Grading a Giants-Bills trade to reunite Josh Allen with Brian Daboll in New York

News of star wide receiver Stefon Diggs being traded to the Houston Texans on Wednesday, makes us all wonder what the future is for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. In his six years in Buffalo, Allen has asserted himself as the best quarterback to call Orchard Park home since Jim Kelly. Although the Bills have been playoff-caliber throughout, a trip to the Super Bowl has evaded them.

While I was tasked with putting Allen on a new team yesterday, I didn't love the New York Giants fit as much as seemingly everyone else does. I fully understand how cool it would be on paper to reunite Allen with his former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll in East Rutherford, this team is far from being competitive. I like three other landing spots more for Allen than them. But trade proposals happen...

Here is a trade proposal to get Allen to Giants to reunite with Daboll from Doug Rush over at GMenHQ.

The money is all over the place, but I don't hate it. This deal makes a bit more sense financially.

You are essentially asking for the Giants to take on Von Miller's deadweight salary to help counterbalance Buffalo taking on Daniel Jones' albatross of a contract. The math doesn't fully math, but it gets both teams within $500K of the money being equal. To me, I think Buffalo would want cap flexibility in addition to picks if they were to move on from Allen and absorb Jones' massive contract.

Let's assess the two trades, Rush's and mine. The right answer is probably somewhere in between.

Grading a Josh Allen to Giants trade that gets Daniel Jones to Buffalo

While I do think Rush's starting point for a trade is quite good, what Buffalo is getting in exchange for Allen is quite excessive. The last thing New York wants to do is for the Giants to become Denver East. The Denver Broncos gave up their soul to Seattle to get Russell Wilson onto their team. He was an abject disaster at altitude. Now he is competing with the Pittsburgh Steelers on the veteran minimum.

Since only $3 million separates Allen from Jones on the payroll, this is why we cannot merely throw draft picks at the problem. Every pick going the Bills' way eventually becomes a player needing an annual salary. Taking on Jones' albatross plus all those future picks could be Brandon Beane in an impossible spot with the cap. It is why they have to send somebody else to New York with Allen.

I suggested Miller because he has been a shell of himself ever since helping the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 56 in 2021. He accounts for the third-most amount of money on the Bills' roster and was painfully unproductive last year. I think a change of scenery could do him some good. If Allen is as good as we think he is, Miller may follow him into the mists of Avalon.

I would agree with Rush that any potential trade between the Bills and Giants around Allen would have to include Jones, the No. 6 overall pick and next year's first going the other way. If I were Buffalo, I wouldn't take a quarterback right now at No. 6. I would get Jones, or the quarterback you take in the top 10 next year, a blue-chip wide receiver coming out this year. Go replace Diggs with Malik Nabers.

Overall, I really don't have a problem with Rush's proposed trade, but I don't think the Giants are that hopelessly desperate to get Allen for that trade package going the other way. While I doubt the Bills will have buyer's remorse on Miller two years after purchase, the dollars make sense to have him go to New York with Allen. Buffalo starts a brief rebuild, while New York convinces itself it is a contender.

Grade: B-