While most Buffalo Bills fans were shocked by the Sammy Watkins trade, Bills’ GM Brandon Beane knew what could transpire. According to the Buffalo Rumblings website, Beane and the Rams had a potential trade deal before the preseason match up with the Minnesota Viking last week. However, Beane also claimed that Bills’ coach Sean Mcdermott was clueless about the deal. However, the Buffalo offense’s uncharacteristic move of 4 straight passes to Watkins suggests McDermott knew of a possible trade.
The Bills come out passing
In hindsight, the way that the Buffalo offense started was a clue that Watkins was being showcased to other teams.
In almost every game that the Bills have played in the past few years, they have opened with the running game, usually with their standard rush up the middle. The fact that quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw 4 passes to Watkins right off the bat was an unusual team move. The passing attack is usually an addendum to their running game. Beane stating that McDermott did not know about the Watkins trade seems suspect, based on Buffalo’ first offensive series.
While it is possible for the strange Beane-McDermott synchronicity about the Watkins trade to happen, for a team like Buffalo, the likelihood is low. The 4 consecutive throws to Watkins from Taylor is almost unimaginable, nor does it make sense to do that with a highly skilled receiver that the Bills need.
If Taylor came out throwing to draft pick Zay Jones, Andre Holmes, or Anquan Boldin, who have never played in an NFL game with the Bills, that would make sense. Developing the chemistry with new team players is smart and savvy and seeing how the perform in games is logical. Risking Watkins getting hurt on the first 4 plays of the Minnesota game was not smart for a team that intended to keep him on the roster.
Yet, they were not sold on keeping him.
No McCoy or Boldin?
If Buffalo was really committed to Watkins and keeping him healthy, would he have played in the Vikings game? Most likely not. Buffalo’s best offensive play maker LeSean McCoy did not play in the pre-season opener, due to the risk of injury. Anquan Boldin was also listed as inactive for the game.
Despite Boldin just signing with the Bills recently, you would think that Boldin would play for at least one series. Buffalo added him at the beginning of August, which means he missed most of training camp. Getting Boldin involved in all the pre-season games could only help him. However, if Buffalo’s management knew that Watkins was likely gone, then keeping Boldin healthy and out of the game makes more sense. Hence, it seems highly plausible that McDermott knew of Sammy Watkins’ fate.
