FanPost

Trade Kiko For a 2016 First Round Pick

It seems that the Bills are a team on the upswing after finishing 9-7 last year. They already have a great defense to build off of and now they just need to improve their offense and find that elusive franchise Quarterback to be a complete team. The problem though is that the Bills currently reside in "QB Purgatory." For the past decade we've been, and I suspect will continue to be, too good to draft a sure-fire franchise QB. The ones that get picked in the top 5 selections of the draft. In order to escape this fate teams usually need to do something drastic, like trade up into those top 5 picks. For that to be possible, the Bills would need draft capital. To get it, I would suggest that we trade our best young linebacker in Kiko Alonso for a 2016 first round draft pick.

Why Kiko?

Nobody knows for sure what the Bills defense will look like under Rex, but based on what Rex Ryan did with the New York Jets, he prefers to only have two true inside linebackers. He has a larger one that takes on blocks and tackles running backs (David Harris) and one that is better in coverage and roams (Demario Davis). In Buffalo, Preston Brown projects into the David Harris role, while Kiko and Nigel Bradham both project to the Demario Davis role. Unfortunately, that means that one of them will be backing up the other and won't see nearly as much playing time. One of them will be expendable.

Of the two, Kiko is the most trade-able. He's still young at 24 and still has three years left on his cheap rookie contract. He's a recent defensive rookie of the year.

At the end of this season, our defense was already a top five unit. That's without Kiko. What do we actually need him for?

To which team?

The team that would be willing to make this trade obviously has to have quarterback themselves (either newly drafted or entrenched veteran) and they have to be interested in improving their defense. The Giants, Jaguars and Bears all fulfill this criteria, but the best team in my estimation would be the Atlanta Falcons. They have the QB and the offense, they just need a a few more good defenders to push them over the top.

Armed with two first round picks, the Bills would have most of the ammo necessary to trade up to the top of the draft in order to get one of the highest rated quarterbacks available. In 2016 that could end up being Christian Hackenberg, Connor Cook, Trevone Boykin, Cardale Jones, whoever.

So fellow Rumblers, am I way off base?

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.