ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The trade of quarterback Tyrod Taylor to Cleveland gained the Bills a third-round draft choice and the deal that sent offensive tackle Cordy Glenn to Cincinnati altered Buffalo’s position in the first round and switched fifth- and sixth-round picks.
The upshot is that the Bills now have nine draft choices, two each in the first three rounds and one apiece in rounds four through six.
Of course, as always, the focus is on Round 1 where Buffalo, as a result of the Glenn deal, moved one of its picks from No. 21 to 12th while retaining the 22nd overall choice.
Clearly, the Bills’ prime need is quarterback, with Taylor shipped to the Browns and, in effect, being replaced by the free-agent signing of AJ McCarron, formerly a Bengal.
However, the jockeying for quarterbacks at the top of the draft impacts the Bills.
There are six QBs who are speculated could go in the first round: Sam Darnold (USC), Josh Rosen (UCLA), Josh Allen (Wyoming), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma St.) and Lamar Jackson (Louisville).
The question, of course, is where.
When the Jets traded up from No. 6 to the third spot with Indianapolis, Buffalo lost a potential trade partner as the Colts, with Andrew Luck, don’t need a QB.
However, four of the first five teams picking do. Cleveland, despite acquiring Taylor, needs a quarterback for the future and the Browns could get one either with the No. 1 overall pick or No. 4. Meanwhile, the Giants (No. 2), Jets (No. 3) and Broncos (No. 5) also need QBs.
The next five — Indy, Tampa Bay, Chicago, San Francisco and Oakland — don’t need a quarterback, but Miami, with injury concerns about Ryan Tannehill, might.
So where does that leave Buffalo?
General manager Brandon Beane talked about that last Friday in a press conference with the team meda.
He admitted that’s now his focus with the Bills having virtually completed their foray into free agency.
“I kind of, after Indy (NFL Combine), refocused on free agency, and kind of put a ‘stiff arm’ to the draft for a little bit,” Beane said. “Now that we’ve spent our money, it’s 100 percent back on the draft.
“I’ve met all (potential draftees), but some of them for 15 minutes. That’s obviously not enough for me to draft a guy at 12. I know everyone assumes that we’re going higher than 12 (but) I don’t know what we’re doing, we’ve got, (almost) six weeks until the draft.”
But he also warned against calling McCarron a “bridge” quarterback or assuming the Bills will take a QB with their first pick in the opening round.
“Everybody’s talking about the ‘bridge,’” Beane said. “I don’t look at AJ as a ‘bridge’; the ‘bridge’ isn’t in my vocabulary. This is a chance for AJ to come in and compete … to showcase what he’s got. Nothing’s being given here for any position. That’s the way that Sean (McDermott, coach) and I believe it should be.
“AJ is not playing behind an established person; he was playing behind an established Andy Dalton (at Cincinnati). This is a different scenario for him. He felt like this was a good opportunity for him to come in and win a job.”
Of the draft, he added, “There are some (talented) players that are going to be at 12, whether it’s quarterback or another position that I know would not have fallen to 21. I’m excited about that.
“There’s some guys that we were talking about right before we went to the Combine with our scouts that I’m like, ‘We’re wasting our time with this guy. He isn’t falling to 21. This guy is a top 10, 12 (pick). He isn’t getting past 15’. (Now) we’re in the range for those guys, and that’s not necessarily quarterback. At the end of the day, we’re going to get a better player.”
Beane maintained, “I’m looking for good football players. If we find a quarterback that’s a guy we think is undeniably a franchise quarterback and he falls in our lap, yes, we’d take him. If we’re sitting there at 12 and there’s a guy that falls to us that we’re like, ‘Wow, we thought this guy was going Top 5 and he’s a game changer’, we’d be happy to take him, too.
“I’ll visit all the quarterbacks — most of the people that you guys know about that would be considered — and I’ll make sure that, by the time I’m done visiting, I’ll have a good enough feel if this person fits what we’re looking for in the draft.”
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
