During the Buffalo Bills playoff drought, they found themselves with high draft picks that could have changed the fortunes of the franchise if they selected the right player. That didn’t happen and was one of the reasons why their playoff drought went on as long as it did.
Looking back at the NFL Drafts over the past two decades these were some players that the Buffalo Bills had the opportunity to draft but ultimately went in another direction.
Which superstars did the Buffalo Bills miss out on in the NFL Draft?
2002 NFL Draft – Ed Reed
In 2002, the Buffalo Bills had the fourth overall pick and just missed out on the Top 2 quarterbacks in that year’s class with David Carr going first overall and Joey Harrington going third to the Detroit Lions.
The Bills would settle on Mike Williams, who was a massive offensive tackle out of the University of Texas at 6’7″ and 337 pounds. However, Williams struggled in the NFL and would spend time at right tackle, left tackle, and guard before being released after four seasons with the Bills. He would only play one more season in the league, in 2009 with Washington where he started eight games.
A better pick that year would have been Ed Reed, who went much later in the first round but would go on to have a Hall of Fame career primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. He would make the Pro Bowl nine times, be named first-team All-Pro on five occasions, and lead the league in interceptions three times.
It probably was too early to draft a safety but for a defense that had Coy Wire and Pierson Prioleau as the starters, it certainly was a need.