The second day of the 2026 NFL Draft represented the first real action for the Buffalo Bills in the annual selection process. After trading down three separate times to eventually land out of Round 1 to stop at pick three overall in Round 2, the Bills sent Shane Conlan with a card to the podium.
With that pick, president of football operations/general manager Brandon Beane had selected edge rusher T.J. Parker out of Clemson. Parker will arrive at One Bills Drive with plenty of talent and potential,
but a sizeable work load to grow into the three-down player Beane envisions.
What else did Beane have to say late on Friday of draft weekend?
Bills prioritized draft capital/flexibility early in 2026 NFL Draft
Co-owner Terry Pegula heightened the already palpable sense of urgency when he dismissed long-tenured head coach Sean McDermott after yet another early playoff loss, and Beane was asked what went into the front office’s decision to move back as they did on day one. It came down the team’s desire to retain and add draft capital to increase their flexibility throughout the draft.
Beane noted that each year the Bills try to remain true to their big board, and that as a group of decision makers, they didn’t have a “heavy number of first-round grades” on prospects in the 2026 draft class. With that, it’s perceived One Bills Drive didn’t feel comfortable selecting anyone in Round 1, instead with their board’s value landing on Round 2 grades:
“Once we saw the last player come off our board that we had a first-round grade on, you know, we started being more aggressive with the calls.”
While we can’t know for sure who the last prospect was that Buffalo had a first-round grade on, it’s worth noting that wide receiver KC Concepcion was the team’s only top-30 pre-draft visitor who held a consistent first-round grade. Concepcion was selected two slots before the Bills’ pick at 26. Still, Beane wasn’t comfortable trading up in Round 1 when weighing the cost-benefit analysis:
“We had so many of these… you know, what I think are available spots that we need to fill depth, youth — add some youth to various spots to this roster. We kinda went in saying ‘even if a guy fell close to us’ that we were like, ‘man, I can’t believe this guy’s here’ — we wouldn’t… we wouldn’t want to lose too much of that ammo.”
T.J Parker was No. 1 on Bills’ big board
When it came to making their first selection, wide receiver wasn’t even the go-to, and we learned quickly that defense was going to rule Buffalo’s evening. Beane was asked what made Parker stand out for them at pick 35, to which he offered the following in noting the variety of EDGE talent:
“I would say T.J. is a three-down player. His sack production a year ago was 11, 11 and a half — can’t remember — uh, sacks this year, not as many. But you’ve seen — you saw enough from him. You know, we did a long study of a lot of these guys of two years versus just the one year. Some guys were better this year, some guys were better the previous year. We also — a guy like him had a really good week at the Senior Bowl. So we, we try to weigh it all. But it’s, it’s some close discussions, but you saw a run on those guys today. You know, all those guys were in a similar vein, and that gave us the confidence to move back here. When I went home last night, I felt confident we were gonna add, um, some type of rusher, whether it was a three-down, whether it was a DPR type, and T.J. was the guy, you know, we had number one if it, if it fell that way.”
Beane pointed to Parker’s maturity and he felt the team had a good handle on who he is as a prospect and what he’d bring to Buffalo’s defense and the team overall. “He comes from a military family, so you know, seems like he was raised the right way. We, you know, have a scout here in Keith Jennings that played at Clemson, knows the Clemson family pretty well; pretty good insight into this guy’s daily routine, daily work habits, and really felt like we knew this young man.”
Bills placed premium on CB, Davison Igbinosun’s skill set
Bills reporter Sal Capaccio quickly asked Beane to pivot to the team’s second pick of the night, cornerback Davison Igbinosun out of Ohio State, who Buffalo moved up for to select at the end of Round 2 with pick 62 overall. Beane was asked what Igbinosun brings to the cornerback room when compared against starting boundary cornerbacks Christian Benford and (presumably) Maxwell Hairston.
“Yeah this guy, uh IGB, because he’s got a tougher name to say. Um, obviously played… major competition at Ohio State. He really, you know, a year ago did have some penalties, but this year really cleaned it up. He’s big, he’s long. You know, if you look at our two, you know, kinda penciled in starters of Benford and Max right now. Those are two different skill sets. I think this is a third skill set: a big, long — the best thing he does is press. Some guys are man match, some guys are best in off. I think he gives us another added skill set. He started a lot of games, you know, in major college football. He is wired the right way. We brought him — I went to his pro day and just I wanted to watch his movement, his off the ball, you know, movement versus just, just press because he did so much press at Ohio State. And you know, he checked the box and, and the multitude of people that I talked to there just raved about his football character, his competitiveness, his love of ball, great teammate. And we found that out here start — you know, Jordan Hancock, you know is close with him, raved about him, and so those guys hung out when he came in for a 30 visit as well. So he kinda passed all the tests for us, and you know corner is a, is a premium position. You can’t have enough of those guys, and so right now with, you know, Tre’Davious being a free agent, um, with Dorian’s (Strong) uncertainty at this point — we’re hopeful — but, you know, we have to prepare right now, you know, with what we’re working with, and this adds another guy. You saw the depth of our corners tested last year through injury. And so, um, you want to make sure as the season goes along, if injury strikes that you got enough guys, even if they’re not starters. So this is a depth player that’ll come in and compete. He’ll push, you know, our starters in time and, you know, we’ll kind of take it one day at a time.”
Beane was asked how Igbinosun took those conversations about coming in as a depth corner, and noted that those conversations haven’t happened but, like any other rookie, he has to come in and earn a starting role after learning the team and its system. In pointing out where Igbinosun needs to focus on improving, Beane mentioned that “off coverage is something he’ll have to continue to improve on, specifically as it relates to drawing penalties.
Beane further mentioned his concern for who would have lined up to play third cornerback (in DIME looks) before they selected Igbinosun. So while Buffalo selecting Igbinosun may have come as a massive surprise to most outsiders (especially not having knowledge of their pre-draft interactions with him), Beane saw his role as a premium need for the team. To that end, Beane said “I can tell you this, if there’s another good corner tomorrow, we’ll take him.”
Parker, Igbinosun stood out as “Bills Blue” prospects
It’s clear that Beane and the front office see Parker and Igbinosun as “Bills Blue” players. That’s the highest-regarded prospect on the team’s big board, where as Beane notes they’re “guys that have all the — they can be a seventh rounder, a first rounder, but they have all the intangibles; great teammate. They’re gonna work hard, they’re gonna do everything they can to achieve whatever the good Lord gave ‘em.”
Beane also mentioned that the Bills have “probably more available spots on defense than we do on offense,” which speaks to new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard’s intent to remake the unit into a 3-4 base attacking system. With their picks in Round 2, many want to know if these are players who are prime candidates to suit up and play in games during their rookie season. Beane smartly addressed the elephant in the room, noting that they will continue looking to answer:
“How does the guy make your roster? And if you feel good he makes your roster: Now does he get a jersey on game day? How does he — does he have fourth-down value if he’s not gonna be a starter?”
Limited roster spots; trades could be part of formula on Day 3
Beane did reveal that the team spent more time trying to figure out how and where the team’s current defensive ends/edge rushers fit into a 3-4 system at linebacker. Additionally, Beane quickly discussed how their outlook and marching orders at safety have changed a little bit under Leonhard and how he intends to utilize them as compared to the prior system under McDermott.
When asked about wide receiver, Beane pointed out that the team views the trade for DJ Moore as though they drafted him in the second round (thanks to pick given up to land him). He also said that with the numbers in the wide receivers room (which also includes Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Jordan Palmer, Mecole Hardman Jr. and Tyrell Shavers), where and how any player added to the fold in the draft is top of mind.
As such, it’s possible that the team simply sees the wide receivers room as too crowded to force the issue with another draft pick in a premium spot — with Beane again stating of the room: “How do they get a jersey? What’s their role? You know, all those factors as we move down the line of the board of receiver.” Beane also again said that “(i)f it’s the best player, though, we’ll definitely take (him) and throw them in the mix and let it shake, you know, shake out how it does.”
The Bills only have so many open roster spaces, and they still have seven total picks let to utilize between Rounds 4 and 7. Beane looks at Day 3 as though the team has five substantial draft picks, with two seventh-round selections that they leverage as priority undrafted free agent signings where they don’t have to fight to add someone after draft finishes.
Again, we understand that Beane values draft capital, that those assets allow him to maneuver up and down the draft board in any round based on how the chips fall in or out of favor compared against their big board. With that, it’s reasonable to expect anything’s possible with the Bills during Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
