Austin served as leverage for the Bills at the 2013 NFL Draft, as the desirable receiver was still for the taking when Buffalo was at bat at No. 8 overall. At that time, the Bills opted to trade back to No. 16 via the St. Louis Rams, who nabbed Austin.
According to Bills general manager Buddy Nix, the "groundwork" for the trade was established many hours before.
“I talked to them about two days before the draft, probably Tuesday and said this is what we’d do and we’ll see what the situation is. You can’t make those before pick time,” Nix said, via BuffaloBills.com. ”Is their guy going to be there? Is the one we want still be there when we move down? We talked about it and laid the groundwork for it and said we’ll talk again at pick 6 or 7.”
The Bills got an extra second-rounder, as well as a seventh, thanks to the first-round swap. Nix said they had even more opportunities to trade back again but opted to take quarterback E.J. Manuel at No. 16.
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