The Buffalo Bills ended the opening night of the 2024 NFL Draft without making any additions to their roster, but general manager Brandon Beane remains confident in both the talent and value available as the Bills look to open the second day of action with the first pick of the second round.
The Bills traded the 28th overall pick to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for the 32nd overall pick, which they subsequently traded to the Carolina Panthers. They received the 33rd overall pick, a third-round pick (95th overall) and jumped 59 spots into the fifth round from the sixth round. They also advanced 27 spots in the seventh round.
"We were, just like every year, following the board and where we think the value is," Beane said. "We came into this draft without a [third round pick] and we're able to get ourselves back into the third and feel like there'll be some value there at this point."
Reporters asked Beane if he had any hesitation on making a deal with the Chiefs, who defeated Buffalo in the Divisional Round of the playoffs last season.
"No, because they can move around," Beane said. "If we don't trade with them, someone else can to get whatever player they're targeting. To me, it's got to make sense for us and we'll follow our board.
"I would say that was the best deal for us. Take them out, take the team out of it, that was the best deal that we thought that fit what we want to do."
Beane did not rule out making more moves tomorrow, as fans have come to expect with the Bills general manager.
"I think we were just looking at it as moving up 59 slots in the draft giving us just more ammo to move around tomorrow," Beane said. "And, you know, we'll get a lot of calls for this pick tomorrow at 33, our phones already ringing so we'll see what happens."
Beane made it clear that he trusts the draft grades he and his scouting team have worked on and emphasized the importance of value when making the decision to use or trade a draft pick.
"We weren't near 28 first round grades so you know going in, there's not necessarily a great chance that you're going to pick there," Beane said. "We put a lot of time in the [draft] board and one of the things we said was, if there's an opportunity to get back into the third, we do believe there will be some value or at least a value of that pick, again, if we want to move around."
With the first pick in the second round, the Bills will have plenty of time to listen to trade offers as the team that is now on the clock. Until then, Beane and his staff will weigh the decision to move back or choose from the available talent.
"It puts us on the pole position for tomorrow," Beane said. "And we'll see. We've have some calls, I think we'll get more calls. And if it makes too much sense to move back again and pick up something else, we would do that. We also think there's a couple of good players to choose from."
Scroll to see the photos from inside the Bills draft room during Thursday's first round.
Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Kevin Meganck and Chris Marrow in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brian Gaine in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brandon Beane, Sean McDermott and Terry Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brandon Beane in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brian Gaine and Terrance Gray in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brandon Beane in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Laura Pegula and Pete Guelli in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Terry Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Terrance Gray in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Terry Pegula and Laura Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Malik Boyd and Matt Bazirgan in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Malik Boyd in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Sean McDermott and Terry Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Pete Guelli in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brandon Beane, Sean McDermott and Terry Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Terry Pegula and Brandon Beane in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brandon Beane in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Asil Mulbah in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Jim Overdorf and Kevin Meganck in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Kevin Meganck and Chris Marrow in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brian Gaine in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Terrance Gray, Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Terry Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Malik Boyd and Matt Bazirgan in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
A.J. Highsmith in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Sean McDermott and Terry Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Matt Bazirgan in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Malik Boyd in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Scenes from the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Asil Mulbah in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Terry Pegula and Matthew Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Pete Guelli in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
Terry Pegula in the Buffalo Bills Draft Room during Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft at One Bills Drive on April 25, 2024.
