This is My Problem With the Bills Trading Out of the First Round Again

The Buffalo Bills’ decision to trade out of the first round of the NFL Draft was beyond a swing and a miss from Brandon Beane.

For the second time in three drafts, Beane decided not to step up to the plate, instead unwisely procrastinating the team’s process of adding prospects to their talent pool ahead of the 2026 season.

Some have celebrated Beane’s three moves on Day 1, which helped the Bills add draft capital in the later rounds. But with the way the first round fell, particularly in the back half, it created a few golden opportunities that Buffalo completely whiffed on.

Missed chances

Southern California Trojans receiver Makai Lemon is selected by the Philadelphia Eagles as the number 20 pick during the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

If you’d told me at the start of the draft that the Bills would trade back, into the second round, and Cashius Howell would still be available, I’d have told you Buffalo’s maneuvers were savvy. However, my whole problem with the Bills’ trading back was that there were players still available around the time of their original selection who I didn’t feel the Bills had a chance of taking at pick No. 26.

There’s no guarantee Buffalo could have completed deals similar to those other teams made to acquire first-round wide receivers on Thursday night. Those of us on the outside are not privy to discussions the Bills may have had with teams behind closed doors. And I’m sure we’ll hear stories about all of the trades Beane tried but couldn't make.

With that said, there’s just no excuse for the Bills continuously failing to land big-time talent to surround their MVP quarterback.

Beane has been aggressive in past years, including trading up from pick No. 27 to No. 25 for Dalton Kincaid in 2023. A similar move would have been appropriate this year, based on wide receiver prospects such as USC’s Makai Lemon, Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion and Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr. remaining available when the draft reached pick No. 20 of the first round.

Particularly Lemon, who was acquired via a trade between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys, sending the impressive pass catcher who was once projected as a top-10 pick to Philadelphia, a team that consistently makes moves to win Super Bowls, two of which they have captured.

Past history

Instead, the Bills went back to the well they drew water from in 2024, when they moved out of the first round to take wide receiver Keon Coleman, who has proven to be a bust through his first two NFL seasons. Buffalo was poisoned once from that drink, and it seems they’ve set themselves up to face similar regret in 2026.

And for what? To move up 30 spots in the third round and add a couple of fourth-round picks?

That doesn't move the needle.

What the Bills did in Thursday’s first round is a complete farce, as Bills On SI's Randy Gurzi wrote earlier. Unless Beane proves his critics wrong by somehow landing a few immediate contributors over the next two days, he should be fired for the malpractice he committed when he thrice decided to pass on using a first-round pick.

Buffalo has been on the precipice of championship glory for many years. Yet, instead of going all-in, the Bills continue to offer half measures that have proven ineffective in their quest for greatness, which remains at a standstill.

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