PHOENIX -- The Buffalo Bills made a splash in the draft last offseason, landing receiver Sammy Watkins in what became the biggest trade of the first round last May.

Part of the fallout from the trade is that the Bills will have a considerably thinner draft class this spring, and unlike with Watkins last season, general manager Doug Whaley wants to keep the expectations low for his small haul next month.

"The way our team is now -- and maybe I'm just trying to get it out there -- our second-round pick, our third-round pick, they're going to be contributors," Whaley said at the NFL owners meetings Tuesday. "But there's not too many open spots for them to come in and start."

The Bills have an NFL-low two picks in the first 150 selections. The league average is 4.8 selections over that span.

"So when you look at our draft next year like, 'They didn't get anything out of those guys.' Our team is not going to be easy -- especially for the fifth, sixth and seventh round -- not only to make, but to contribute," Whaley explained. "Because we have depth on special-teams guys and we have depth across the board.

"That's good for us because our whole philosophy is to have young guys come in as depth, so two or three years from now -- if we lose free agents -- they've already been in the system, and then you're not counting on them to not have those rookie mistakes."

The Bills will have six selections in April's draft.