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Sammy Watkins trade irked Marrone
Updated: January 4, 2015, 11:10 AM ET
By Adam Schefter | ESPN
Seeds of discontent were sown in Buffalo last May, when the Bills traded up to land wide receiver Sammy Watkins.
According to sources in the Bills' draft room, former Buffalo head coach Doug Marrone clearly was not happy with the trade.
The Bills surrendered their 2015 first-round pick in order to move up five spots last year to select Sammy Watkins, who had 982 receiving yards and six touchdowns as a rookie.
Marrone was not in favor of Buffalo surrendering a future first-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in a trade that did not involve a quarterback, sources said.
There are different accounts of exactly how unhappy Marrone was, with some sources recalling he stormed out of the room, and other sources simply saying he walked out of the room.
Marrone, who opted out of his contract with the Bills this past week, is scheduled to meet Sunday with the New York Jets, the team many consider to be the favorite to hire him, sources confirmed to ESPN.
After his Jets interview, Marrone is scheduled to meet with the Atlanta Falcons on Monday, according to sources. The Chicago Bears also have been calling Marrone, though they have not yet set up an interview.
The Bills traded the No. 9 overall pick as well as first- and fourth-round picks in 2015 to the Browns in order to move up to the No. 4 pick to select Watkins.
Despite battling various injuries throughout his rookie season, Watkins had 65 catches for 982 yards and six touchdowns while playing all 16 games for the Bills (9-7), who posted a winning record for the first time since 2004.