Marshawn Lynch to Green Bay Makes Too Much Sense For Bills to Ignore

If the Bills are being honest with themselves, they know there’s just no room for Marshawn Lynch on their roster anymore. If they had as much faith in Lynch as they claim, they would have passed on C.J. Spiller for an offensive lineman or any other position of need (which is basically everywhere).

The one thing they had was running backs, so drafting Spiller shows that either a) they take the whole “draft the best player available” very seriously, or b) they’re not sold on Lynch anymore for whatever reason.

Either explanation is fine, but keeping Lynch just doesn’t make any sense for them anymore. They have far too many needs to let their only trading piece rot at the bottom of the depth chart.

And now with Ryan Grant down for the season and not a whole lot of depth for the Green Bay Packers past Brandon Jackson, trading for Lynch makes a lot of sense.

First of all, the obvious reason is the Packers’ need for a running back. Jackson, I believe, will do just fine as the starter but he’s going to need a 1a type of guy if he’s going to stay healthy all season. Lynch has shown he can carry a team’s rushing load, but has gotten nicked up because of it, so making him the primary backup would work beautifully.

Second, the Packers have an excess of talent and would likely be willing to part with a backup or two that the Bills could immediately use as starters.

A.J. Hawk is the first to come to mind. With Kawika Mitchell and Paul Posluszny going down, the Bills are in desperate need of linebackers to fit their new 3-4 scheme. Hawk played in the 3-4 last season, so he knows how it operates. Or, at the very least, he’s been introduced.

Hawk looks like a bust in Green Bay, but sometimes a change of scenery can be all a guy needs. Usually the scenery has to be a little nicer than Buffalo, New York heading into the winter months, but any difference might be enough to get Hawk to take the extra step and show he’s not a bust ala Cedric Benson in his move from Chicago to Cincinnati.

If Buffalo is willing to come down from their ridiculous asking price for Lynch (they turned down a third-round pick before the draft), this could happen very quickly. The Bills could easily take Hawk off the Packers’ hands, and might even be able to convince them to part ways with a fourth-round pick if they really play hard ball.

And in that same vein, Ted Thompson would have to get over his ridiculous self-imposed “no trades” policy. It’s not exactly that cut-and-dry, but he makes trades very rarely and might be shaky about giving up too much for a guy with known legal problems like Lynch.

I would argue, however, that the potential reward outweighs the risk. Lynch has shown he can be a very good running back. So trading a guy like Hawk who has clearly worn out his welcome in Green Bay — and would likely be cut at some point anyway — and a fourth-round pick for a guy who has had back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his first and second year in the league is a steal for the Pack.

And if he comes to Green Bay and just isn’t a fit, it’s really not too big a deal. Losing a fourth-round pick wouldn’t sit well, but it was at least worth the shot rather than putting the entire team in a bind should Jackson a) not be able to get the job done or b) get injured halfway through the season after the trade deadline.

It likely won’t happen, but if the Bills and Packers can both stop being so damned blockheaded this could be a trade that works for both sides.