The Buffalo Bills need a wide receiver. Drafting Keon Coleman in the second round two seasons ago was supposed to help give quarterback Josh Allen a weapon to elevate the Bills and get the team closer to the Super Bowl, but Coleman hasn't worked out. He was even a healthy scratch at times in 2025.
Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jaguars seem open to trading former first-round pick Brian Thomas Jr. Could he be the answer to Buffalo's wide receiver search? It might take a bit more than the Bills would want to give up to snag him, but it may be worth the asking price.
Why the Bills should go after Brian Thomas Jr.
Trading for Brian Thomas Jr. isn't a slam dunk move that propels the Bills to a Super Bowl berth, but when the team has such a dire situation at wide receiver, it's the kind of high-risk, high-reward move that you have to at least try.
The 2024 first-round pick caught 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie, but regression hit hard in 2025, with Thomas catching 48 passes for 707 yards and just two scores. His catch rate dropped from 65.4 percent down to 52.7 percent, and he finished with a drop on 11 percent of his targets. That helps explain why he's on the market and the downsides of trading for him, but the Bills don't have much choice here.
That's because the Bills don't have an outside receiver. I mean, I guess technically there are guys on the roster who can be outside receivers, including Coleman, but none of those guys are reliable. Khalil Shakir is a really solid slot option, but no one emerged as an outside weapon. Coleman has worn out his welcome, and the Josh Palmer signing was a disaster, with 2025 being Palmer's worst NFL season in terms of receptions, yards and touchdowns.
Wide Receiver | 2025 Targets |
|---|---|
Khalil Shakir | 95 |
Keon Coleman | 59 |
Josh Palmer | 37 |
Tyrell Shavers | 33 |
Gabe Davis | 18 |
Elijah Moore | 17 |
Brandin Cooks | 11 |
Curtis Samuel | 9 |
Mecole Hardman | 1 |
It's rough in Buffalo, and while people might want to blame Josh Allen for the team's lack of postseason success, it's hard to win when you don't have good weapons. Just look at this year's Kansas City Chiefs: even before the Patrick Mahomes injury, the Chiefs weren't a playoff team because Mahomes had no one outside of Travis Kelce to reliably catch passes.
Trading for Thomas could be a failure, but if he can play like the rookie version of himself rather than like the guy we saw in 2025, this offense would instantly be elevated. That would also take away an excuse for Allen, who'd immediately feel more pressure to lead the Bills to a Super Bowl. If this move is possible, the Bills have to do it to extend their Super Bowl window.
Is Jacksonville really willing to trade Thomas?
With the news that the Jaguars intend to use Travis Hunter primarily at cornerback, one has to wonder why the team would be willing to trade Thomas away. Yes, we covered that 2025 didn't go nearly as well as 2024, but shouldn't you hold on to a player who was as good as Thomas was as a rookie?
Brian Thomas | Targets | Receptions | Receivin Yards | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | 133 | 87 | 1,282 | 10 |
2025 | 91 | 48 | 707 | 2 |
But even with Hunter only playing offense in certain packages, the Jaguars seem willing to move Thomas. The team traded for and extended Jakobi Meyers, who is good enough to be a No. 1 receiver, albeit in the lower half of all the league's No. 1 receivers. Parker Washington has also shown enough to justify a larger role in 2026.
That leaves Thomas in a weird spot. He probably would be a positive for this team if he stuck around, but the Jaguars don't have a 2026 first-round pick after the Hunter deal. Jacksonville might simply believe they'd be better off dealing Thomas for a first and then using that first to fill a different hole. I don't hate that idea.
What a Bills-Jaguars trade for Brian Thomas Jr. would look like
ESPN's Bill Barnwell proposed a trade that swaps Thomas and Coleman, with the Bills giving up a first-round pick and the Jaguars giving up a fifth. Honestly, it's a good starting point.
I'm not sure Coleman is a player the Jaguars need, but if Hunter is going to be playing defense the majority of the time, adding another receiver makes sense. The Bills could probably make this deal work without giving up Coleman, but they'd then likely need to include another pick to complete the deal. Considering where the relationship between Coleman and the Bills appears to be out, it might just be easier to move him this way.
The Bills are giving up a premium pick for a guy coming off a down year, but there's probably no other way to land a potential No. 1 receiver this offseason. Assuming the Cowboys keep George Pickens, there's no No. 1 receiver in free agency unless you're willing to still believe in Mike Evans, and the Bills pick too late in the first round to land the top receivers from this class. There are guys they could take a shot on late in the first, but those guys don't have proof they can be a good NFL receiver. Thomas has that, even if it happened two years ago.
Will this deal happen? We'll see, but it does give both sides something it desperately needs: a receiver in Buffalo and a first-round pick in Jacksonville.