Anyone else for using our draft capital for trades?

[MikePJ76]

10 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Here are the 2024 starters in the Bills last season acquired through the draft (20 full or spot starters)

* (The are also 12 draftees starting or playing significant roles for other NFL teams)

2017 - Dawkins, Milano

2018- Allen, Taron Johnson  (Beane's first draft)

2019 - Oliver, Knox

2020 - AJE, Bass

2021 - Rousseau, Brown, Hamlin

2022 - Cook, Bernard, Shakir, Benford

2023 - Torrence, Kincaid, Dorian Williams (spot starter)

2024 - Coleman, Bishop (spot starter)

 

The Bills also played 10 rookies last year, including 8 draftees.

 

Obviously the Draft is critical to building the Bills and maintaining cap integrity.  

 

That said, they are kind of in a unique position.  The Bills are in win now mode after Beane's two year overhaul has left the Bills, younger, cheaper and in many ways better, although he only has 1 year left on the rookie deals for Rousseau, Cook, Shakir, Benford and Bernard.  The Bills can clear 40 mill in cap space with some relatively easy moves and have all but 3 starters under contract.  The 3 open jobs are CB (replacing Douglas), WR (replacing Cooper) and S (replacing Hamlin).  Bishop is likely taking over for Hamlin, leaving only 2 starting jobs for new players.  The Bills also have most of their depth under contract with a few exceptions in Hollins, Gilliam, Ty Johnson, Alec Anderson, Smoot and LS Reid Ferguson. I suspect the Bills want all 6 of the named UFAs back.  They have significant draft capital heading into the draft with as many as 10 picks depending on how the compensatory picks are assigned.   The bottom line is with a nearly complete roster, 40 mill in potential cap space and 10 draft picks, Beane can afford to go shopping in both the trade market and the FA market to fill the few holes in the roster to try to put his win now roster over the top.

 

Looking at the offseason, the Bills greatest needs are in order

1) Starting CB - Douglas is gone and Elam isn't up to the task  - solution - Likely a FA with a draft pick (or 2) for depth

2) Starting Boundary WR - I'd like to see Beane use a premium pick to replace Cooper, but I suspect he'll go a medium priced FA with a WR added from later in the draft.  I want Golden or Egbuka if we keep our 1st rd pick.

3) Edge Rusher - I'm actually all in on the Myles Garrett idea, especially if it clears Elam and AJE off the roster as the Athletics' Joe B suggested.  We are in win now mode and getting a future HOFer to play opposite of Rousseau changes the dynamic of the defense.  

4)Safety depth - Rapp's eventual replacement drafted in the 4th rd of the draft.

5) DT - Need more depth here if the don't believe Carter is the guy to replace Jones long-term

 

So as to the OP question, we are in win now mode and using some of the 10 picks to add good veterans is wise.  

 

Carter is a 3 tech like Oliver and is olivers backup and hopefully he gets to the point where he can play next to Ed in pass rushing situations.  He has nothing to do with replacing Jones or playing the 1 tech spot.  

 

Taylor Rapp has missed both chiefs playoff games and missed the steelers playoff game last year too.  If I ran the bills I would be looking to upgrade the position this offseason and move Rapp back to the third guy, the dime defense guy ish.  Bishop will take hamlins spot.  They need to find a Corner, a starting safety for Rapp's spot and two defensive lineman this offseason.j

 

Garrett is a nice dream scenario but it's not going to happen.  This is a draft filled with good defensive players.  They need to nail this draft and rebuild the defense with more talent, affordable young talent.  This would allow them to push the cap a little at wr where they should just sign a vet who can play day one.

 

For me, I'm signing Ty Johnson, Mack Hollins, Gilliam back to the team on day one.  Then I am signing Darius Slayton.  The draft will be about building a new defense, hopefully with more talent and speed.  If a WR who is an x that can make a difference falls to them in the first or second round that is fine but the premium picks need to be used on defense.  

 

A young drafted defense that is all signed for a few years allows you in the next two years to resign or extend the talent we have on offense, Cook, torrence, mcgovern etc.  

[MikePJ76]

Dane Brugler had a senior bowl report mentioning some guys that could be had in the 2nd round late first that I imagine will be on the Bills radar.

 

Edge rusher: Mike Green, Marshall

Anyone who follows my work knows how glowing my thoughts are on Green as a prospect. But — no bias here — he had the most flashes of a very flashy edge group in Mobile. That bull rush on Conerly got the most attention, but Green consistently made plays with bend, burst and violence.

I chuckle whenever I see someone caught up on Green’s size instead of focusing on the ways he wins. He is an easy first-round grade. The question is: How high will he go?

My three highest-ranked edge rushers in Mobile — Green, Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart and Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku — all performed well. UCLA’s Femi Oladejo also deserves mention for looking, and then playing, the part. He is a stock-up prospect.

 

 

Defensive tackle: Darius Alexander, Toledo

This year’s defensive line class is loaded, and it includes several likely early-rounders who were in Mobile: Ole Miss’ Walter Nolen, Kentucky’s Deone Walker and South Carolina’s T.J. Sanders.

But it was Alexander who had the most consistently impressive week. It didn’t matter whether he lined up on the edge, over the B-gap or as a nose, he won with fluid body control and strong hands, using a club-rip on one rep and then a firm bull rush the next play.

Defensive linemen that are 6-3 5/8, 304 with 33-inch arms and this type of talent rarely fall out of the top 100 — and I’ll bet Alexander doesn’t, either.

 

Cornerback: Quincy Riley, Louisville

One-on-one drills are such a tough ask for cornerbacks — there’s no pass rush, no hook or post defender; there’s only green grass for the receiver. Yet, I was consistently impressed with this cornerback group in Mobile, especially Riley. The Louisville product consistently stayed in phase with receivers and did a great job turning his head or reading the eyes of the receiver to make plays on the ball.

Another aspect of Riley’s week that was impressive was the way he coached up the other corners. When a player such as Darien Porter returned to the huddle, Riley pointed out different leverages and route tells to help him on his next rep. Riley’s combination of experience and quick-reaction skills will serve him well in the NFL.

 

Others who impressed: Western Kentucky’s Upton Stout, who’s small (5-8 1/4, 178) but stayed attached to receivers all week and made it difficult to complete passes; Florida State’s Azareye’h Thomas, who was already in the top-50 mix but made a case for the first round; UCF’s Mac McWilliams, a late addition to the Senior Bowl roster who left no doubt he belonged because of the way he covered during drills.

[ganesh]

On 2/5/2025 at 5:38 PM, Chaos said:

Rams have been to the Super Bowl twice in the McDermott era, and had a team that beat the Bills this year, and fell just short of returning to the NFC championship game. Taking a serious shot, properly managed, does not mean crippling your team for the future.  Rams ways has objectively been far more successful.  And before blah blah blah NFC, Rams also did it with Jarrod Goff and Matthew Stafford, who are hardly Josh Allen 

So we should really give that draft capital and first get McVay and his GM

[Snappysnackcakes]

This isn’t the NBA - we need inexpensive players to perform and hand out good contracts to the keepers. 

[Warriorspikes51]

1 minute ago, Snappysnackcakes said:

This isn’t the NBA - we need inexpensive players to perform and hand out good contracts to the keepers. 

forget that.  This regime is way below average when it comes to hitting premium picks.

 

I’d trade our 1sts and 2nds this year and next year for true impact players without hesitation

[3rdand12]

21 hours ago, Thrivefourfive said:

Higgins is there, right? I don’t think he’s a 1A, but he fits EXACTLY what we could use, minus the nagging injuries. Defenses will have to play him honestly because of how quickly our football gets around the field. So where Josh can put the ball, Higgins is the matchup nightmare just based on height, catch radius and hands that we never had in Diggs. 
 

I’d take a WR who puts up 80/1200/10 next season. Yes, yes I think I would. 

It could be a wonderful thing.
Hope Joe Burrow is wrong about keeping all 3 of Chase Hendrickson and Higgins

And we scoop any of those 3 !

 Agree with ya and most likely do , Higgins would be sweet fit in a Bills uni with Josh

[blacklabel]

I mean, I'd be down if they wanna try the Rams method of going all in to win the big one. May as well.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 2/4/2025 at 8:07 PM, SoonerBillsFan said:

Yeah the future blah, blah, blah.  Beanes drafting hasn't been stellar.  Just trade the picks for vets and let's win this thing.

 

( Queue fantasy football or Dan Snider comments)

Absolutely! Worked for Diggs. Say what you will, but he aided in the QBs development and put up elite production. It was a franchise changing move that unfortunately fizzled out in the end, but I would certainly do it all over again. I’m all for packaging a couple high picks for an elite offensive or defensive player. Beane seems to be much more efficient picking from the latter half of the draft, although he nailed the James Cook and Rousseau picks. Josh is not immortal. If they don’t get any game changing Vets then Beane has to absolutely nail this draft. It depends a lot on how confident he is on Kincaid and Coleman’s development. A lot of time needs to be spent looking at film seeing where things went wrong. Especially Kincaid who is going into year 3. Anything less than a Greg Olsen will be very disappointing. An elite TE is the greatest weapon a QB can have. It’s no secret that most HOF QBs had one! Elway/Sharpe Mahomes/Kelce Romo/ Witten Manning/Clark Brees/Graham Brady/Gronk Rivers/Gates