Bills General Manager Doug Whaley has said he’s interested enough in some of the top prospects in this year’s draft that there are “players we would trade up to get.” Now there’s a report saying the Bills are actively working on a trade, and there are three specific players they want.
Those three players are South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, Auburn offensive tackle Greg Robinson and Clemson receiver Sammy Watkins, according to Todd McShay of ESPN.
“I’ve heard from three league sources in the past week that the Bills are trying to trade up,” McShay writes. “If they do make a move, it’ll likely be to land Clowney, Robinson or Watkins.”
Robinson is widely regarded as an elite left tackle, but trading up for him sounds like an odd move, as the Bills could probably stay put at No. 9 and still take one of the other top tackle prospects, Texas A&M’s Jake Matthews or Michigan’s Taylor Lewan. Perhaps the Bills have Robinson rated much, much higher than Matthews and Lewan, but that move seems like a long shot.
Clowney or Watkins, however, would make a lot of sense. Lining up Clowney opposite Mario Williams would give the Bills two of the most talented pass rushers to enter the NFL in the last decade. And Watkins would have a huge affect on Bills quarterback EJ Manuel.
Whaley said that his view on trading up is, “If we think a guy would help us make the playoffs, why wouldn’t we make the deal?” The question now is how much the Bills would have to give up to make a move from No. 9 to No. 1 or No. 2.