The Buffalo Bills and CJ Spiller have been dealing with trade rumors this summer after the running back and the team did not agree on a contract extension and the Bills could consider a trade if Doug Marrone uses Fred Jackson and Bryce Brown in the offense and teams like the Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants could be fits if a deal goes down.
Trades are very rare this late into the NFL offseason and with the preseason and training camp now in full swing, a deal is even less likely, but that hasn't stopped the rumors. According to NFL.com, Spiller said that he has been hearing the rumors all offseason and he said that he understand the business and that he is coming off of a down season and that he is working hard to get back to where he was two years ago. Doug Marrone spoke about using two backs for the most part in the offense and while that likely will be Spiller and Jackson, there is a chance that the team could pull the trigger.
Spiller has put up some great numbers during the past two seasons and while he is a versatile back, he has shown that he can be a between the tackles runner as well. Spiller had his first 1,000 yard season in 2012 and that saw him rush for 1,244 yards and last season he nearly had another with 933 yards and while his yards per carry went down, it was still at 4.6 yards after he set a career high the season before with six per carry. Spiller could be a very valuable back for another team and the Bills clearly don't want to trade him, but they also backed themselves up for that possibility by extending Fred Jackson and trading for Bryce Brown in the offseason.
The Bills come into the season after being one of the best rushing teams in the league and while trading someone like Spiller might be stupid considering that fact, the team has Fred Jackson, Bryce Brown and Anthony Dixon to make up for it if he is eventually moved. Spiller has great talent and while the two sides could come to an agreement, having those backs is a solid insurance policy and it comes after the Bills were ranked second in the league in rushing with 144 yards per game. Spiller was a big part of that and so was Jackson and now the Bills have a big choice to make moving forward for head coach Doug Marrone.
The defense is the biggest thing that needs improvement and more specifically the rushing defense, as the team ranked 28th in the league in rushing yards allowed per game. The team was very good against the pass while ranking fourth in the league in yards allowed per game with just 204 yards, but having the rush defense such a mess is something that needs to be fixed. EJ Manuel should be better this year and adding Sammy Watkins will be explosive and that should raise the team from their ranking of 28th in the league in passing yards per game.
