ORCHARD PARK – As if the Buffalo Sabres regaining control of their Stanley Cup playoff series against the Boston Bruins wasn’t exciting enough Thursday night, Buffalo Bills president/GM Brandon Beane produced a frenetic 30 minutes down at One Bills Drive.
Beane was hammering the phones like he never has as the first round of the NFL Draft wound down, and he pulled off three trades that ultimately sent the Bills careening out of the first round altogether, which was always the best scenario for them in this draft.
In the process, he gained two overall picks, up from seven to nine, and he improved his positions in several rounds. Not only did he pick up an early second-round pick at No. 35, considered by many to be a sweet spot for a couple key position needs for Buffalo, but he improved his third-round slot from No. 91 to No. 66.
The deals with the Texans, Patriots and Titans also left him with three choices in the fourth round at 101, 125 and 126, two in the fifth at 167 and 168, the first pick of the sixth round at 182, and he retained No. 220 in the seventh round.
Man, take a breath.
And Beane did just that as he decided to buck tradition and not meet with reporters after the first round. That came as a surprise.
Throughout the leadup to the draft, most analysts believed this was a thin first round, and while Beane won’t ever say how many first-round grades he has, he admitted on Monday that this year was on the lower end. My guess would be that he had somewhere around 15 to 20.
Thus, 26 was not a great value spot, so he rolled up his sleeves and went to work, and while fans might be frustrated that he didn’t make a pick, this was a well-executed strategy.
Of course, now he has to nail the picks, particularly the second- and third-rounder because he’ll have a chance to get two players who can immediately contribute as rookies in 2026. That will ultimately determine whether this chaos was worth it.
Prior to Thursday, the only draft Beane had traded back in the first round was in 2024 when he did it twice, also ending up out of the first round, settling for the first pick of the second round and taking wide receiver Keon Coleman.
Early on, it seemed like the only realistic chance Beane was going to have to trade down was if Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson was still on the board when the Bills went on the clock.
There had been some pre-draft speculation that perhaps the Cardinals or Browns, picking early in the second round, would be interested in going up to get him, but once Simpson went to the Rams at No. 13, that idea died.
When the Bills went on the clock at 26, the Texans made a call because they need to upgrade their offensive line, and with the 26th pick they took Georgia Tech guard Keylan Rutledge.
After the trade with the Patriots, they took offensive tackle Caleb Lomu at 28, and when the Titans got No. 31, they picked edge rusher Keldric Faulk, a player who had been a popular mock draft selection for Buffalo.
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: How Brandon Beane turned one pick into a big Bills haul in draft
Reporting by Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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