The Buffalo Bills are still shopping for help before the NFL trade deadline, and one name that fits the mold is Commanders safety Nick Cross.
Cross is 25, in his fifth season, and sits on a Washington team that is 2-4-1 entering Week 9 and hosting the Los Angeles Rams. He has 2,914 career snaps on his résumé and has become the latest safety candidate in a trade series that will keep rolling until the deadline on November 10.
A third-round pick by the Colts in 2022, Cross arrived out of Maryland with real juice. He ran 4.34 at the combine, posted a 130-inch broad jump, and checked in at over 6’0” and 212 pounds. Even with that profile, he didn’t become a full-time piece in Indianapolis until his third pro season.
That breakout came in 2024, when Cross piled up 146 tackles, six tackles for loss, five pass breakups, and three interceptions on an 8-9 Colts team. He followed that up last season with 120 tackles, five tackles for loss, a pick, five more pass breakups, and 2.5 sacks. Washington signed him in March to a two-year, $13 million deal, a number that felt light given his age and production.
This season, Washington has used Cross in a flexible role, much like Indianapolis did. He has missed time after staying at a local Dallas hospital following Week 2’s game against the Cowboys because of an undisclosed internal injury, but he returned in Week 6 and has played at least 54 snaps in each of the four games he’s been available.
In those four appearances, Cross has 22 tackles and four tackles for loss. In coverage, he has allowed 10 completions on 11 targets, but those throws have gone for only 69 yards and one touchdown.
For Buffalo, the appeal is pretty straightforward. Cross brings range, speed, and physicality.
He was described as a player who was “an absolute missile to the football in coverage, both against the run and the pass.” He may not be the kind of safety built to chase down every intricate route underneath, but he does look like the type who can hammer outside runs and screens and still fly downhill to make plays.
There’s also the fit. If the Bills were to bring him in, the expectation is that Jim Leonhard would mostly keep him at free safety while Cole Bishop stayed closer to the line of scrimmage.
That setup would suit Cross well. His 4.34 speed would play in coverage, and he could keep reading the quarterback before bursting to the ball.
He’s also been a reliable tackler. His career missed tackle rate sits at 11.2%, and it’s 8.3% entering Week 9 this season.
From a financial standpoint, the move is manageable. Cross is due a $3.05 million salary in 2026.
If Buffalo acquired him after Week 9, the team would owe $1.525 million in prorated base salary plus $270,000 in possible per-game roster bonuses, for a total of $1.795 million. The Bills have roughly $4 million in 2026 space, so the money would work.
In 2027, his base salary is $5.55 million, and with workout and per-game bonuses, the cap hit would land at a reasonable $6.25 million.
The projected trade price is a mid fourth-round pick in 2027, according to Syndicate32.com’s trade machine. That kind of return would be hard to square with the contract Washington gave him, but Cross’s steady rise in Indianapolis could keep the market in that range.
This would not be the kind of trade that sends shockwaves through the league. But it would make sense for Buffalo.
Cross is young, fast, versatile, and still has room to grow. He wouldn’t need to be asked to split his time between the slot, free safety, and linebacker duties the way he has in Washington.
On this roster, he could simplify his job and still make an impact right away.
He’s not an All-Pro. But for a fourth- or fifth-round price, he looks like the kind of addition that can lift a defense immediately. He’d raise the floor at safety and could also help mentor Jalon Kilgore and Jordan Hancock as they keep developing early in their Bills careers.
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