Getty Mitch Trubisky and Davis Webb talk during the Buffalo Bills' training camp.
One of the biggest offseason acquisitions for the Buffalo Bills may never make it to the regular season, with a new report suggesting that the team’s highest-profile backup could already be on the trade block.
The situation originates in Indianapolis, where Colts quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a foot injury that could keep him out for a significant stretch. Wentz is reportedly visiting a foot specialist and may need surgery, which could keep him out beyond the start of the season. With not much experienced depth behind Wentz in Indianapolis, some believe that the solution could be found in the Buffalo Bills training camp.
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Bills Backup Could Be on the Move
As Nick Wojton of USA Today’s Bills Wire noted, backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky could be an attractive option for the Colts if it turns out that Wentz will miss any significant time. Trubisky is among the most experienced of the second-string quarterbacks in the NFL, having come off a stretch as the Chicago Bears starter. Wojton noted that the Bills are unlikely to get a high return, with anything in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft likely off the table.
“What a trade would rely on is if the Colts would potentially be comfortable enough giving up something like fourth-round pick,” he reported. “Such a selection would have decent value and the Bills would be on the hook for a $2 million dead cap hit in trading Trubisky, per Spotrac.”
From Inside Training Camp Live: #Colts QB Carson Wentz is expected to miss the rest of the preseason and faces the prospect of foot surgery, sources say. He’s hoping to play through it, but surgery to repair would likely mean he’s on the sidelines when the season starts.
The Colts traded for Wentz in the offseason after their playoff loss to the Bills and the retirement of veteran starter Philip Rivers.
Trubisky reportedly turned down higher offers to choose Buffalo, with Bills general manager Brandon Beane saying they sold the former No. 2 overall pick on the ability to work with the coaching staff that helped turn Allen into an MVP-caliber player.
“What we sold to him and his agent is, ‘Just come here for a reboot. Work with Josh Allen and our other quarterbacks, Jake Fromm (and) Davis Webb, (offensive coordinator) Brian Daboll and (quarterbacks coach) Ken Dorsey,” Beane said in an interview on SiriusXM NFL radio. “Come here, have a reset year and just be a part of what we’re doing here.”
Bills Bring Back Familiar Face
Trading Trubisky would create another problem for the Bills, Wojton noted. With the team reaching the cusp of the Super Bowl last season, the former Bears starter was seen as an insurance policy in case Allen were to miss time with injury this season, a steady hand who could help keep the team on a Super Bowl track if called upon to start. Trubisky has looked sharp through the start of training camp.
I spent a lot of time watching new Bills QB Mitchell Trubisky today and he looked sharp.
He noted that the Bills would have some options in this situation, pointing out that the team’s primary backup for the last two seasons, Matt Barkley, remains a free agent and could easily return. The team has not shown much faith in last year’s fifth-round pick Jake Fromm, who spent all of last season away from the team as a quarantine quarterback in case the team suffered a COVID-19 outbreak. With the league eliminating the preseason last year, Fromm never got a chance to see the field.
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