The Buffalo Bills traded away their fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft as part of the deal to acquire wide receiver Stefon Diggs. That lack of mid-round draft capital is going to make it hard for them to trade up in the third round this year, where they currently sit at pick 93.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane has shown a ton of movement in the third round, but it’s been before the draft or trading into the third, not maneuvering with the third-round choice.
In the 2018 NFL Draft, he didn’t have the team’s original third-round selection because of the Kelvin Benjamin trade but he acquired another one as part of the deal that featured Ronald Darby heading to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for Jordan Matthews. They picked defensive tackle Harrison Phillips at pick 96.
In 2019, he stayed put to draft running back Devin Singeltary at 74 but traded up from the fourth round to pick tight end Dawson Knox at the tail end of the third.
Without a fourth-round pick, it’s going to be difficult to trade into the third round, but it’s also difficult to trade up in the third round from pick 93. Pick 93 plus the later fifth-round choice at 174 only gets the Bills to pick 89 or 88. Pick 93 plus the team’s first fifth-round choice at 161 can get the Bills up five or six spots to the 87/88 overall pick. Pick 93 plus BOTH fifth-round choices is enough to move Buffalo into the 84th overall pick, or potentially the 83rd spot.
As a little trade up option, Buffalo can package 93 with their sixth round pick at 213 to move up one or maybe two spots if the Bills throw in a seventh-rounder.
For reference, Buffalo’s original fourth-round selection coupled with their third-round pick would have been able to get them up to 84 or 85 by themselves without adding later picks.
Unless Buffalo gets some more ammo from an earlier trade down, it’s going to be hard to make moves in rounds 3 through 7 in 2021.