Rex Ryan: Bills WR Deonte Thompson generating trade buzz

By foxsports
Published

When it comes to the Buffalo Bills' wide receiver group, there are three things that stand out: talent, depth, and injuries. The first two are crucial to having success in the passing game, while injuries are never what a team wants.

Fortunately for the Bills, the injuries have not been serious. Sammy Watkins has been on and off the practice field, Percy Harvin should be ready for the season opener, and Robert Woods has only missed a few practices.

Given the Bills' depth at wideout, it has yielded a few phone calls regarding wide receiver Deonte Thompson. He has opened eyes this preseason, hauling in four catches for 96 yards, 51 of which came on one play.

According to Rex Ryan, he's been generating some buzz on the trade front.

"Not just us, but a lot of people have taken notice of him," Ryan said in his press conference Sunday night. "There have been a lot of calls about him, but we really like what he’s doing here. He’s got great speed, I think that’s something that jumps out at you, (he’s) a sub-4.4 guy. I like how competitive he is. He’s a smaller guy, but he’s very competitive, tough guy. And actually, when he shows up for the special teams deal, he does pretty good."

Even with Ryan receiving calls about trade interest, it doesn't mean the Bills will just give him away to help another team out. Ryan wants something in return that will help the team -- and nothing less.

"We’re not just going to, ‘Oh you want him? We’ll help you out and get nothing in return,’" Ryan said, via BuffaloBills.com. "That’s not happening. The only way we’ll trade one of our players is if it can help this team. Other than that, we’re going to be selfish and keep everyone that we can."

The Bills do have depth at the position, but they also have Harvin who's been injured often in his career. Woods and Watkins have been fairly durable thus far, but Watkins is coming off of offseason hip surgery, which is no small procedure.

If the Bills do deal Thompson, the Green Bay Packers could be a suitor, given the loss of Jordy Nelson to a torn ACL.

(h/t BuffaloBills.com)