Bills Trade LB Kelvin Sheppard To The Colts For LB Jerry Hughes

The Buffalo Bills announced that they have sent LB Kelvin Sheppard to the Indianapolis Colts in return for LB Jerry Hughes.

• The Colts will take on $2.112 million in dead money by trading Hughes while the Bills will only have $345,000 dead money, according to Overthecap.com.

Sheppard, 25, has managed to play in every game since being drafted. Last year, he totaled 80 tackles to go along with 2 sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, Sheppard graded out as a below average linebacker and really struggled to defend the run, but was at least serviceable as a pass rusher.

Hughes, 24, is a former first-round pick in 2010, but hasn’t been able to live up to his draft status so far. He played over 600 snaps for the Colts defense last year, but also struggled to be an effective run defender. The good news is that he managed to tally 4 sacks in 2012 and is capable of getting to the quarterback.

The trade appears to be an indication that the Bills are prepared to hand second-round pick Kiko Alonso a starting job this season or possibly sign a free agent like ILB Karlos Dansby, who they have given some consideration to in recent weeks.