Getty Bills Head coach Sean McDermott on against the Miami Dolphins during the AFC Wild Card playoff game at Highmark Stadium on January 15, 2023.
The Buffalo Bills are expected to target a wide receiver in the NFL Draft, and may not be content staying at pick No. 28 to find one.
NFL reporter Benjamin Allbright confirmed on April 23 that the Bills are looking into an aggressive move up the board in the first round to land one of the top wide receivers. This year’s draft is considered especially deep at wide receiver, but the Bills are expected to be beyond the range of the top three prospects with their pick late in the first round.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane may have plans to change that, Allbright reported on X.
Bills Moving Up Again
Beane has not been shy about moving up in the first round, jumping up the board in each of the past two seasons. Many expect the Bills to move up again to target a wide receiver, filling some of the void created when the team traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans and No. 2 receiver Gabe Davis left in free agency.
There have been varying thoughts on just how high up the board the Bills could move this year. In a mock draft published on April 16, Rob Maaddi of The Associated Press suggested that the Bills could trade all the way up to the No. 4 overall pick, landing top wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia also predicted that the Bills would trade up, though not quite so high. He predicted that Beane would trade up to the No. 7 overall pick to lan LSU pass-catcher Malik Nabers.
Buscaglia also supported the idea that the Diggs trade would lead the Bills to make a more dramatic move in the first round.
“I continue to believe that anything, including a move like this one on draft day, is a real possibility for the Bills,” Buscaglia wrote “[Bills general manager Brandon] Beane has long been an aggressive draft-day trader when he’s excited about a prospect and how he’d fit their system. Now, with a gaping hole for a top target at wide receiver and where the Bills are in their build, this is the type of move Beane could rationalize as one that puts them over the top for the foreseeable future.”
Other analysts have suggested that the Bills could stay put with their No. 28 overall pick and find a wide receiver from the next tier of players.
Brandon Beane Has Other Plans
Speaking to reporters shortly after the Diggs trade was finalized, Beane suggested that the Bills could still add to the wide receiver room through free agency. He noted that the roster shakeups to come after the NFL Draft could leave some veteran players available, giving the Bills a chance to make additions.
“There’s still veterans out there. We’ll still look and see if there’s someone that would fit,” he said. “And then we’ll do the same, we’ll grade our draft board, put it up there, put them in the order we see them if you’re talking about just the receiver position.”
The Bills already added speedy veteran Curtis Samuel through free agency,