Bills' attempt to hurt Patriots actually screwed them instead

Sports rivalries run deep, no matter how long it's been since the teams were genuinely competing against each other ti accomplish the same goal. The Buffalo Bills proved that to be true this offseason, letting their feelings about the Patriots be known due to their draft decisions.

But it's looking like their hopes of messing with New England's chances of getting a particular player actually put them in a worse position instead.

According to former Patriots executive Mike Lombardi, the current rumor regarding the recent draft suggests that Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf are interested in picking speedy wide receiver Xavier Worthy in the second round.

After the Bills traded their No. 28 pick for the No. 32 pick, the Patriots inquired about a trade-up from their No. 34 pick in hopes of snagging Worthy, says Lombardi. ESPN's Mike Reiss reported they were interested in receivers Keon Coleman and Xavier Legette, but the former executive believes the Texas receiver was also in the mix.

Buffalo ultimately declined their offer and instead traded with the Chiefs, who had the last pick of Round 1, and they lucked into drafting Worthy, also known as the fastest wide receiver of this year's class and nearly NFL history.

But why would they have done that to avoid trading with a divisional rival?

Bills' attempt to hurt Patriots actually screwed them instead

Whoever decided that trading with the back-to-back Super Bowl-winning Chiefs was a good idea should probably be examined for future decisions. It makes virtually no sense for the current AFC East favorite to hand a top-notch receiver to their biggest nemesis, the Chiefs, who continue to beat them in the playoffs every year.

It's a move that Lombardi doesn't understand either, who revealed his confusion during an appearance on the Pat McAfee show last week.

“I think if you’re [Bills general manager] Brandon Beane, you have to sit there and say, ‘Yeah, maybe Kansas City offered me a lot more. But why would I give Worthy to them, who’s a weapon, who could become the next Tyreek Hill for them?'

“I don’t understand that. I would’ve been more than happy to give him to the Patriots, who are working with a new regime and a new quarterback. In three years, if Worthy’s a player that’s great, they’re ready to go. But I’m worried about today and helping the Chiefs out is the last thing I want to do.”

If Buffalo is currently in their "championship window" with Josh Allen, then trading away Stefon Diggs, not really replacing him with an equal player, and then handing their biggest enemy a potential Tyreek Hill 2.0 was probably a decision that will come back to haunt them.

It would have been wiser to allow the Patriots to take him if that's who they wanted. As Lombardi said, they're not a team the Bills will have to worry about for at least a few years since they're going through a rebuild.

If they want to win a championship now, allowing a talent like Worthy to go to the team favored to win their third Super Bowl in a row is beyond comprehension.

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