Bills Positioning for MASSIVE Trade...

The Bills just cut a starting safety a week before the NFL trade deadline. C.J. Garner-Johnson is gone after 26 tackles and one interception this season, which leaves a 6-1 team with a massive hole that they cannot ignore in January. And the fix might be sitting on the worst team in football. The Chargers are 0-7, and they have two safeties that a contender would love to have. One is a home run swing, the other is the backup plan, and there are a ton of more names on this Chargers roster that are at least worth a phone call. By the end of this video, you will know exactly who Brandon Bean should be targeting on this Chargers team before the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday. The scoreboard tells it all. Buffalo is winning in shootouts. The Rams put 34 on them. The Raiders put 30. The Bills needed every single point to win both of those games. Through six games, the Bills were 31st in the league in pass defense, with over 1,700 passing yards allowed. That was next to last in the league, on a team that is supposed to be built to make a Super Bowl run. And it's not just the safeties. After three weeks, PFF graded Christian Benford's performance 97 out of 99 cornerbacks. Now, take a starting safety out of that equation. Here's who's left back there. Cole Bishop is the leader of the group with 45 tackles. Now starting next to him will be Damar Hamlin with 22 tackles and the young guy behind them is the rookie Jordan Hancock who has been fighting a hamstring injury all season long. So that's two starters and a rookie in Jalen Kilgore as the next man up. So for a team that wants to beat teams like Kansas City or Jacksonville or Cincinnati in January in the playoffs, that is very thin. And this front office knows it. The word around Buffalo this week is that the Bills are expected to be buyers and Brandon Beane says that he is going to be aggressive. But one quick thing before we get to the names, we are less than 300 subscribers away and we are trying to hit 3,000 subscribers by the NFL trade deadline. So if you are a Bills fan and you don't want to miss a single... Piece of Bills content, hit subscribe because we will have a ton of more content coming your way. So who on that Chargers roster actually fixes it? Let's start with the big one. Derwin James. When he is on the field, he is everywhere. 21 tackles in only three games this season. He plays safety. He plays the slot. He comes off the edge on a blitz. That's the piece this defense is missing. And the Chargers paid him like it. In May, he signed an extension worth $25.2 million a year through the 2029 season. The most for any safety in football. But here's the catch Actually, there's two catches. First, he's hurt. The Chargers put him on IR on October 31st with a hamstring injury, and that means he's out for at least four games. Second, the money. His cap hit this year is $24.6 million. The Bills only have $4 million in cap space. It's like if the Bills went out and bought a Ferrari in November. They can't drive it until December, and they don't have a garage to park it in. So to make it work, Brandon Bean would have to send back real salary to L.A. And then there's the asking price. One Yard Barker ranking of the Chargers trade chips put James at about a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028. But that's just one writer's guess, not a report. Buffalo still owns its 2027 picks in rounds one through five, so the ammo is there. But I think the injury is a little bit less scary than it sounds, because the Bills, they don't need Derwin James in November. They need him in January, and he's signed for three more seasons after this one. So that's not a rental. That's the back end of your defense all the way until 2029. But that's... The home run swing. But you can't swing at a pitch that the Chargers have not even thrown yet. You would think an 0-17 team like the Chargers would be selling everything. They're not. Remember, this is a team that the Bills have already beat 24-16 back in September in week three, and the Chargers haven't won a game since. In fact, they haven't won a single game at all. The Athletic reported on October 31st that the Chargers are telling teams. Khalil Mack isn't available and that their stance has confounded teams around the league. And then Jim Harbaugh said it out loud. He said, I want Khalil Mack here. Khalil Mack wants to be here. He's one of the pillars of our team and nothing is forcing their hand. The Chargers have $26 million in cap space, so they don't have to dump anybody. And this deadline market is not cheap whatsoever. The Bears just sent two first-round picks to Tennessee for Jeffrey Simmons. And when a defensive tackle costs two firsts, a team that doesn't have to sell like the Chargers could ask for the moon. The same report says it's hard to envision that holding over the next 10 days. So the phone isn't entirely off the hook. But if James is indeed a no for the Chargers, You don't go home empty-handed, you gotta go to plan B. Elijah Molden. He's not a name that is as well known as Derwin James, but that is the point. He plays safety. He plays the slot. He goes wherever the offense is attacking. The Chargers signed him in February 2025 to a three-year $18.75 million deal, a role player's contract, but he's had injuries. His hamstring has bothered him late last season, so whoever trades for him needs to check the medicals first. 24 tackles this season. Garner Johnson had 26 before Buffalo let him go, so that's almost a straight swap. And here's why he's the realistic one. His cap hit is $7.9 million, but his salary this year is only $6 million. So trade for him by Tuesday, and the bills only take on what's left of that salary, about half, which is roughly $3 million. That fits under Buffalo's cap without moving a single contract. And he's not a rental either. He's signed through next season at $7.2 million. Plan A is a swing for January. Plan B fixes this safety position right now. And here's what I'd offer. For Molden, we're looking at like a mid-round pick. He's a role player and the Chargers save money in moving him. But for James, I'd start at what Yardbarker guessed and be ready to go up to even a first-round pick because the Chargers don't have to say yes to anything as the reports have indicated. Now, there are a ton of other Chargers names on this list, but most of them are looking pretty unlikely. The aforementioned Khalil Mack has three sacks in seven games. He's 35, and Harbaugh just said that he wants him there. He had five and a half sacks all of last season, so he can clearly still rush. But he's on a one-year, $18 million deal, and a contender would be paying for the last nine regular season games of a 35-year-old pass rusher. Another option is Tuli Tuipulotu, and he is the exact opposite. He's 24, and he had 13 sacks last season and made his first Pro Bowl. And it's been a climb every year. Four and a half sacks as a rookie, eight and a half the next season, and then 13. He's in the final year of his rookie deal at $6.2 million, and LA has not extended him yet. That's the only reason that his name is even remotely on this list. So he's their pass rusher after Khalil Mack, and I bet that the starting asking price begins with a first round pick. And personally, I think that the safety position is a bigger hole that the Bills need to fill. And Buffalo's pass rush isn't really that much of a problem. Anyway, Greg Rousseau had six sacks in his first three weeks alone. But let's look at the offensive side of the ball, specifically the wide receiver position, starting with Lad McConkey, who costs $2.7 million this year and is signed cheap through next season. He's a receiver who already has had a 1,000-yard season on a rookie deal, and this is the last thing that I think that the Chargers are going to be willing to sell. He's had a concussion throughout the past month that he's been dealing with. The Chargers ruled him out of the Kansas City game on October 18th, but another guy to look for is Quentin Johnson, who has had... 12 catches on 26 targets this season, and L.A. picked up his option for next year at about $18.1 million fully guaranteed, so that is a lot of money for under half of his targets being caught. What about Dante Jackson, the cornerback? He hasn't played since week four since he's also been dealing with a hamstring injury and a hurt cornerback. Isn't really a fix. And then there's the sneaky one. Linebacker Dan Henley leads the Chargers with 39 tackles. His cap hit is $3.9 million. So like Molden, what's left of it fits under Buffalo's salary cap. So there might be a deal in place there. He is in a contract year, so he is a rental. For cheap, a linebacker who can cover. I think this would be a fine fit for the Bills, but he's not a priority. But as a second move, if they cannot secure a safety from the Chargers, I could see him as some great value for what's left on the field. So it really comes down to two names, I think, in the big picture. So here is where I land on this. Safety is by far the biggest priority for the Bills, and I don't really think it's particularly even that close. I think Bean should call on James first just to check, and if LA is willing to move him, you've got to find the money to go out and get this guy because a healthy version of Derwin James in January is the best. Possible version of this defense, but the Chargers, they're telling teams that they are not sellers. And also James is on IR. So if that call goes nowhere by Monday, they pivot to Molden and try to make Molden the move. He fits the cap. He fills the spot that CJ Garner Johnson left, and he signed through next year. And if the Bills want to pivot to a safety on another team, I could also see them going after Henley as a third string option. But just think about what a January game looks like. We've seen it year in and year out where Josh Allen, he's trading blows with Patrick Mahomes and it's back and forth and the defense is basically going to be the ones to decide it. Whoever makes the play. So that's the play that the safety either makes or gives up. And that just, it matters so much more than another receiver or another pass rusher on this roster. What doesn't work is walking out of Tuesday with absolutely nobody. That is the worst case scenario. A contender with a hole at safety can't wait until another brutal playoff loss in January and another long offseason to address this issue in the summer. So you tell me, do the Bills swing big for Derwin James, or do they play it safe with a guy like Elijah Molden? Or would you rather see them trade for somebody else entirely on this Chargers roster? Let me know down in the comments The trade deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern, the day after the Minnesota game, so we'll have a ton know of more Bills content coming your way, so stay tuned for that. down Thanks for watching, and of course, Go Bills! in the comments.