New England Patriots: Buffalo Bills have assets to move up in NFL Draft
By Nick Ziegler
With NFL Free Agency almost underway, the New England Patriots have seen one of their division rivals continue to make moves to help secure assets in the 2018 NFL Draft.
So far, things have been quiet for the New England Patriots in free agency. With their starting left tackle Nate Solder being a free agent, the Patriots have prioritized signing him to protect the blindside of Brady.
The market for Solder has certainly been better than most expected, as he has reportedly multiple teams that are interested in his services. While the Patriots wait to see if they can bring back Solder, the Buffalo Bills were active on the trade front.
On Tuesday, the Bills completed a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals to send their left tackle Cordy Glenn to Cincinnati. In the deal, the Bills and the Bengals swapped first-round picks, giving the Bills the 12th overall selection in the 2018 NFL Draft now.
Source: Bills sending LT Cordy Glenn and the 21st pick to the Bengals for the 12th overall pick. Buffalo also sending their fifth-round with Cincinnati's sixth-rounder coming.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 12, 2018
While that will likely be too low for them to draft the franchise quarterback they desire, the Bills do have two picks in the first round now, which makes the possibility of moving up very real.
As of now, there are multiple candidates that might be looking to trade down, as the Cleveland Browns have two of the first five picks. Most assume that the Browns will be selecting a quarterback with the first overall pick, which could them allow them to trade their second pick in the Top 5 for more assets.
In addition to the Browns, the Indianapolis Colts are also likely not going to be taking a quarterback with Andrew Luck still on the roster. One of the wild cards in the Top 5, however, is the New York Giants. With the second overall pick and an aging Eli Manning, it will be interesting to see if the Giants use this pick to draft his successor. Even if the Giants do decide to draft a quarterback, the Bills will have options.
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Since Nathan Peterman looked very bad in his brief stint as a starter last season, the Bills are clearly going to be looking for a quarterback in the draft. After the trade with the Bengals, they are now in an excellent position to use some of the draft picks they have stockpiled to make a big splash in the NFL Draft.