Bills may have stopped AFC East rival from landing Keon Coleman in 2024 NFL Draft

The Buffalo Bills traded out of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft entirely. The specific deals they executed may have prevented an AFC East rival from landing their receiver of choice.

Nov 18, 2023; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles wide receiver Keon Coleman (4) / Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports

Sound roster building often isn’t flashy, this idea perhaps perfectly embodied by the Buffalo Bills’ decision to trade out of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The team did little to hide its need—or desire—for a wide receiver in the predraft process, with most prognosticators mocking a pass-catcher to Buffalo with its first-round selection, the 28th overall in the draft. Once the team went on the clock, it looked at its board to see a clump of wideouts with the same value attributed to them by the scouting department; rather than taking a player at No. 28, general manager Brandon Beane executed two minor trade downs, guaranteeing the team would still land one of its preferred receivers while simultaneously improving its standing throughout the rest of the draft.

Beane pulled off the first trade down with Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach, moving from pick No. 28 to No. 32 while turning picks No. 133 and No. 248 into picks No. 95 and No. 221. Still liking his board at pick No. 32, Beane moved down again, this time with a former colleague. The executive agreed to a deal with Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan, who served as Buffalo’s Director of Player Personnel from 2018–2020, swapping picks No. 32 and No. 200 for No. 33 and No. 141.

The deal with Carolina wasn’t the only trade the team had built a framework for, however. According to NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe, Buffalo had agreed to a deal, in principle, with the New England Patriots, a move that likely would’ve seen the Bills drop back to pick No. 34. The Patriots, according to Wolfe, were moving up for either South Carolina wideout Xavier Legette or Florida State pass-catcher Keon Coleman, whom Buffalo would ultimately take at pick No. 33.

Related: Bills GM Brandon Beane Addresses Chiefs Trade Down Backlash: 'You're Always Going to Get Criticized'

Wolfe talked about New England’s inability to trade up during a recent appearance on the Patriots Daily Podcast, stating that the experience, while justified from Buffalo’s perspective, irked some in New England’s front office.

“I talked to someone with the Patriots who felt a little jaded because they thought that they had a, sort of, on paper, close to [an] agreement with the Bills, and they believe that agreement was kind of shopped to the Panthers, because the Panthers have a relationship [with the Bills],” Wolfe said. “Dan Morgan, Brandon Beane, they have that bond. It’s honestly a lower drop for the Bills. They’re not helping their division rival. So I get it, they’re not helping a division rival and they get to drop one spot and still get some value. 

“The Bills, who also needed a receiver, may have had their eyes on both of those same receivers, and said, ‘Hey, we don’t care, we’ll get more value,’ and they traded back. But ultimately, [the Patriots] ended up not getting up there and being able to move, so their top two, Coleman and Legette, both got picked there. You hear all the time, ‘Hey, we got the guy we wanted, he was going to be our pick no matter what;’ that wasn’t the case here. The Patriots would’ve loved to have Keon Coleman or Xavier Legette, it did not work that way.”

.@CameronWolfe says a member of the #Patriots staff felt “jaded” after they came close to a trade agreement with the #Bills, only for Buffalo to make a similar trade with Carolina instead.

New England really wanted either Keon Coleman or Xavier Legette.

“I talked with someone… pic.twitter.com/axYyD9keMT

— Carlos Talks Pats (@LosTalksPats) May 3, 2024

Though he hasn’t publicly mentioned conversations with New England’s brass, Beane has discussed his trade down with the Panthers, stating during a recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show that it was his team that initially reached out to Carolina to gauge its interest in a move up.

“Dan Morgan and I worked together for years,” Beane said. “Once we were at 32, I waited to see who was taken at 31, and then called Dan and jumped on the horn. He was like, ‘Yeah.’ Because I knew earlier in the day that they might be interested in trading back into round one, so [I] gave him a quick call. We got it done pretty fast.”

The Panthers would ultimately keep Legette in the Carolinas, selecting him with pick No. 32. With Coleman off the board to Orchard Park at pick No. 33, New England opted to trade down, swapping picks with the Los Angeles Chargers. The Patriots were able to ultimately add talent to their receiving room, selecting Washington wideout Ja’Lynn Polk at pick No. 37 and UCF wide receiver Javon Baker in the fourth round, but, due in part to Bufflao’s move with the Panthers, were unable to land either of their preferred targets.

One team’s misfortune, however, is another team’s delight, as Coleman figures to feature prominently in the Bills’ offense straight away. New England fans will still get to watch the former Florida State Seminole play, as their team will have to try to contain him in two yearly matchups for the foreseeable future.