Could the Buffalo Bills actually make a move for a receiver before the NFL trade deadline?
At the moment, it still feels more likely that any trade Buffalo makes would be aimed at the defense. But wide receiver remains in play, and one name worth watching is Jaguars wideout Brian Thomas Jr.
Thomas is just 24, and the appeal is obvious: a young receiver with rare physical tools who burst onto the scene in a big way as a rookie before his production took a sharp turn in Jacksonville. That rookie year is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in any conversation about him now.
In 2024, Thomas caught 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. He posted a 2.45 yards-per-route-run mark and had a drop rate of 6.5%.
Since then, the numbers have dipped hard. Last season, his YPRR fell to 1.45 and his drop rate climbed to 13.5% on 90 targets.
Through six games in 2026, he’s down to a pedestrian 0.95 YPRR with a 25.0% drop rate.
His role in Jacksonville has shrunk, too. Thomas has been on the field for 43.1% of the Jaguars’ offensive snaps this season and sits fourth on the team in targets.
Last year, his snap rate was 63.4%. As a rookie, he was out there on 79.4% of the offensive plays.
If Buffalo were to go after him, the fit makes sense in a very specific way. Thomas is just under 6-foot-3, weighs 209 pounds, and has 4.33 speed, which gives him the kind of profile that screams outside vertical threat. The Bills’ X receiver spot is currently held by DJ Moore, but Thomas would be a natural candidate for the off-the-line Z role.
That’s the spot Josh Palmer has mainly handled, and it’s the job that helps stretch the defense, open up space underneath, and create the occasional shot play. Thomas can absolutely do that. If this deal happened, the move would almost certainly mean Thomas sliding into Palmer’s place on both the field and the roster.
From a contract standpoint, the attraction is obvious. Thomas is on a rookie deal, and that keeps him affordable now and down the road.
His 2026 salary is $1.07 million. If Buffalo traded for him after Week 9, the team would be responsible for $537,000 in prorated base salary.
His 2027 salary is $2.79 million, and because he was a first-round pick, he’d be eligible for the fifth-year option in 2028.
That cheap control is a major part of his trade value. He’s not expensive now, and he wouldn’t be expensive later either.
As for the price to get him, Syndicate32.com’s trade machine projects a late second-round pick in 2027. That may be a touch rich given where Thomas is right now, since he’s already deep into a second season of underwhelming production and doesn’t appear to be a central piece of Jacksonville’s plans. Still, the rookie-year breakout, his age, and the contract situation could easily push the Jaguars to ask for a Day 2 pick.
Would Buffalo actually do it? There’s reason to hesitate.
If the Bills are going to surrender a second-rounder, it probably shouldn’t be for a receiver in Thomas’ current form, especially with Keon Coleman’s mini-emergence still going. If Coleman weren’t showing signs of life, the calculus might be different.
At the same time, Thomas looks like a player who needs a reset. The GM and coach who drafted him in Jacksonville are gone, and that alone matters.
There’s also the LSU angle. Joe Brady didn’t coach Thomas in Baton Rouge, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to think the Bills’ head coach still has LSU connections who could help shed light on how to unlock him in a new environment.
Even with all that, the Bills’ broader needs still point toward defense first. But Thomas is young, inexpensive, and still carries the kind of upside that can change the shape of an offense - and by extension, affect Josh Allen directly.
If Buffalo could land him for a third-round pick and a late-round throw-in, that would be a move worth serious consideration.
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