By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane is having a swell time at the 2019 Senior Bowl this week. Better than last year at least and all because of Josh Allen.
Beane said on Tuesday that he feels a bit less stressed heading into the 2019 NFL Draft because last April he and the team’s scouting department did the heavy lifting. They landed Josh Allen.
Because of that, Beane said things are a little bit easier-going for him.
“I’m smiling,” Beane joked about not needing to address the quarterback position at the upcoming draft.
Literally, the Bills are locked in at QB. Allen is their starter, but even in year’s past, the Bills didn’t have a full QB room… really ever under Beane and head coach Sean McDermott. No more fooling around, though. Buffalo will have Derek Anderson and Matt Barkley as Allen’s backups.
Still, the Bills have plenty of needs and could land a high-profile player with the ninth-overall pick at April’s draft. But Beane could also get a haul for that same pick. On Tuesday, Beane compared last year’s draft and this year’s draft in an interesting way.
Last year, he felt like he needed to be in the top-10 to draft Josh Allen. They got there via trades and nabbed him at No. 7. This year, no QB will be touched by Buffalo in the top-10. But that doesn’t mean other teams won’t want one.
Because of his lack of a desire to select at QB at No. 9 said Beane doesn’t need to be in the top-10 this year.
“It’s weird, this year we’re in the top-10 and we don’t need to be. It’s funny how it all works out. It’s nice to be able to focus a little more of our energy on all the positions,” Beane said.
So could a trade back be possible for Buffalo? It could. Some outlets have even forecasted it already, such as The Draft Wire. In addition, Beane’s proven he loves his draft picks. So far he’s accumulated 10 total picks for the 2019 draft, including two in fourth, fifth, and seventh rounds.
The more the merrier for Beane? He did address how much more he values the draft over free agency on Tuesday as well, despite having more than $80 million in salary cap space heading into the 2019 offseason.
“I like the draft the best,” Beane said when comparing the two periods of the offseason. “You know, you control it. You’re not fighting for anyone.”
“Free agency, you can think you have a guy and he’s half in the boat, and then somebody else trumps you,” Beane added. “There’s a lot of moving pieces with free agents so that’s the harder one. I like when free agency is done and you can just focus on the draft.”
So if Beane is leaving the door open on a trade or potentially telling teams he’s open for business, what could Buffalo get for the No. 9 pick?
According to the Jimmy Johnson draft pick value chart, the Bills hold a 1,350 point value on the No. 9 pick. If a team such as the Washington Redskins wanted to trade up for a quarterback in this scenario, they’d have to likely give up their first-round pick at No. 15 (1,050 value) and second-round pick at pick No. 46 (440).
However, when the Bills moved from the No. 12 pick to the No. 7 pick at last year’s draft, they paid double the price on the Jimmy Johnson scale.