Let's say you bought a house for $400K and you are proud of your new house, but the market value is only $250K. Does that mean you have a bad house? No, of course not. You just overpaid unnecessarily. I am convinced this is what Whaley did last year. He overpaid! This is a short term strategy that usually backfires in the long run. Remember it was Whaley who was instrumental in drafting Manuel. The subsequent trade to draft Watkins was an attempt to save the Manuel selection as being a total waste. His first mistake made him reach for his second mistake.
The Bills justified the trade to provide weapons for EJ Manuel. They could have acquired other WR's to accomplish the same thing and kept their 1st and 4th round picks this year. IMO, they would have received more value taking one of the other WR's available last year and drafting a top offensive lineman in the 1st round this year.
The idea that the trade was made to help Manuel was rejected by the Bills themselves when they benched him for the rest of the season. If your premise is faulty, so will be your conclusion.