Should the Buffalo Bills trade for 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk?

The Buffalo Bills are in the middle of a soft rebuild on both sides of the ball, and that extends to the receiver position. With Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis out the door, it's on rookie Keon Coleman to pick up the slack, along with a bunch of veteran stopgaps like Chase Claypool, Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Josh Allen has the ability to do a lot with a little at the receiver position, but if you're Bills general manager Brandon Beane, how much do you want to lean into that?

It's possible that help could be on the way, for the right price. The San Francisco 49ers and receiver Brandon Aiyuk have been far apart on terms for a new contract for a while now, and Aiyuk has requested a trade.

Now, ESPN's Adam Schefter has reported that the 49ers have no intention of trading the disgruntled receiver, but let's say that's just posturing to up the price. Because any team trading for Aiyuk's services would also have to pay him as he wants to be paid -- as one of the NFL's top receivers. Which means that Aiyuk is going to get a contract probably north of $25 million per year.

Could the Bills actually swing this if they wanted to? It would take some work on Beane's part. Right now, Buffalo has a bit more than $10 million in cap space for the 2024 league year , and only the Denver Broncos have more dead money on the books than the Bills' $61,171,494.

So, now is probably not the time. The Bills would be better off making the most of the receivers they have as they jettison the contracts of Diggs, Tre'Davious White, Leonard Floyd, Micah Hyde, and Jordan Poyer (among others). It's tempting to blow it out and add Aiyuk to the field, but the books probably say otherwise.