ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — With the NFL draft now less than a week away, the Buffalo Bills believe the big moves they made in the off-season will give them more freedom when the draft starts next Thursday.

The Bills bolstered a major need with the free agent signings of defensive ends Mario Williams and Mark Anderson. Those two will be counted on to improve the club's ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks.

It should also allow the Bills to consider other needs, such as offensive tackle, cornerback, linebacker or wide receiver early in the draft.

"I think it had a lot of impact on us really. We knew, my wife knew, we didn’t get enough outside pressure and we were pretty good inside," said general manager Buddy Nix. "We had to try to fix that. We were able to do it I think in free agency. Therefore we’re a little freer as far as who we pick."

With the Bills picking 10th overall, there's some talk that the club could trade down and still get a player they like in the 1st round. Nix says the Bills would consider it if the right deal came along, and there's plenty of parity among players in the middle of Round One.

"You probably would say this year’s a little better for that because of there’s more equal guys. You might get the same from 10-20 that you get from 1-10. Now, you don’t know that, but that could probably be the case this year," said Nix.