The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the East Division of the American Football Conference. Founded in 1959 by Ralph Wilson, they were a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL in 1970 following the AFL–NFL merger. The Bills' name is derived from an All-America Football Conference franchise from Buffalo that was in turn named after western frontiersman Buffalo Bill. Since 1973 they have played their home games at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.

The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.

Before the merger agreements in 1966, the AFL directly competed with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues, along with the subsequent drafting of the same player in each draft. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues began holding a multiple round "common draft". Once the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "common draft" simply became the NFL draft. The first AFL draft was held prior to the start of the 1960 season. The first round of the 1960 AFL draft was territorial selections. Each team received a "territorial pick" which allowed them to select a single player within a pre-agreed upon designated region (the team's "territory"). Teams then agreed on the top eight players at each position, who were subsequently assigned to teams by random draw, with each of the eight teams receiving one of those players. This process was repeated until all 53 roster spots were filled. Beginning in the 1961 draft, the AFL, using the same system as the NFL, began to assign picks based on the previous season's standings.

Since the team's first draft, the Bills have selected 68 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in the inaugural AFL draft was Richie Lucas, a quarterback out of Penn State; he was the team's territorial selection. The Bills have held the first overall pick five times, four times in the NFL draft and once in the AFL draft. They selected Ken Rice in 1961, O. J. Simpson in 1969, Walt Patulski in 1972, Tom Cousineau in 1979, and Bruce Smith in 1985. In the most recent draft, held in 2025, the Bills selected Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston.

The Bills did not draft a player in the first round on seven occasions. Five of the team's first-round picks—Joe DeLamielleure, Carl Eller, Jim Kelly, O. J. Simpson, and Bruce Smith—have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame; one of these, Carl Eller, chose not to play for the Bills and joined the NFL instead. The Bills used an additional two first-round picks in the 1960s to select players—Ernie Davis and Mike Dennis—who also chose to sign with the NFL instead.

Player selections

+ Key Symbol Meaning Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame * Selected number one overall Selected number one overall and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

+Buffalo Bills first-round draft picks by season Season Pick Player Position College Notes 1960 Territorial QB Penn State First round was territorial selections 1961 1 * T Auburn 1962 4 HB Syracuse Signed for the NFL's Cleveland Browns instead 1963 4 C Michigan State 1964 5 DE Minnesota Signed for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings instead 1965 8 T Ohio State 1966 8 RB Ole Miss Signed for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams instead 1967 22 S Arizona State 1968 9 WR San Diego State 1969 1 RB USC 1970 5 DT USC 1971 4 WR Arizona State 1972 1 * DE Notre Dame 1973 7 TE Michigan 26 G Michigan State Pick received from Miami Dolphins 1974 18 TE Oklahoma State 1975 19 LB Nebraska 1976 18 DB Oregon 1977 12 DT Oklahoma State Pick received from Detroit Lions. Original pick traded to Cincinnati Bengals. 1978 5 RB Oklahoma State 1979 1 * LB Ohio State Pick received from San Francisco 49ers 5 WR Clemson 1980 16 C N.C. State Moved down draft order in trade with Seattle Seahawks 1981 28 RB Penn State Moved down draft order in trade with Los Angeles Raiders 1982 19 WR Clemson Moved up draft order in trade with Denver Broncos 1983 12 TE Notre Dame 14 QB Miami (FL) Picked received from Cleveland Browns. Signed for the USFL's Houston Gamblers instead. 1984 26 RB Notre Dame Moved down draft order in trade with Miami Dolphins 1985 1 DE Virginia Tech 14 DB Memphis State Pick received from Green Bay Packers 1986 16 RB Iowa Pick received from Cleveland Browns 20 T Vanderbilt Moved up draft order in trade with San Francisco 49ers 1987 8 LB Penn State Moved down draft order in trade with Houston Oilers 1988 Pick traded to Los Angeles Rams 1989 Pick traded to Los Angeles Rams 1990 16 DB Fresno State 1991 26 DB Illinois 1992 27 T Arizona 1993 28 DB North Carolina 1994 27 DB Notre Dame 1995 14 G Pittsburgh 1996 24 WR Mississippi State 1997 23 RB Houston 1998 Pick traded to Jacksonville Jaguars 1999 23 DB Ohio State 2000 26 DE Arizona State 2001 21 DB Ohio State Moved down draft order in trade with Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2002 4 T Texas 2003 23 RB Miami (FL) Pick received from Atlanta Falcons. Original pick traded to New England Patriots. 2004 13 WR Wisconsin 22 QB Tulane Moved up draft order in trade with Dallas Cowboys 2005 Pick traded to Dallas Cowboys 2006 8 S Ohio State 26 DT N.C. State Moved up draft order in trade with Chicago Bears 2007 12 RB California 2008 11 DB Troy 2009 11 DE Penn State 28 C Louisville 2010 9 RB Clemson 2011 3 DT Alabama 2012 10 CB South Carolina 2013 16 QB Florida State Moved down draft order in trade with St. Louis Rams 2014 4 WR Clemson Moved up draft order in trade with Cleveland Browns 2015 Pick traded to Cleveland Browns 2016 19 DE Clemson 2017 27 CB LSU Moved down draft order in trade with Kansas City Chiefs 2018 7 QB Wyoming Moved up draft order in trade with Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 LB Virginia Tech Moved up draft order in trade with Baltimore Ravens 2019 9 DT Houston 2020 Pick traded to Minnesota Vikings 2021 30 DE Miami (FL) 2022 23 CB Florida Moved up draft order in trade with Baltimore Ravens 2023 25 TE Utah Moved up draft order in trade with Jacksonville Jaguars 2024 Moved down draft order in trades with Kansas City Chiefs and Carolina Panthers 2025 30 CB Kentucky 2026 Moved down draft order in trades with Houston Texans, New England Patriots, and Tennessee Titans.

See also History of the Buffalo Bills List of Buffalo Bills seasons

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