Bills Trade Proposal Lands All-Pro Speedster

Getty Devin Duvernay runs the ball in a Baltimore Ravens game.

The Buffalo Bills could use some help on special teams after the season-ending injury to running back and return specialist Nyheim Hines, and one insider believes they could find through a late-summer trade.

Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine wrote a column suggesting one trade for every team in the NFL, and for the Baltimore Ravens suggested moving All-Pro punt returner Devin Duvernay in a deal for Buffalo’s Boogie Basham.

Basham has struggled through his first two seasons in Buffalo, and many insiders see the edge rusher as a potential trade candidate as the season approaches and the team pares down its roster. Ballentine suggested that the Bills could solve one of their emerging roster challenges by moving Basham.

Ravens Deep at Wide Receiver

As Ballentine noted, the Ravens added plenty of competition to their wide receiver room this offseason by signing Odell Beckham Jr. and drafting Zay Flowers, with Rashod Bateman also returning from injury. With tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely also expected to play big roles in the offense, Ballentine wrote that Duvernay “could be the odd man out.”

That could present an opportunity for a trade with the Bills, he wrote.

“If so, he’s a solid trade chip,” Ballentine wrote. “The All-Pro punt returner has flashed the potential to play inside and out as a receiver. That’s something the Bills could use as they continue to look for receiving weapons to step up outside of Stefon Diggs.”

Duvernay could fill some of the void lost when Hines suffered an ACL tear in a jet ski accident. Hines emerged as the team’s top return specialist after joining at last season’s trade deadline, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns in the Week 18 win over the New England Patriots.

Boogie Basham on the Trade Block

Ballentine’s trade proposal would send Basham, a former second-round pick in 2021, to Baltimore and the chance for a fresh start. Basham fell to the bottom of the team’s defensive line rotation last season, making 19 total tackles with two sacks last year with one interception and a fumble recovery.

Other insiders see Basham as a potential trade candidate as the season approaches. The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia predicted that the addition of veteran pass rusher Leonard Floyd gave the Bills the flexibility to trade Basham.

“The depth [at edge rusher] also allows the Bills to recoup a pick potentially on a draft investment who hasn’t panned out as they’d hoped,” Buscaglia wrote. “Boogie Basham still will carry some trade value with rebuilding teams around the league as a change-of-scenery high pick that can be had at a discounted price.”

Bills general manager Brandon Beane has a history of making trades close to the final roster cut-down, moving marginal roster candidates in exchange for late-round draft picks.

Basham may already be below the cut line in a crowded edge rusher group. ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg predicted that he would not make the final roster, even with All-Pro edge rusher Von Miller likely starting the season on the PUP list.

“Due to the addition of Floyd, the Bills will still have to make tough emotional decisions even if Miller is on PUP and, in this projection, move on from 2021 second-round pick Boogie Basham,” Getzenberg wrote.