The Buffalo Bills made a decision early in the 2014 NFL draft. They wanted a potential franchise cornerstone wide receiver, and despite plenty of those available in a deep draft at the position, general manager Doug Whaley had eyes for only one man: Sammy Watkins.
In the moment a blockbuster draft trade is exhilarating. The possibilities are endless when the trade announcement flashes across tickers at local watering holes, and deep in man dens. But when future picks are exchanged—as they were between the Bills and Cleveland Browns for Watkins—it takes a full year for those selections to go from being mere numbers, to actual football bodies.