By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page Columnist

No. 99: March 26, 2007 – The Bills trade Takeo Spikes and Kelly Holcomb to Philadelphia for Darwin Walker and a seventh-round draft choice in 2007 (Stevie Johnson).

Takeo Spikes was one of the Bills’ biggest free agent signings, as he jumped from the Bengals in 2003. He was an effective player during his four years in Buffalo. However, by 2007 the Bills had a need for a defensive tackle.

Spikes was a key part of the package that went to Philadelphia, which was looking for a veteran linebacker. Darwin Walker was the big piece coming here in return. However, Walker refused to report without getting a new contract. The Bills turned around and shipped Walker to Chicago for a draft choice.

The best part of the original deal for Buffalo was that conditional choice. The Bills used that seventh-round pick on Stevie Johnson, who spent six seasons here and had three years with at least 75 catches.

(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)

Budd Bailey

Budd Bailey has been involved in almost every aspect of the local sports scene for the last 40 years. He worked for WEBR Radio, the Buffalo Sabres' public relations department and The Buffalo News during that time. In that time he covered virtually every aspect of the area's sports world, from high schools to the Bills and Sabres and everything in between. Along the way, Budd served as a play-by-play announcer for the Bisons, an analyst for the Stallions, and a talk-show host. He won the National Lacrosse League's Tom Borrelli Award as the media personality of the year in 2011, and was a finalist for that same award in 2017. Budd's seventh and eighth books, one on the Transcontinental Railroad and the other about Ichiro Suzuki, are scheduled to be released in the fall.

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