find a perfect trade partner for Woolen, the Seahawks will have to seek a team who needs a cornerback and has a different player Seattle could use. That other team will also have to be willing to give up that player the Seahawks want.