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With only a few days before the 2023 NFL Draft officially kicks off, the Buffalo Bills are working hard to figure out which player they will select with their No. 27 overall pick. While the Bills made a flurry of moves in free agency, there are still several areas the team needs to address, making it difficult to predict which direction Buffalo will lean in the first round and beyond.
The Bills only have six picks in this year’s draft — one in each round except for the seventh. In ESPN analyst Matt Miller’s latest mock draft, the Bills select TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnson, but he notes that it seems more likely that Buffalo ends up giving up their No. 27 pick. “In conversations with people around the league this past week, the Bills were mentioned as a team likely to trade out of the first round,” Miller wrote.
A rival area scout didn’t beat around the bush while discussing the current state of the Bills roster with Miller, “They have six picks and a lot more needs than that.” While that seems like harsh criticism for a team that’s arguably in significantly better shape than most franchises, the lack of picks is a strain for a cash-strapped team needing to fill several holes.
USA Today‘s Justin DiLoro wrote, “The time of luxury picks seems to be out of the question for Buffalo, as the team faces some tough decisions with regard to their roster and salary cap considerations,” and “there are concerns regarding several positions, including wide receiver, offensive line, defensive line, edge rusher, linebacker, and safety depth that need to be addressed.”
Brandon Beane Discussed Trading Both Up & Down in the NFL Draft
Bills general manager Brandon Beane is keenly aware of the team’s situation and discussed their limited draft capital during a press conference last week.
“With only six picks, it’s a little different than walking in with 10,” Beane said. “So in an ideal world, we are not doing (trades up in the draft). But if there is a guy that we’ve put a lot of work in, and there is a lot of conviction on the personnel staff and the coaching staff, we all have a shared vision, we are sitting here in the third round and this guy’s got a really good second-round grade, then maybe we move up. I think it’s easier the further we go down because it doesn’t cost as much capital. If we got nuts in the first round and tried to make a big leap, that could really clear out a big portion of our picks.”
“If I was in Vegas right now putting money down, I would say if we were going to do anything, it’d be more likely to go back than go up,” Beane continued. “But listen, you’re talking to a guy who gets antsy at times and goes up and gets guys so Vegas probably would still go against what I just suggested would happen.”
Reading between the lines, The Athletic‘s Joe Buscaglia believes that trading up seems unlikely, and if they do, it won’t be a huge jump. “They have entered the next phase of roster building in which they need to maximize the impact of draft picks on a roster with several bloated salaries and aging players on those bigger contracts. So, removing a pick of a player who could have starting potential on a cost-controlled deal is less appealing to Beane.”
‘We’re Going to Take the Best Player,’ Brandon Beane Said
Like every other general manager in the NFL right now, Beane is keeping his draft cards close. While it seems highly likely that the Bills select a wide receiver, offensive lineman, or linebacker in the first round, Beane said they might not target a particular need at all if the right prospect is available.
“We’re going to take the best player,” Beane said. “We really are. There’s going to be a good player there. I’m usually not going into a draft saying ‘Hey, let’s hit one side of the ball or the other. So we’ll just see how the board falls. We’re going to set the board, and it’ll kind of tell us what we need to do.”
Who knows? Maybe the Bills will trade down to select Darnell Washington, a 6-foot-7 tight end out of Georiga. Either way, the mystery will be solved on April 27.
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