ESPN writer wants Bills to trade recent first-round pick for day-three draft choice

An ESPN writer wants to see the Buffalo Bills trade Kaiir Elam to the Indianapolis Colts.

Anthony Miller | 3 Hours Ago

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The Buffalo Bills already hit what is shaping up to be a home run in acquiring wide receiver Amari Cooper, and one ESPN writer wants to see the team make another trade involving a former first-round draft pick.

Bill Barnwell recently wrote an article looking at 12 trades he wants to see ahead of the 2024 NFL trade deadline, with the Bills being the subject of one of the deals. The writer proposes that Buffalo trades depth cornerback Kaiir Elam to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

"Elam is another one of the former first-round cornerbacks who has never met expectations," Barnwell wrote. "Taken No. 23 in 2022, he appears to be a rare miss on the defensive side of the ball for Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott. Despite injuries opening up opportunities for him in the depth chart, he never seemed to convince McDermott he deserved steady playing time. Injuries hit Elam last season, and while back healthy, he has played just 23 defensive snaps in 2024."

One would be forgiven for feeling as though Elam has had a disappointing start to his professional career. He had played in just 16 regular season games as a pro entering the 2024 campaign; he's recorded 59 tackles, two tackles for loss, five pass deflections, and two interceptions in 22 career appearances.

Elam now finds himself behind Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford on the depth chart, tallying only four tackles and one pass deflection in limited snaps this year. Douglas and Benford have been stellar through six games and have graded out analytically as one of the NFL's better cornerback duos, preventing Elam from seeing significant playing time.

Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

A sixth-round pick wouldn't be a bad return all things considered, and it would add to the 10 picks the team is projected to have in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Elam experiment, from a 30,000-foot view, has not worked out, and getting a pick back while clearing a roster spot wouldn't be a bad idea, in theory

That said, Elam is Buffalo’s primary depth option on the boundary; is it worth parting with that for a day-three draft pick? He’s also only 23 years of age and showed immense promise throughout the summer, earning consistent praise from the coaching staff; with Douglas in the final year of his contract, the Bills perhaps view Elam as a succession option at cornerback. It’s natural for a national pundit to feel as though Buffalo has soured on Elam, but it’s perhaps too early for the team to throw in the towel on the defender, especially in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick.

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