Deadline trades help Buffalo Bills in 3 key areas. Here's how Hines, Marlowe fit in

ORCHARD PARK - All was pretty quiet Tuesday afternoon for the Buffalo Bills as the clock was ticking toward the NFL’s 4 p.m. trade deadline.

General manager Brandon Beane had done his due diligence on a lengthy list of players at several positions, but it appeared that nothing was going to be changing on the roster of the consensus Super Bowl favorite.

But as we all know, deadline spurs action, and in that final hour, Beane and his personnel staff worked feverishly to make what looks like two pretty shrewd and potentially impactful trades.

The Bills acquired running back Nyheim Hines from the Colts for running back Zack Moss and a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2023, and minutes later, Beane brought back safety Dean Marlowe in a down-to-the-last-minute trade with the Falcons that cost him only a seventh-round pick in 2023.

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“If you would have called me at 1 o’clock yesterday, neither one of those moves were close,” Beane admitted. “If neither happened, I could have sat up here and said we believe in who we’ve got and we do, but I’m always going to look. If it makes sense for the Buffalo Bills today and long term, we’re going to try to make it happen. Of the two guys we got, we looked at 100 other guys. We dug deep into 10 safeties alone. These were the two that made sense.”

In the snap of Beane’s fingers, the Bills addressed three key areas:

1. Running back capable of enhancing the passing game

Hines is a premier pass catching back which is something Beane has been trying to find going back to the start of 2022 free agency. There was the apparent signing of J.D. McKissic which fell through, forcing him to pivot to Duke Johnson who has since been buried on the practice squad, and then he drafted James Cook in the second round.

“I believe it's a perfect fit,” Hines said of the Buffalo offense as it pertains to his playing style. “I think I know the offense just looking at it over the years. I've watched some film and I was like I can see it. You know, quarterback who can run and gun, he makes plays when plays break down. I even like the run scheme, how they run their running backs inside, outside. So I thought it was a perfect fit so I gotta make it fit now.”

2. Player able to handle punt returns

Hines has also been one of the more viable punt returners in the league over the past two-plus seasons, meaning he can probably relieve rookie Khalil Shakir of those duties.

“I hope so but that's up to coach,” Hines said. “I want to do anything to win so if it was punt return, kick return - I know I haven’t done kick return in a year or two but I can still do that. I'm ready and I'll be ready to go Sunday or whenever they call my number.”

3. Add depth to defensive backfield

And in Marlowe, he brings in some much-needed veteran depth at safety as the Bills ponder a game in New York Sunday where Jordan Poyer may not be able to play. Also, he’s a perfect addition given his five years in McDermott’s defense - two with Carolina and then 2018-20 in Buffalo.

“I've been here, I sit in the meetings and I'm hearing all the lingo and I’m like, ‘I remember this, oh, yeah,’” he said. “So it just takes a couple of days for it to sink back in and now I just gotta get reps out on the field.”

“Obviously we're very familiar with Dean,” McDermott said. “Then business happens (he signed with the Lions in 2020, then the Falcons in 2021) so it's great to have him and his family back in Buffalo. And he's been a great culture piece for us and a guy that knows our system and is very familiar with what we do.”

How does addition of Nyheim Hines affect James Cook's playing time?

Both Beane and coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday that Hines’ arrival should not impact Cook’s playing time, but that probably isn’t true.

Cook has played only 69 offensive snaps because he doesn’t seem quite ready to shoulder a bigger burden. And with Moss falling out of favor (he didn’t play in either of the last two games), Devin Singletary has played 70% of the snaps and the Bills need to tone that down.

Although Cook had a few impressive plays last week against Green Bay, Hines will almost certainly became the No. 2 back and not only limit Cook’s snaps, but cut into Singletary’s, especially on third down or other obvious passing downs.

“(Hines) is a proven commodity that does some of the same things (as Cook), but also, as he learns the offense there could be multiple packages where James and Nyheim are in the game at the same time, or James and Devin, or Devin and Nyheim,” Beane said. “I think it just gives us the opportunity to be more versatile, multiple, variations of the different personnel packages that coach (Ken) Dorsey can can put out there.”

How Dean Marlowe fits with the Buffalo Bills

If Poyer can’t play because of his latest injury, JaQuan Johnson will start in his place, joining Damar Hamlin who has been starting for Hyde.

Marlowe can provide nice insurance at both spots because the only other player the Bills have who can play safety is Cam Lewis, and Lewis only just began taking reps back there in the late summer as he is primarily a nickel cornerback.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills trades at deadline help in 3 key areas: How Hines, Marlowe fit