NFL: Bills starting fresh without Watkins and Darby after blockbusters
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.— The Buffalo Bills’ off-season overhaul isn’t over yet with receiver Sammy Watkins and cornerback Ronald Darby the latest players to be sent packing.
The Bills dealt both starters in separate blockbuster trades on Friday as part of an effort to reshape the roster under new coach Sean McDermott.
Watkins was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, while Darby was sent to the Philadelphia Eagles. Buffalo addressed both positions by acquiring receiver Jordan Matthews from Philadelphia and cornerback E.J. Gaines from the Rams.
The Bills also continued looking to the future by further stockpiling 2018 draft selections. They acquired a second-round pick from L.A. and a third-rounder from the Eagles, while also sending a sixth-round pick to the Rams. Add in the acquisition of the Kansas Chiefs’ first-round pick in trade completed in April, and the Bills now have two picks in each of the first three rounds next year.
The additional picks provide Bills new general manager Brandon Beane assets in a draft that looks like it will have several top-end quarterback prospects. Bills starter Tyrod Taylor’s future is uncertain beyond this year.
Beane disputed the notion he’s strictly looking ahead to next year.
“This is not a throw-in-the-towel thing at all,” Beane said. “If we were throwing in the towel, I wouldn’t be trying to get that starting receiver back.”
The deals, however, involve more changes to a team with just 28 players who opened training camp on Buffalo’s roster a year ago. The Bills also have just 14 players whom they’ve drafted, not including this year’s six-player class.
Watkins’ future in Buffalo was already in question after the Bills declined to pick up his fifth-year contract option in May. He is entering the final year of his deal. Matthews is also entering the final season of his contract, so the Eagles also faced the possibility of losing him in free agency
Watkins showed glimpses of being a dynamic threat when healthy in three seasons with Buffalo since being selected in the first round of the 2014 draft. He has 153 catches for 2,459 yards and 17 touchdowns in three seasons, but topped 1,000 yards just once, in 2015.
Watkins has been hampered by an assortment of injuries and limited to playing just eight games last year after having surgery to repair a broken left foot. He required a second operation in January.