Buffalo Bills Rival Reportedly Traded Up to Steal WR In The Draft

An AFC East rival was so confident that the Buffalo Bills wanted to draft a specific wide receiver that they traded up in the NFL Draft to steal him. 

According to a new report, the New York Jets believed that the Bills were going to draft Indiana receiver Omar Cooper Jr. at the end of the first round. So, instead of letting it happen, New York traded from 33 to 30 to get in front of Buffalo, which was picking at 31, to take Cooper themselves.

"The reason why they traded up is because they thought Buffalo was going to take Cooper at 31," ESPN's Rich Cimini said during an episode of the Jets Collective podcast. 

"They anticipated that. That was their intel. And it’s funny how as soon as they traded up and took him, Buffalo traded out. Buffalo trades out with Tennessee, and that’s why the Jets did the Cooper deal. They did it because I think he was rated really close to (Kenyon) Sadiq on their draft board and, also, they wanted the fifth-year option."

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While it's unlikely that the Bills will ever confirm Cimini's report as true, the optics do make it seem so.

The Bills had two other chances to take him at picks 26 and 28, but chose to trade back instead. It's quite possible that, with the way the draft board fell and the teams that were scheduled to pick, general manager Brandon Beane believed Cooper would be available at 31 for them to draft. 

But the Jets managed to move up and give their offense a new weapon, forcing the Bills to go a different direction. That direction turned out to be waiting until the fourth round to draft a receiver, selecting UConn wideout Skyler Bell with the 125th overall pick. 

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