Buffalo Bills 2010: Window to Trade Marshawn Lynch Has Come and Gone

The Buffalo Bills surprised their fans by starting Marshawn Lynch yesterday at Green Bay and sitting C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson on the bench. There was immediate speculation that the Bills were showcasing Lynch for a potential trade to Green Bay, Philadelphia, or possibly Seattle.

Lynch responded with a reasonably strong showing, rushing for 64 yards in 17 carries and displaying the hard-nosed power running that he was known for in his first two seasons with the Bills.

A trade would make sense for a number of reasons: The Bills have a crowded backfield— C.J. Spiller needs touches to find his rhythm and the chance to break off some long runs—holes up and down the roster, and already have a replacement sitting there on the practice squad.

That replacement was Joique Bell, who was one of the Bills' best rushers in the preseason. The undrafted rookie out of Wayne State would have been a great third-string running back if Lynch were traded away.

That all changed today when, according to Rotoworld.com, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Bell off of the Bills practice squad to provide some more depth at running back.

That, in my humble opinion, just closed the trading window for Marshawn Lynch for the rest of this season. It is always possible that some other team will lose their starter and make an offer to Buddy Nix that blows him away, but that remains to be seen.

Seeing is believing, and I don't think Lynch will be going anywhere else soon.

Editorial note: Since this article was published, Rotoworld.com reversed their original post stating that Bell has not been signed off the Bills practice squad. With that being said, and Fitzpatrick now replacing Trent Edwards as the quarterback, all bets are off. The Bills are not idle anymore.

Here is the updated retraction:

Updating a previous item, the Eagles have not signed RB Joique Bell off the Bills' practice squad.
"And it's not a lock that they will," says Adam Caplan of FOX Sports. Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News jumped the gun on this one. Bell would be an odd fit with the Eagles anyway. He's a poor man's Mike Bell. Sep. 20 - 5:04 pm et
Source: Adam Caplan on Twitter