General manager of the Buffalo Bills Brandon Beane, like moving up in the NFL Draft.
He made a trade-down this time. Two times.
In the first round, Buffalo made a trade back to the opposing Kansas City Chiefs at No. 28. The Bills dropped to the final selection in the first round, No. 32. This was the exchange:
Nos. 32, 95, and 221 were sent to the Chiefs, and Nos. 28, 133, and 248 were received by the Bills.
Beane was far from finished. In a trade with the Carolina Panthers, he withdrew from the first round.
The Panthers were dealt Nos. 32 and 200, and the Bills received Nos. 33 and 141.
Beane has made more than three dozen trades involving trade picks and 15 trades during draft in his seven-year tenure in Buffalo. He’s moved up in the first round to select Josh Allen (2018), Tremaine Edmunds (2018), Kaiir Elam (2022) and Dalton Kincaid (2023).
Buffalo has 33 players left over from the 53-man roster, and that includes those on the injured reserve list during the season.
Here is a round-by-round breakdown of the Bills’ selections.
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Third-round pick No. 33: Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman
Buffalo finally acquired a wide receiver for Josh Allen, albeit it took an extra day. The Bills moved back to No. 32 and then down to No. 33 after initially possessing the No. 28 overall pick.
During the pre-draft process, some analysts had connected Coleman to the Bills. The 6-foot-3, 213-pound player gives the Bills great outside size, and even though his 40-yard sprint time at the combine was 4.61, he still has plenty of speed to split the field and make plays.
The absence of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer will make the Bills secondary appear strange. Cole Bishop gives Buffalo more youth at the safety position.
Bishop is a tough tackler with versatility who started all three years at Utah. He has 60 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 2 interceptions in 2023. He loves covering tight ends.
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‘Intimidating safety’ is the Buffalo Bills’ choice for draft ratings, and analysts adore his athleticism.
Round Three, Position 95: DeWayne Carter, Duke
Intelligent. Captain. Community leader. DeWayne Carter will fit right into Sean McDermott’s locker room.
Carter was the first three-year captain in Duke history and earned first-team All-ACC honors in 2023 after recording 41 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. He had 12 sacks, 25 tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups and 7 forced fumbles in his four full seasons with the Blue Devils.
Carter had an impressive NFL Combine and will get a chance to compete with veterans Austin Johnson and Deshawn Williams to back up Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones for the Bills.
Carter won the ACC’s Jim Tatum Award as the conference’s top scholar-athlete and was a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is considered the Academic Heisman.
