S, WR, IOL worth discussing for Buffalo Bills’ 1st pick of 2026 NFL Draft

Former Buffalo Bills wide receiver Lee Evans points to Bills fans after announcing the team’s selection with the 41st overall pick during the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The draft runs through April 26. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Last week, I wrote a piece outlining why I believed the highest likelihood of happening is for the Buffalo Bills to select a defensive front-seven player with their first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

I outlined why this seems so and pointed to history with the assumption that the exhibited behaviors are a Brandon Beane (a carryover from the previous regime, now with a fancy new “President of Football Operations” title) phenomenon rather than one assigned to Sean McDermott. But even if I believe there’s a 70% chance the Bills go with an edge rusher, an interior defensive lineman, or a linebacker with their first pick (at 26 overall, higher, or lower), that still leaves a robust 30% chance of them doing something else entirely. And what else exactly would they do?

Safety, wide receiver, and interior offensive line are team needs where Buffalo entered the offseason at a deficit. However, the additions of C. J.

Gardner-Johnson, Geno Stone, DJ Moore, Austin Corbett, and Lloyd Cushenberry alongside the re-signings of Damar Hamlin and Connor McGovern have turned the urgency down on those positions in many fans’ minds. The difference between this year and the free agencies of years past is that outside of the contract given to Connor McGovern, none of the deals made by the Bills (including the Moore trade) feel like they’re crossed out the need in ink. When you think of Buffalo’s safety position right now, do you think “no more worries, we’re good there for the foreseeable future”?