If you’re still stunned at the trade announcements made by the Buffalo Bills, don’t feel bad. I think it took us all by surprise. After years of half-measures and band-aids, the Bills finally seem poised to perform a full-scale reboot unlike any since the purging of the Super Bowl-era holdovers after the 1999 season.
While the Bills roster will certainly look different without Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby, head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane added a ton of draft capital. It adds to their already rich coffers for next year’s college selection event. The team’s draft choices for 2018 are as follows:
Buffalo Bills 2018 NFL Draft picks
| Round | Pick | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Round | Pick | Notes |
| 1 | Buffalo Bills' original pick | |
| 1 | Kansas City Chiefs pick, acquired during 2017 NFL Draft | |
| 2 | Buffalo Bills' original pick | |
| 2 | Los Angeles Rams pick, acquired in Sammy Watkins trade | |
| 3 | Buffalo Bills' original pick | |
| 3 | Philadelphia Eagles pick, acquired in Ronald Darby trade | |
| 4 | Buffalo Bills' original pick | |
| 5 | Buffalo Bills' original pick | |
| 6 conditional | Jaguars pick, acquired in Marcell Dareus trade, moves to 5th if JAX makes playoffs | |
| xxx | Buffalo's 6th round selection was traded away as part of the Watkins deal | |
| 7 | Bills' original pick may be forfeited as part of Larentee McCray trade |
Assuming that the Bills don’t attempt to release offseason pickups for compensatory selections, the team will have the option of picking six times in the first 96 selections of the 2018 NFL Draft. I say they’ll have the “option” to do so because, let’s face it, this regime doesn’t seem to fear wheeling and dealing at all.