Mel Kiper Jr. suggests Buffalo Bills trade up to draft Rome Odunze
The Bills, after trading Stefon Diggs to the Texans, are in desperate need of another top receiver. And Mel Kiper, ESPN’s noted draft guru, is giving Buffalo a few names to consider later this month.
But Kiper urged the Bills to not stay out at pick No. 28. Rather, move way on up — to the top 10 of the draft. And if Buffalo can find a trade partner, they can land one of the best receivers in an NFL Draft stocked with elite talent at the position.
He suggested former Washington star Rome Odunze and hinted that the Bills could trade with the Bears at pick No. 9. Chicago is in a unique spot in that the Bears have the top pick (via a trade last year with the Panthers) as well as the ninth.
“If (the Bills) get into that nine spot — remember Julio Jones,” Kiper said Wednesday during a discussion on air with Field Yates. “Atlanta traded way up to get Julio Jones back in the day. It’s always possible. I’d try to go up and get Rome Odunze.”
Yet, if the Bills decided to stick at No. 28, there are nice options because of all the receivers vying to be first rounders. Xavier Worthy, who recently became the fastest player ever to run the 40 at the NFL Combine, could be available at No. 28. While he sports a 4.21-second time in the 40, he also is smaller than the typical NFL receiver. He weighed 165 pounds at the combine. That’s a playing weight he maintained throughout his career with the Texas Longhorns. However, despite his slight size, Kiper dubbed Worthy as a “fear factor” type of player.
“He’s tough, he’s reliable, he’s versatile,” Kiper said of Worthy.
The draft analyst also suggested the Bills take a look at Xavier Legette of South Carolina.
“Big bodied, A.J. Brown-type,” Kiper said, as he described Legette. He “had a whale of a year in South Carolina after being more of a kick returner until this past season when he was the go-to guy.”
And to show how many receivers could be there for the taking, Kiper revealed that he had 27 wideouts with grades “inside of round four.”
Meanwhile, Bills general manager Brandon Beane wouldn’t say whether Diggs requested a trade or what prompted Buffalo to deal their No. 1 receiver. The Texans have been active throughout the early part of the offseason and Houston was on the market for an elite-level wideout. ESPN reported that Houston tried to trade for Keenan Allen, who was then with the Chargers. The Texans offered either a second or third-round pick from the 2025 draft for Allen. Instead, the Chargers traded him to the Bears.
Beane thanked Diggs for four “really good seasons.”
“These moves are never easy,” Beane told reporters. “Very hard. (The trade was) not made overnight or anything like that. But anytime you make a move like this … you’re trying to win, and sometimes people may not see that.
“This is by no means the Bills giving up or trying to take a step back or anything like that. Everything we do, we’re trying to win. And we’re going to continue to do that.”
Beane described the Bills as a “work in progress.”
“And we’re going to continue to work on that,” he said. “I would just hope that people know I’m competitive as hell, and I ain’t giving in,” Beane said. “… [We’ll] be ready to roll when it comes time in September.”