Inside The Bills

Trade with Rams was set Tues. before draft

When the Bills were on the clock with the eighth overall pick they executed their trade with the Rams in short order. Here’s where you can watch how quickly it happened.

Buffalo GM Buddy Nix tells Buffalobills.com in a the Bills Inside the Draft Room feature that the trade had been set in place two days prior to round one.

“I talked to them about two days before the draft, probably Tuesday and said this is what we’d do and we’ll see what the situation is. You can’t make those before pick time,” said Nix. ”Is their guy going to be there? Is the one we want still be there when we move down? We talked about it and laid the groundwork for it and said we’ll talk again at pick 6 or 7.”

Nix also said he knew that Tavon Austin was the impetus for the deal even though the Rams never told him that was their guy.

Byrd talks with Polamalu, Reed

As the saying goes knowledge is king. Jairus Byrd was given a wealth of football knowledge having a father that played cornerback in the NFL and went to a pair of Pro Bowls as well as an adopted “uncle” in eight-time Pro Bowl cornerback Aeneas Williams. But Byrd is always seeking more knowledge about the game, which is why he routinely texts some of the best safeties in the game.

Byrd has struck up a dialogue with the likes of Pittsburgh All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu and Baltimore perennial Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed.

“I text them and ask them questions,” Byrd told Buffalobills.com. “Sometimes it’s about a common opponent that we’re both facing. It could be about a certain look, a quarterback tendency, anything.”

Byrd, who is the subject of our Bills Focus feature this week, appreciates the feedback from the two veteran safeties.

“They’re both good guys that want to give back to the game and I benefit from that,” said Byrd. “Troy is just so humble that he doesn’t provide a whole lot in the way of details and what he sees. Ed is great. He texts me right back, or he’ll call and break it all down for me. It’s great to have that kind of dialogue with them.”

The Bills free safety, who is currently second in Pro Bowl fan voting behind Reed in the AFC, doesn’t want to miss anything and believes by talking to two safeties that have seen it all he’s less likely to do so.

“I think you want to know what other guys see,” he said. ”Maybe you might be missing something. Maybe they see something else. You’re studying for an opponent and maybe they saw something that you might not have seen. So I definitely talk to different guys.”

How Byrd is approaching free agency

Bills FS Jairus Byrd is entering a free agent year after the season concludes. He’s expressed an interest in re-signing with the Bills, and in a one-on-one conversation with Buffalobills.com this week, he explained what he considers important in deciding his NFL future. It’s part of our Bills Focus feature on the talented free safety.

Obviously money is a primary factor for all free agents, but it’s clear that winning is important to Byrd as well.

“You’ve just got to look at where the team is headed, what’s going on with the situation,” Byrd told Buffalobills.com. ”You’ve got to take in a lot of things. That’s something that when the time comes I have to do.”

Byrd also talks about the possibility of his second Pro Bowl nod as well as getting a feel for opposing quarterbacks and where they’re most likely headed with the football in this week’s edition of Bills Focus.

Sneak peek at New Era Bills hats

The New Era cap company, now the new officially licensed partner of the NFL for all headgear, will be launching their NFL draft line of caps at midnight April 1st in downtown Buffalo at their flagship store at 160 Delaware Ave. with a tailgate party. But you can get a sneak peek of the caps.

New Era gave Buffalobills.com a preview of their draft line of caps as well as the caps that will be worn during training camp by the coaches and players. Check it out.

S Moore takes first poll

With Bills fans playing the role of GM, they’ve shown which safety in this year’s draft pool they believe to be the best fit for Buffalo by texting in votes to 64621 the past 24 hours.

UCLA safety Rahim Moore was the safety with the most votes taking home better than third of the vote (33.33%). Oklahoma’s Quinton Carter was second with just under a quarter of the votes (24.2%).

Bills fans took in the beginning of the draft position previews at the media center of Buffalobills.com with the top 5 safeties profiled in Bills Focus. Every position will have a top 5 preview airing each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. At the end fans have a chance to text in their vote for who they deem the best fit for the Bills.

A new poll begins Wednesday with the top five offensive tackles to be profiled next, viewed by many as a need position for the Bills. Be sure to watch through the end of the position preview for text voting instructions to have your vote heard.

Results of the offensive tackle voting will be posted right here on the Inside the Bills blog on Thursday evening. Remember standard text messaging rates apply.