The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills have a nice little rivalry going these days, but that’s likely being a bit too kind to the New Yorkers.
Chiefs Kingdom would have to give the Bills some credit for putting some together some tough games and regular-season wins. However, when it counts the most, the Chiefs have owned Buffalo (and the rest of the AFC) with three consecutive Super Bowl appearances and hosting seven consecutive AFC Championships.
As it turns out, the Chiefs’ ownership of the Bills extends to the annual NFL Draft as well.
While there are myriad examples of this, including the Xavier Worthy deal just one year ago, the relevant story for today comes from the 2022 edition.
The Bills needed a cornerback. Badly. They sat at pick No. 25, looking to shore up their secondary. Unfortunately for them, Kansas City also had eyes on a corner and a savvier general manager. Brett Veach, in one of his masterstrokes of that particular draft, traded up to No. 21 and selected Washington’s Trent McDuffie.
That left the Bills scrambling, forced to settle for Florida’s Kaiir Elam at No. 23 after trading up with the Baltimore Ravens.. At the time, Bills fans tried to convince themselves that Elam would be a nice consolation prize. Spoiler alert: He was not.
Since then, McDuffie has blossomed into one of the league’s best cornerbacks, an All-Pro performer who’s already played a crucial role in two Super Bowl victories. Meanwhile, Elam has been…well, let’s just say, less than great. Struggling with injuries and inconsistency, he’s been more of a liability than an asset. On Wednesday, Buffalo finally admitted its mistake, shipping Elam off to the Dallas Cowboys for a return so minor that it only makes waves for how pitiful it is.
The wound will only receive more salt in the near future when Kansas City rewards McDuffie with a lucrative contract extension. At some point, McDuffie will undoubtedly find himself in the team’s Ring of Honor as well.
As for the Bills, the only corner of any use is the one they cry in.
