The Buffalo Bills are a team that seemed dead set on acquiring some running back help this offseason. Devin Singletary played well once he was given the sole lead-back role last season, overcoming Zack Moss. Despite that, they were still on the hunt for a player at the position.
In free agency, the Bills thought they had landed a pass-catching back in J.D. McKissic of the Washington Commanders. But, McKissic changed course and returned to the Commanders. So, Buffalo addressed the issue in the 2022 NFL Draft.
With the No. 63 overall pick, the Bills selected Georgia running back, James Cook. The younger brother of All-Pro Dalvin Cook, James could challenge for snaps right off the bat in the Buffalo backfield given his pass-catching ability.
Singletary will likely still factor in, especially on early rushing downs. But, the Bills did try to go even bigger at the running back position this offseason.
According to NFL insider Adam Caplan, via JPA Football, the Bills checked in on trading for running back Christian McCaffrey of the Carolina Panthers. Unsurprisingly, Carolina was not interested in moving arguably their best player and told Buffalo that he wasn’t available.
The Panthers were lacking draft capital this year from previous trades that were made to acquire Sam Darnold and C.J. Henderson. Moving McCaffrey would have helped recoup some of those picks, but it would have created another void on a roster that was already full of them.
Adding McCaffrey would have taken an already explosive Bills offense to another level. Despite battling injuries the last two seasons, McCaffrey has proven he is still one of the best players in this league when on the field.
Buffalo is already difficult to stop without a Pro Bowl running back leading the backfield; imagine what it would look like with McCaffrey back there?
They would put up video game numbers with Josh Allen at the helm, leading McCaffrey, Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis, Jamison Crowder and Dawson Knox. The rest of the NFL should be happy that the Panthers didn’t make McCaffrey available, otherwise, the Bills would have likely been runaway favorites for the Super Bowl.
