AFC East Notes: Bills, Dolphins, Patriots

Bills

Bills GM Brandon Beane tells the Buffalo News that he was working to trade up to No. 4 overall with the Browns, but they ultimately decided to pass on their offer to move back.

“I probably talked to John Dorsey more than anybody through the process, but we could not come to an agreement on what was fair,” Beane said.

Beane added that he was prepared to trade the Broncos their No. 12, No. 22 and second-round pick to move up to No. 5, but the deal was contingent upon Bradley Chubb being gone.

“John calls me and says, ‘All right, here’s what we’ll do,’” Beane said. “We finalized the deal, but it’s contingent on his guy not being there. . . . I was a little bummed when Elway told me, ‘Hey, this is our guy.’ I felt like what I had to offer John was better than anybody else could offer. I felt like I was bidding against myself, basically.”

Dolphins

• According to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, the Dolphins were prepared to Alabama DB Minkah Fitzpatrick at No. 11 overall when owner Stephen Ross stepped in and implored his team to trade back to acquire more picks and to save money on the first-rounder.
• However, Volin says that the front office was ultimately able to talk Ross out of moving down and were able to get their player.

Patriots

• Mike Reiss of ESPN considers first-round RB Sony Michel, veteran RB Rex Burkhead and RB James White to be “locks” to make the 53-man roster, which means RBs Mike Gillislee, Jeremy Hill, Brandon Bolden, and Ralph Webb will compete for “one or two” spots on the active roster.
• Regarding Gillislee, Reiss mentions that cutting him would not create any dead money against the cap.
• Reiss believes that the Patriots plan to initially try first-round OL Isaiah Wynn at left tackle during offseason practices and see how the competition plays out from there.
• If Wynn is unable to secure the left tackle role, Reiss could see LG Joe Thuney being pushed to the tackle position while Wynn plays guard.