Buffalo Bills make 2 deals to trade out of 1st round of NFL draft. Open 2nd round with first pick
Fri, Apr 26, 2024
NFL News (AP)
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) - Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane passed up on filling a need at receiver in the NFL draft on Thursday by making two trades to move out of the first round entirely.
The Bills are now on the clock in holding the first pick - 33rd overall - of the second round that opens on Friday night.
Buffalo was initially scheduled to open the draft with the 28th selection before moving back four spots in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs. When it came time for the Bills to pick at No. 32, they moved back one spot by completing a trade with the Carolina Panthers.
The Bills were in the market for a receiver after trading Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans earlier this month and losing Gabe Davis in free agency. Four receivers were already off the board when Buffalo made the trade with the Chiefs, who went on to select Texas receiver Xavier Worthy.
Though Buffalo still has 10 picks in the draft, Beane improved several of his team's positions in the draft order. Buffalo added a third-round pick (95th overall) in the trade with Kansas City, after dealing its third-rounder to Green Bay last year in a mid-season deal to acquire cornerback Rasul Douglas. The Bills now have four fifth-round selections.
Overall, seven receivers were selected in the first round.
Among those still available are Georgia's Ladd McConkey and Texas' Adonai Mitchell. Buffalo could also target cornerback with Iowa's Cooper DeJean and Alabama's Kool-Aid McKinstry on the board.
Trading Diggs was part of Beane's decision to hit the reset button to free up future salary cap space and filter youth into an aging roster that was good enough to win four straight AFC East titles, but each time fell short in the playoffs. Three of Buffalo's playoff losses came against Kansas City, including a 27-24 loss in January, and another to Cincinnati.
Buffalo was unable to afford re-signing Davis or edge rusher Leonard Floyd in free agency. The Bills also released center Mitch Morse, and broke up a defensive secondary threesome made up of safeties Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde and cornerback Tre'Davious White that had been together since 2017.
Diggs' departure was the most stunning given how much his arrival in a 2020 trade with Minnesota transformed an already productive Josh Allen-led offense into one of the NFL's most potent. The two rewrote most every single-season franchise passing, receiving and scoring record, with Diggs topping 100 catches and 1,000 yards in each of his four years.
Buffalo's group of receivers is currently led by Khalil Shakir, who is coming off a promising second season, and the free agent additions of Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins.
This marks the second time in Beane's seven drafts as Bills GM in which Buffalo doesn't have a first-round pick. Beane traded Buffalo's first-rounder in 2020 in the deal to acquire Diggs from Minnesota.
Beane has a track record of making draft-day trades, but was previously known for moving up in the order.
In his previous six drafts, Beane stayed put in the first round just twice (2019 and '21), made deals to move up in the order four times. In 2018, Beane moved up five spots to select Allen at No. 7, and followed up by moving up six spots to pick linebacker Tremaine Edmunds at No. 16.
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