Remember 2024? When everyone slogged through nearly five hours of the NFL Draft, picks slowly ticked off the board until the Buffalo Bills finally got their turn to pick.
And they traded it away.
Alas! The Bills got Kansas City’s 32nd pick and the night wouldn’t be a complete waste. And they traded that one away too.
Trading up, which general manager Brandon Beane has done five times in the first round since 2018, is a lot more fun for the viewer (and the reporter) than trading back. But being consistently good has a price and that’s picking late in the first round.
Rarely do teams have 26 first-round grades on prospects, let alone 32. This year is no exception, with the top of the draft lacking elite talent. There will be plenty of good players who develop into stars just like every other year, but draft value may be slightly down.
It could be a year where the price to trade up isn’t as high, especially if 2027 picks are offered, considering it’s believed to be a more top-heavy draft. But for the Bills, at 26th overall, it might be another year to trade back. That’s especially true after they traded the 60th pick to the Chicago Bears for wide receiver D.J. Moore.
It’s hard to envision Beane being patient enough to wait 65 picks from 26 to 91 to make a selection. And it’s much more efficient to collect picks by trading back than sacrificing them to trade up.
ESPN has a seven-round mock draft tool that allows us to see what such a scenario might look like.
Round 1
The simulator sent Texas A&M wide receiver K.C. Concepcion 22nd to the Los Angeles Chargers, Auburn defensive end Keldric Faulk 23rd to the Philadelphia Eagles and Texas A&M edge rusher Cashius Howell 24th to the Cleveland Browns. Any of them might have been an option for the Bills at 26.
Ohio State nose tackle Kayden McDonald was also on the board, but taking a pure nose tackle in the first round who won’t play three downs doesn’t make much sense. Defensive tackles Peter Woods (Clemson) and Caleb Banks (Florida) were also available, but guys who will play 3-4 defensive end and kick inside on third down aren’t as pressing of a need at the moment.
Five teams offered a trade and the most appealing was the Houston Texans. When the Bills traded the 32nd pick with the Panthers, they got the 33rd pick. Beane said he didn’t want to move too far back and that makes sense.
Houston also had the 58th pick in the second round and 69th in the third round. According to the NFL’s standard trade value chart, the 26th pick is worth 700 points. The 38th pick is worth 520. The 59th is worth 310, so the Bills would likely have to throw in another pick and the Texans would have to wait longer to pick in the second round.
The 69th pick is worth 245, however. The Bills still make out on the trade and it’s more palatable for the Texans. Done deal.
Round 2
Receivers Germie Bernard (Alabama) and Chris Brazzell II (Tennessee) were all available at 38, and because an extra pick is in the mix, it’s not out of the question to take a receiver now. Linebackers Anthony Hill Jr. (Texas) and Jacob Rodriguez (Texas Tech) were also on the board.
But Buffalo’s biggest need right now is pass rusher. Yes, Bradley Chubb was signed to a nice contract, but the current trend is having multiple edge rushers who can wallop quarterbacks. It’s how the Eagles and Seattle Seahawks have won the last two Super Bowls, with Seattle having three edge rushers play 50% of the snaps during the season.
The Bills don’t have a ton of depth at the position and Chubb is about to be 30 with three ACL tears in his past. Missouri’s Zion Young was there, but he’s more of an enforcer on the edge than a pass rusher.
But Central Florida’s Malachi Lawrence was still on the board. Thirty-eight might be high for Lawrence, but he’s a pure quarterback chaser.
Lawrence is 6-foot-4, 253-pounder who ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, with a 40-inch vertical leap and a 10-foot, 10-inch broad jump at the NFL scouting combine. He also had the production to match, notching 28 tackles for a loss and 20 sacks in 39 college games.
He will have to become a better run defender, but it’s easier to find those players than it is to find pass rushers. Lawrence seems to be worth a chance, even if it’s a slight reach.
Rounds 3-4
Versatility showed up again in the third and fourth rounds. This is also where the receiver crowd can take a deep breath. Georgia State’s Ted Hurst and Indiana’s Elijah Sarratt were both available when the Bills came due to pick at 91.
Hurst is a 6-4 deep threat with an 11-3 broad jump, while Sarratt is more of a possession receiver. The Bills could use Hurst’s traits, but quarterback Josh Allen has had the most success with technicians, receivers who win with route-running, footwork and guile.
Enter Connecticut’s Skyler Bell.
Bell, who visited with the Bills during the lead-up to the draft, had a slow first three years at Wisconsin before transferring, but he was used in a variety of ways, including out of the backfield.
At UConn, Bell was a deep threat who averaged 17.2 yards per catch in 2024 and then did it all last season. He had 101 receptions for 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior. A shade under 6-foot, Bell ran the 40 in 44, while adding a 41-inch vertical jump and an 11-1 broad jump at the combine.
He can beat press coverage and his routes are more mechanical than instinctual. But he can also play inside and outside, which is versatility the Bills covet in receivers.
With the 91st pick, the Bills selected Michigan’s Jaishawn Barham.
Barham played inside linebacker his first two seasons at Maryland and in 2024 after transferring to Michigan. Then he switched to being a 3-4 edge rusher for his final college season. Barham is relentless, possessing good burst and bend to beat offensive tackles.
Even after selecting Lawrence earlier in the draft, adding Barham gives the Bills more options with their pass rush. That’s especially true while Michael Hoecht continues recovering from a torn Achilles Tendon.
Barham could also play stack linebacker, giving the Bills another option behind Dorian Williams, who is currently the top choice on the roster to replace Matt Milano as the starting weakside linebacker next to Terrel Bernard.
LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. was also an option here. Perkins had a ton of production — 35 ½ tackles for a loss, 17 sacks and 15 takeaways in 43 games — but his coverage didn’t match his athleticism and he’s undersized at 223.
The Bills also found a chess piece at 126 in the fourth round by taking Kansas State safety V.J. Payne. At 6-3 and 206, Payne isn’t the enforcer you’d like him to be, but he can play a variety of different positions.
Payne can play in split-safety looks and can drop down to cover tight ends and running backs man-to-man. He ran a 4.4 40 — with a 1.52 10-yard split — and has a 35-inch vertical jump to show his explosiveness.
Although the Bills have a crowded safety room that features Cole Bishop and Jordan Hancock on rookie deals, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Geno Stone and Damar Hamlin were only signed to one-year contracts this offseason.
Even if Payne sits behind Bishop, Gardner-Johnson and Stone this season, he can get some action in dime packages and does just enough tackling to be a big nickelback to add a change of pace to recently-signed nickel Dee Alford, who is just 5-11 and 180.
Washington’s 6-4 cornerback Tacario Davis was an option at 126, but it’s relatively high to draft a cornerback who likely won’t be any more than a third cornerback behind Christian Benford and Maxwell Hairston.
Round 5
The phone rang again when the Bills were set to pick at 165, one they acquired from the Bears in the Moore trade. This time it was the Las Vegas Raiders offering the 175th pick and the 219th pick (seventh round).
Buffalo also had the 168th pick, which gave flexibility to slide down a few spots without missing out on players still on its board. Trade accepted.
The fourth round might have been high for a cornerback, but the Bills still don’t appear to have an active-roster outside depth cornerback, especially with Dorian Strong’s future uncertain following neck surgery.
Domani Jackson’s first two seasons at USC and his last two at Alabama didn’t match his talent. But with traits like Jackson’s and their starting situation, the Bills can afford to take a swing on an athlete, much like they did with Hancock in the fifth round last year.
Jackson was the No. 15 overall prospect coming out of high school and he ran 10.25 seconds in the 100-meter dash, the second-fastest prep time in the nation in 2021. He started 23 games over the last two seasons at Alabama and is going to need to show more consistency to be an impactful NFL player.
At 175, the Bills finally found a nose tackle with Tennessee’s Bryson Eason. Buffalo has been tight-lipped as to whether it sees Deone Walker as a traditional early-down 3-4 0-technique nose tackle or a 3-4 defensive end.
At 6-2 and 323, Eason can provide another option in the middle during early downs. Despite his size, Eason showed athleticism with a 5.09 40 and a 30 ½-inch vertical at the combine, while notching 16 ½ tackles for a loss over the last three seasons.
Rounds 6-7
Even if the Bills plan to start Williams and mix in Barham, they could still use another linebacker. Joe Andreessen, Jimmy Ciarlo and Keonta Jenkins (who the Bills like) are the only other inside linebackers currently on the roster.
Indiana’s Aiden Fisher might have some physical limitations as an NFL cover linebacker, but he’s never going to be out of position through confusion. A coach on the field, Fisher went from James Madison to a two-time first-team All-Big Ten player at Indiana the last two seasons, earning All-American status for last year’s national champions.
The Bills held a private workout with Oregon receiver Malik Benson and he was on the board with the 219th pick.
Benson was the No. 1 junior college player in the country before going to Alabama in 2023. But stints with the Crimson Tide and Florida State (2024) netted a combined 38 catches and two touchdowns before spending last season with Oregon, tallying 43 grabs for 719 yards and six scores.
His game is speed, running a 10.44 100 in high school. He’s currently a one-trick pony as a route-runner, but he can be valuable with it. Benson can also add some juice as a punt returner — a hole the Bills must fill — after averaging 17.9 yards per return and a touchdown on nine attempts last year.
The final pick might be a surprise, but it’s time the Bills get into the quarterback business and Illinois Luke Altmyer is the guy picked. After Mitchell Trubisky left for the Tennessee Titans, Buffalo signed Kyle Allen to a two-year contract to be the backup.
Allen, a good friend of the other Allen, was the backup in 2023 and had a less-than-impressive training camp. Another No. 17 ally, Shane Beuchele, is also on the roster. But adding a quarterback late in the draft is low-risk, high-reward.
During Tom Brady’s 20 seasons with the Patriots, Bill Belichick drafted nine quarterbacks, including five in the fourth round or higher. He also flipped four of them for draft picks, often based on the idea they were good or limited relief or preseason appearances.