Bills urged to trade 1st-round pick to land Pro Bowl WR to help Josh Allen

Billy Heyen

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Bills urged to trade 1st-round pick to land Pro Bowl WR to help Josh Allen image

It's no secret that the Buffalo Bills need better wide receivers for Josh Allen.

But where are they going to find them? ESPN's Bill Barnwell, in a new article Thursday, suggests a blockbuster trade.

He thinks the Bills should offer a first-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars to acquire Brian Thomas Jr.

"There's no reason for the Jaguars to trade Thomas unless they can land something significant in return," Barnwell writes. "To me, that would be a first-round pick. And there should be teams at the bottom of the first round willing to send that sort of compensation back to Jacksonville. The Bills, who vanquished the Jaguars earlier this postseason, are an obvious fit."

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Thomas was so good as a rookie in 2024 that he made the Pro Bowl.

He had a much tougher go of it in 2025, though.

"The current (Jaguars) front office, which has been very aggressive with its roster decisions, didn't draft Thomas," Barnwell writes. "The 2024 first-rounder had an excellent rookie season, but he never really found a steady role in Liam Coen's offense, with external concerns that he wasn't showing the sort of physicality and commitment needed to thrive as an NFL wide receiver."

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Thomas clearly still has tons of talent. You don't catch 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns in your first NFL season if you don't.

His year two, though, was just 48 catches for 707 yards and a pair of TDs.

It's not clear whether the Bills would give up a first-round pick for that.

If Buffalo could negotiate the price down a bit, though, Thomas might wind up being just the right guy to help Allen and the Bills reach their ceiling.

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