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When Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane announced on Tuesday, April 26 that the team picked up the fifth-year option on defensive tackle Ed Oliver, their former ninth overall pick from the 2019 NFL Draft, the news put a spotlight on an issue that has yet to be settled — an extension for Jordan Poyer, who’s made a public plea for a new deal.
Oliver, 24 is now cemented in Buffalo through 2023, and according to Spotrac.com, his base pay will jump from $3.2 million in 2022 to $10.7 million next year. Poyer has a $10.7 cap hit for the 2022 NFL season, the sixth-highest on the team, and is set to make $5.6 million in base salary during the final year of his contract, per Spotrac.com.
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Beane told One Bills Live that Oliver’s performance last season, “definitely made the decision much easier. You always take these decisions seriously, but Ed has made strides every year and that’s what you want to see when you’re picking this up.”
Because the Bills have yet to offer Poyer an extension, and the limited amount of cap space the franchise is projected to have in 2023, the All-Pro safety has become the centerpiece of numerous trade proposals leading up to Thursday’s draft. On Wednesday, April 27, The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia urged the Bills to trade up with the Atlanta Falcons in order to find a replacement for the 31-year-old safety.
In the proposed trade, the Falcons would trade pick No. 8 and a 2023 sixth-rounder in exchange for Bills’ No. 25 and No. 57 pick, and a 2023 third-rounder. With Poyer being “unhappy” in Buffalo, the goal for the Bills would be to snag Notre Dame’s safety Kyle Hamilton. Buscaglia wrote:
With most teams looking to move down, it became a buyer’s market, and the goal was to take away the unpredictable Falcons’ pick and get ahead of Washington at No. 11. The Falcons were eager to move down, so the Bills moved up at a massive discount while keeping their top two picks for 2023 intact.
Hamilton is more than worth the move, especially given how much emphasis the Bills defense places on safety play. GM Brandon Beane is also known to make an aggressive move to add a unique player, which is the perfect way to describe Hamilton. Hamilton can carve out a sizable sub-package role as a chess piece in his first year before taking over as a full-timer in 2023. Starting safety Jordan Poyer, 31, is unhappy with his current deal and is a free agent after the 2022 season. Hamilton gives them a potential star as a replacement.
The Bills Could Also Trade Up to Select Hamilton By Swapping Picks With the Eagles
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GettyKyle Hamilton #DB51 of Notre Dame runs a drill during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 06, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
With both Poyer and Micah Hyde at age 31, trading up for a high-caliber safety such as Hamilton, 21, who can study under the veteran duo before taking on a starting role, makes a lot of sense. In his three years with the Fighting Irish, Hamilton recorded 7.5 tackles for a loss, 24 pass breakups, and eight interceptions, per News 7 Buffalo.
In order to have a chance at landing the 6-foot-4, 220-pound safety, however, “Buffalo would likely have to trade up from the 25th overall” pick, the news outlet reported. While The Draft Network lists Hamilton as the No.1 overall top prospect from the 2022 NFl Draft, Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline predicts he may fall somewhere between “picks 15 to 20.”
If that happens, the Bills could finagle a trade with the Eagles in order to move up to the No. 18 overall pick, Philadelphia’s second first-round pick, in exchange for Buffalo’s No. 25 and third-round pick.
The Bills Could Use Poyer as a Trade Piece
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GettyJordan Poyer #21 of the Buffalo Bills warms up before the game against the Miami Dolphins at Highmark Stadium on October 31, 2021 in Orchard Park, New York.
While it may sound absurd for the Bills to trade away one of the best safeties in the league, the fact of the matter is that he’s just one of many players who will be looking for an extension following the 2022 NFL season, a list that includes Devin Singletary, 24, Tremaine Edmunds, 23, and Dawson Knox, 25.
If the Bills are looking to trade up but want to keep their third-round pick, they could include Poyer in the trade.
Sirius XM NFL anchor Zig Fracassi tweeted on Thursday, March 31, “The buzzards tell me the #Bills may be aggressive in trying to move up in the #NFLDraft & may move a veteran or two in the process… next few weeks will be interesting!”
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