One thing the Buffalo Bills have lost by winning so much the last five years is position in the NFL draft.

The 2024 NFL Draft, which begins April 25, is no exception. Barring a trade, Buffalo will have the 28th overall pick.

The Bills' 58-24 regular-season record and four consecutive AFC East titles during that five-year span has resulted in a first-round pick no higher than 23rd. That was in 2022, when they chose cornerback Kaiir Elam.

They traded their only first-round pick in 2020 for Stefon Diggs, whom they dealt to Houston earlier this month and who will cost them $31 million in dead cap money next season.

They chose defensive lineman Gregory Rousseau in 2021, and tight end Dalton Kincaid in 2023.

Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane 2024 NFL Draft: 'I'll take any call'

General manager Brandon Beane knows that's the cost of success. He knows he has draft capital with a capital "C." He knows he'll have to give in order to receive a highly coveted wide receiver as he attempts to try to fill the void left by Diggs.

With a draft-high 10 picks at his disposal, Beane won't necessarily have to wait until 28 to make his first pick. Trading up is a strong possibility.

"I'll take any call," Beane said Wednesday during the Bills' predraft media availability. "You know me.

"Next week the phones start ringing all over the place. I don't know if teams in the top 10 are calling us. I wouldn't expect that. But teams in the teens will start calling because maybe they got their eye on a couple guys."

Then Beane threw in this monkey wrench.

"We'll also be looking the other way," he added, meaning the Bills could trade down.

Or the Bills, who haven't drafted a receiver in the first round since then-GM Doug Whaley traded up to pick Sammy Watkins fourth in 2014, could stick with 28.

'You gotta take good football players'

Though they probably won't go to the extreme Beane jokingly suggested recently when he said he was going to pick a receiver in every round, the Bills no doubt have eyes cast on such players to complement quarterback Josh Allen.

But only if those players make sense. If all of their projected first-round receivers are off the board, Beane said he'd select a player from a different position.

“You still gotta take good football players," he said, "And even if we don’t get the player that everyone is looking for in April, it doesn’t mean there’s not other ways to do it.”

Still, receiver is still the top priority for a team that lacked depth even before trading Diggs, who caught 445 passes for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns during four seasons with the Bills. Gabe Davis left for Jacksonville.

Beane added Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins in free agency. Dalton Kincaid is still here. Khalil Shakir, who had 611 receiving yards last season, will be back. But Beane will be on the hunt for more.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bills need a WR but GM says all options open in NFL Draft 2024