Buffalo Bills: Should the Team Make A Move For Christian McCaffrey?

The rumors have been swirling that the Carolina Panthers might be trying to trade Christian McCaffrey. The Buffalo Bills have been searching for a running back since the days of LeSean McCoy. Should the Bills be calling Carolina on draft day to potentially make a deal?

The Panthers look like they’re unofficially in rebuild mode with their 5-12 finish last season. The Buffalo Bills on the other hand are a few key pieces away from a Super Bowl run. With a struggling run game last season, predictability became their enemy. All teams had to do was seat back on deeper routes and it took away their explosive pass game. Buffalo desperately needs to fix their run game in order to balance out their offense.

Sure they could take a gamble in this year’s NFL Draft with a rookie running back. Plenty of running backs have had early success after being a first-round pick, guys like Christian McCaffrey especially. The Bills have 8 picks in this year’s draft but fall towards the end of the first round. They could stay firm with no rush to trade up as teams pick through QBs, OL, WR, and pass rushers. Based on past drafts, there’s a good chance the top running back will still be on the board when they select at 25.

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But McCaffrey is still young at 25 years old. He’s a proven talent and runs as hard as anyone in the league. Now Bills fans might be scared off by his injury history but there’s no need to write him off. Buffalo can go out and find a complementary running back to fit McCaffrey’s style and not have to rely on him to carry the offense as the Carolina Panthers do. The Buffalo Bills have a lot more explosive talent to take the pressure off the young running back and someone to split carries with him could do wonders.

This year’s NFL Draft isn’t loaded with “must-have” players and should be the year Buffalo considers moving some picks to improve their offense. If they can trade out of the 25th spot and pair some late-round picks to Carolina while keeping their mid-round picks it could be a steal. Imagine if Buffalo were to acquire Christian McCaffrey and sign someone like say, Phillip Lindsay. Lindsay is one heck of a running back that just hasn’t found his footing in the NFL yet. He’s been underutilized but can make plays when needed. If you pay him and McCaffrey in Buffalo’s offense it would be one heck of a 1-2 punch.

Then if they can pick up a playmaker or two in the middle rounds, this team should be able to fill the holes that have held them back in recent years. If not for an overtime loss in 2022, who knows if they would’ve made the Super Bowl. In order to stop that from happening again, the Buffalo Bills need to go out and get a playmaker at running back and keep the ball out of opponents’ hands. Christian McCaffrey should be that running back.