With the 2026 NFL trade deadline approaching, Buffalo Bills fans are desperate for their team to make a move. The Bills are 6-1 and currently hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC, but they do have a major weakness that needs to be addressed.

Their pass defense is suspect, at best, and they can use help at safety and cornerback. The good news is that general manager Brandon Beane is reportedly open to making a move, but that doesn't guarantee whatever trade gets done works out.

There's no shortage of deadline deal moves that don't pan out, and Beane was on the wrong side of one of the worst over the past decade. During his first season as the GM in Buffalo, Beane sent a 2018 third-round pick as well as a 2018 seventh-round pick to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin. That trade ended up being a bust and Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report named it among the ten worst deadline deals over the past decade.

Kelvin Benjamin fell off in a hurry with Bills

As Sobleski writeds, Benjamin showed promise early in his career and seemed to be a perfect ft for the Buffalo offense. Unfortunately, he hardly made an impact and played just 16 games for the Bills.

"Kelvin Benjamin was 26 at the time of the trade. He posted 1,949 receiving yards during his first two healthy seasons. The Panthers had a glut of wide receivers with upside at the time and decided to move the 2014 first-round pick," Sobleski wrote.

"For Buffalo, Benjamin was supposed to be a legitimate X receiver with the size on the outside to consistently create mismatches, particularly in the red zone. However, the version of Benjamin seen earlier in his career never showed up in Buffalo. He caught 39 passes and only two touchdowns in 18 appearances before the Bills released him during the 2018 campaign."

Benjamin, who had 1,008 yards as a rookie in 2014, was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs after the Bills moved on. He appeared in three games with the Chiefs and had just two catches. He attempted a comeback in 2021 with the New York Giants, where he tried out at tight end, but never played in a regular season game again following the short stint in Kansas City.

It was surprising to see how quickly Benjamin fell off following such a promising start to his career.