When Buffalo Billsjumped to the No. 12 spot in the draft by trading left tackle Cordy Glenn to Cincinnati earlier this week everyone in the football world assumed it was the precursor to another move that would position the team to leap up again for a franchise quarterback.
On Friday general manager Brandon Beane attempted to pump the breaks on that assumption.
"I know everyone assumes we're going higher than 12," he said, via Mike Rodak of ESPN. "I don't know what we're doing. I honestly don't."
It's fine for Beane to hedge on his next move until it's made. With the Browns, Jets and Broncos sitting inside the top 6 and owning quarterback needs there is a chance the Bills could get squeezed out, leaving them with AJ McCarron as their top signal-caller along with Nathan Peterman.
We still don't believe it.
Buffalo owns a treasure trove of draft picks: two first-rounders (No. 12 and No. 22), a pair of second-round selections (No. 53 and No. 56) and two thirds (No. 65 and No. 96) -- not to mention future first-round picks.
The GM continued his attempt at poker, insisting the move from No. 21 overall to No. 12 in the Glenn trade was simply about getting in position to draft a better player.
"There are some players that are going to be at 12 -- whether it's quarterback or another position -- that I know would not have fallen to 21," Beane said. "I'm excited about that. There are some guys that we were talking about right before we went to the combine with our scouts, and I'm like, 'We're wasting our time with this guy. He ain't falling to 21. This guy is a top-10, 12 -- he ain't getting past 15.'
"We're in the range for those guys [now]. And that's not necessarily quarterback."
He's correct saying No. 12 isn't where he's likely to find the Bills' franchise QB. That will likely take another trade to move up further.
Stay tuned.
