The Buffalo Bills have made a ridiculous habit out of helping their top competition in the AFC. What in the world are they doing out there?
The Bills' most recent trick to make themselves disappear from contention in the AFC was to trade down in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft with...The Kansas City Chiefs? The Bills -- who desperately need receiver help -- allowed the Chiefs to move up for a receiver they were targeting in the 1st round. They just so happened to give them the chance to draft the fastest player in NFL Combine history, Texas receiver Xavier Worthy.
Once the Bills made the trade to help Kansas City get "their guy" in the first round, it made me stop to think about all of the other ways they've been helping their top competition in the AFC lately. The Bills never could have known how it was going to turn out, but they were the team that traded the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft to the Kansas City Chiefs, who drafted Patrick Mahomes. Keep in mind, that was a year prior to the Bills landing Josh Allen, so they had a quarterback need at the time.
Earlier this offseason, the Bills also traded their best wide receiver -- Stefon Diggs -- to the top up-and-coming team in the AFC, the Houston Texans. As Brian Windhorst might ask -- now why would they do that?
Why not trade Diggs to the NFC? Were the Texans the only team willing to give up a 2nd-round pick for him? Would it have been worth taking a lesser pick to get Diggs out of the AFC?
It's hard to believe the Bills are doing this to themselves, especially the deal on Thursday night with the Chiefs. Maybe you can overlook the Diggs trade if they felt that was the only way to maximize value, but the decision to allow Kansas City to come up and get the guy they want is inexcusable.
It's just a bad look for the Buffalo Bills as an organization. It's a bad look for them when it comes to the arm's race that is the AFC. If the Bills expect to be in contention at the end of the season, why would they assume these moves aren't going to be making a difference in January? It's roster malpractice. It's embarrassing, and they have no one to blame but themselves.