This year's projected Buffalo Bills starting lineup could have 17 players who were drafted by the team. How does that compare to teams from the pre-free agency era of the late 1980s/early 1990s? A closer look at how clubs used the draft, free agency and trades to build a winner:聽
Former Washington Redskins general manager Bobby Beathard won two Super Bowls with the franchise.
1987听鈭 Washington
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 12 | 7听 | 3听 |
The 1981 draft 鈥 the first of the general manager Bobby Beathard/coach Joe Gibbs partnership 鈥 was a boon with four starters (right tackle Mark May, defensive end Dexter Manley, defensive tackle Darryl Grant and tight end Clint Didier). 鈥 The seven free agents included two members of the 鈥淗ogs鈥 鈥 undrafted center Jeff Bostic (1980) and left tackle Joe Jacoby (1981). 鈥 Wide receiver Art Monk (first round, 1980) isn鈥檛 counted because he missed the Super Bowl (injury). .. Guard Russ Grimm was a back-up in the playoffs, but eventually made the Hall of Fame, along with cornerback Darrell Green (first round, 1983). 鈥 Super Bowl MVP quarterback Doug Williams was acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay in August 1986.
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1988听鈭捖燬an Francisco
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 20听 | 2听 | 听0 |
The only non-drafted players to start in Super Bowl win over Cincinnati were defensive end Jeff Stover and linebacker Jim Fahnhorst. 鈥 This team-building performance should be the gold standard, not just from the era of a longer draft (12 rounds) and pre-unrestricted free agency (started in 1993), but ever. 鈥 The 1986 draft produced eight Super Bowl starters, even though the 49ers did not have a first-round pick. The full list was defensive end Larry Roberts, cornerback Tim McKyer, running back Tom Rathman, receiver John Taylor, defensive end Charles Haley, left tackle Steve Wallace, defensive end Kevin Fagan and cornerback Don Griffin. 鈥 Quarterback Joe Montana was a third-round pick in 1979.
1991听鈭捖燘颈濒濒蝉
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 16 | 4听 | 2听 |
The Bills鈥 second Super Bowl finalist (lost to Washington). 鈥 The scorebook had running back Kenneth Davis starting ahead of Thurman Thomas (infamous lost helmet) but we counted Thomas. 鈥 Four draft picks ended in the Pro Football Hall of Fame 鈥 quarterback Jim Kelly (first round, 1983), defensive end Bruce Smith (first, 1985), receiver Andre Reed (fourth, 1986) and Thomas (second, 1988). 鈥 Linebacker Cornelius Bennett debuted with the Bills after he was traded from Indianapolis. 鈥 The 1987 draft produced five starters from this game (linebacker Shane Conlan, cornerback Nate Odomes, defensive end Leon Seals, tight end Keith McKellar and right tackle Howard Ballard).
Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson and quarterback Troy Aikman won back-to-back Super Bowls over the Buffalo Bills.
1993听鈭 Dallas
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 14听 | 4听 | 4听 |
The Cowboys had three eventual Pro Football Hall of Famers start in the win over the Bills 鈥 receiver Michael Irvin (first round, 1988), quarterback Troy Aikman (first, 1989) and running back Emmitt Smith (first, 1990). 鈥 The 1991 draft produced four starters (receiver Alvin Harper, linebacker Godfrey Miles, right tackle Erik Williams, defensive tackle Leon Lett and cornerback Larry Brown). 鈥 The Cowboys acquired four starters via trade (center John Gesek, defensive tackle Tony Casillas, defensive end Charles Haley and safety Thomas Everett).
1998听鈭 Denver
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | 聽Free agency | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 8听 | 听12 | 听2 |
Notice the change in team-building philosophy in just five years and the introduction of the salary cap in 1994? The Broncos used free agency to build the second of their back-to-back Super Bowl winning teams (beat Atlanta). 鈥 Quarterback John Elway was acquired in a trade with the Colts. 鈥 The free agents (undrafted and veterans) included top receiver Rod Smith, both offensive tackles (Tony Jones/Harry Swayne) and seven defensive starters. 鈥 Three of the eight draft picks reached the Hall of Fame 鈥 safety Steve Atwater (first, 1989), tight end Shannon Sharpe (seventh round, 1990) and running back Terrell Davis (sixth, 1995).
2001聽鈭 New England
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 11听 | 10听 | 0*听 |
Bill Belichick was hired as coach/personnel chief in the 2000 offseason, and 10 starters from this Super Bowl win over the Rams were acquired via free agency. 鈥 In the draft, four first-round picks started 鈥 cornerback Ty Law (1995), safety Tebucky Jones (1998), center Damien Woody (1999) and defensive end Richard Seymour (2001). Law and Seymour made the Hall of Fame. 鈥 Quarterback Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick in 2000.
*One starter, tight end Jermaine Wiggins, was acquired via waivers.
2013听鈭 Seattle
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 13听 | 听7 | 听2 |
The Seahawks hit the bullseye over three drafts (2010-12) with a combined 12 starters in the Super Bowl win over Denver 鈥 three in 2010, five in 2011 and four in 2012. 鈥 The 2010 class was headlined by first-round picks Earl Thomas (safety) and Russell Okung (left tackle) and fifth-round safety Kam Chancellor; the 2011 class by three members of the 鈥淟egion of Boom鈥 in linebacker K.J. Wright (fourth), cornerback Walter Thurmond (fourth) and cornerback Richard Sherman (fifth); and the 2012 class by linebacker Bobby Wagner (second) and quarterback Russell Wilson (third). 鈥 The Bills traded running back Marshawn Lynch to Seattle in 2010.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was drafted in 2017 and has won three Super Bowl titles.
2019听鈭 Kansas City
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 9听 | 10听 | 3 |
The Chiefs beat San Francisco for their first of three Super Bowls in the Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes Era. 鈥 Mahomes was a first-round pick in 2017. 鈥 Only two drafts produced multiple starters in this game 鈥 2016 (second-round defensive tackle Chris Jones and fifth-round receiver Tyreek Hill) and 2017 (Mahomes and second-round defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon). 鈥 The Chiefs hit with trades for defensive end Frank Clark and cornerback Charvarius Ward. 鈥 In Reid鈥檚 first Chiefs draft, they selected left tackle Eric Fisher (first) and tight end Travis Kelce (third). 鈥 Eight of the defensive starters in this game were acquired in free agency or trades.
2024听鈭 Philadelphia
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 13听 | 6听 | 3听 |
The Eagles鈥 Super Bowl win over Kansas City showed how general manager Howie Roseman has hit on the first two rounds of the draft. 鈥 The Eagles had six first- and five second-round picks start in the game. The first-rounders were right tackle Lane Johnson (2013), receiver DeVonta Smith (2021), defensive tackles Jordan Davis (2022) and Jalen Carter (2023), edge Nolan Smith (2023) and cornerback Quinyon Mitchell (2024), and the second-rounders were tight end Dallas Goedert (2018), quarterback Jalen Hurts (2020), left guard Landon Dickerson (2021), center Cam Jurgens (2022) and safety Cooper DeJean (2024). 鈥 Hits as free agents were undrafted safety Reed Blankenship (2022) and 2024 veterans in running back Saquon Barkley and linebacker Zack Baun. The Eagles traded for receiver A.J. Brown (2022).
2025听鈭 Bills (projected)
| 顿谤补蹿迟听 | Free agency聽 | 罢谤补诲别听 |
| 17听 | 5听 | 0听 |
The Bills鈥 projected starting lineup, if cornerback Maxwell Hairston (first round, 2025) wins the spot, will have at least one pick from 2017-25. 鈥 The 2022 draft has four starters 鈥 running back James Cook (second), linebacker Terrel Bernard (third), receiver Khalil Shakir (fifth) and cornerback Christian Benford (sixth). 鈥 Five drafts have two starters 鈥 2017 (left tackle Dion Dawkins and linebacker Matt Milano), 2018 (quarterback Josh Allen and nickel Taron Johnson), 2021 (edge Greg Rousseau and right tackle Spencer Brown), 2023 (tight end Dalton Kincaid and right guard O鈥機yrus Torrence) and 2024 (receiver Keon Coleman and safety Cole Bishop). 鈥 Four first-round picks are starters (Allen, defensive tackle Ed Oliver, Rousseau and Hairston).
