Kim Pegula, who owns the Buffalo Bills along with her husband, Terry, was interviewed Wednesday night by the NFL Network for its “NFL Total Access” show about her plans for the 2018 NFL Draft, the need for the Bills to draft a quarterback, and how involved the Pegulas will be in the upcoming draft.
So first things first. Where will Kim Pegula find herself on draft night?
“I will be in Buffalo in the war room. At the big table,” Kim Pegula said.
With AJ McCarron and Nathan Peterman the only quarterbacks on the roster, it seems a safe bet that Buffalo will address the quarterback position with one of its draft picks, including six in the top 96 and a pair of first-round picks in Nos. 12 and 22.
The Bills possess the least experienced quarterbacking duo in the league with only 15 combined regular-season appearances between McCarron and Peterman. The Bills have long been rumored to be active in the trade market, and have been associated with most of the top college quarterback prospects in Josh Allen (Wyoming), Sam Darnold (USC), Josh Rosen (UCLA), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Lamar Jackson (Louisville), and Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State).
What role do the Pegulas play in the team’s selection of a future franchise quarterback?
“I wouldn’t say sign off on, but as certainly someone who is going to be representing our team, we like to just get to know them as much as we can before, during, after,” Kim Pegula said. “So I think that’s something that we would definitely want to be a part of and be in the conversation with, with our head coach.”
Johnny Manziel recently commented that the Cleveland Browns should have done their homework before selecting the talented but troubled QB out of Texas A&M with the 22nd overall pick in 2014.
In a quarterback-driven league, and with the Bills’ past failures in developing their next franchise quarterback since Hall of Famer Jim Kelly retired following the 1996 season, the pressure is on general manager Brandon Beane to select the perfect QB to fit the team’s culture at One Bills Drive.
Kim Pegula was asked how involved her and her husband would be in both the assessment and drafting of the team’s 2018 draft picks. She said the Pegulas would defer to the knowledge of Beane, head coach Sean McDermott, and the team’s scouts, while also sharing their thoughts and insights on these prospective Bills.
“I’d like to think really involved, but not really,” Kim Pegula said. “Especially this year because we have the picks that we do and kind of the needs that we have -- maybe at quarterback -- so those are important positions. My husband and I, we have been on trips to see players and we have been talking with our GM Brandon Beane and coach McDermott nonstop, and the scouts, things like that. But you know what? We don’t watch film. We’re not there at all the games. I personally don’t know what I’m watching anyways in terms of that. So we let them really make the decisions, but we want to be part of the conversation.”