NFL Draft 2021: Blockbuster trades that would shake up the first round

Buffalo trades up to draft an edge rusher with the potential to push them to the next level

After making it to the AFC Championship Game this past season, the Buffalo Bills’ goal this offseason was to fix whatever voids were on their roster and make another run towards the Super Bowl next season. So far, the Bills have done a great job putting their roster in a position to reach their goal next season. But the cherry on top that could put them over the edge is one of the top edge rushers in the 2021 NFL Draft class.

At pick 30, Buffalo may not be in a position to land an edge rusher who can contribute right away. Instead, they could have to settle for developmental edge rushers like Penn State’s Jayson Oweh, Washington’s Joe Tryon, or Miami’s Greggory Rousseau who likely will not have a great impact on their roster this year.

The Bills could afford to take a developmental pass rusher with Jerry Hughes, Mario Addison, Efe Obada, and 2020 second-round pick A.J. Epenesa on the roster. But none of them could be trusted to have more than eight sacks for the Bills next season. If Buffalo decided to move up the board for an edge rusher, a player they could target that could make an immediate impact on this roster is Miami’s Jaelan Phillips.

If not for the ankle and concussion issues that Phillips dealt with during his time at UCLA which forced him to medically retire from football, he would far and away be the best pass rusher in this class and would likely be a top 10 pick.

Phillips and Buffalo would be a perfect fit for a couple of reasons. If Phillips can stay healthy and reach his potential he would likely become the Bills primary pass rusher and help generate the pass rusher Buffalo lacked throughout the season that was evident during the AFC Championship Game. But if Phillips struggles to remain healthy early in his career, Buffalo has the depth to allow Phillips to take his time, get healthy, and get on the field when he can.

It is hard to gauge when Phillips is going to get drafted. He has one of the largest ranges of where he could be selected in the entire draft class. If Phillips makes it past Miami (at No. 18), Indianapolis, New York, and Pittsburgh, the Bills should do whatever they can to get ahead of Baltimore at No. 27 to land Phillips because it is unlikely that he is available after that.

There have primarily been two players that have been connected to Jacksonville at pick 25. Those players are TCU safety Trevon Moehrig and Flordia wide receiver Kadarius Toney. The Jaguars could stay put at No. 25 and still get the other one at No. 33. But the Jaguars are in the middle of a rebuild and could look to acquire more draft capital whenever they can in order to load up their team with as much talent as possible. There is a good chance that one if not both Moehrig and Toney would be available for Jacksonville at No. 30 if they moved back.

So why wouldn’t Jacksonville add another third-round pick to move down five spots if they could still get one of their primary targets from pick No. 25? They could use that third-round selection on Clemson offensive lineman Jackson Carman who is a former teammate for projected first overall pick Trevor Lawerence and could serve as depth for both guard and tackle positions.