Buffalo Bills ‘still need to improve’ at position ahead of 2024 NFL season

The linebacker position was one of the few to survive the Buffalo Bills’ offseason spending purge, with the team neither adding nor subtracting any significant players at the position. Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard – who were both excellent when healthy last season – still project as the team’s two starters, with 2023 third-round pick Dorian Williams as the primary depth . Buffalo added external reinforcements in the form of free agents Nicholas Morrow and Deion Jones and rookie Edefuan Ulofoshio, but its linebacking corps remains largely unchanged from last season.

Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder thinks this may be an oversight; In a recent article highlighting a move every NFL team “must make” before the start of the 2024 NFL season, the analyst wrote that the Bills should draft a veteran linebacker to add proven depth at the position .

“At his peak, Matt Milano is an All-Pro caliber player,” Holder wrote. “However, he will turn 30 at the end of July and is coming off a season-ending injury. Additionally, Buffalo let Tyrel Dodson, who filled in well for Milan last fall, enter free agency.

“While the team has some young talent at the position, it feels like the Bills’ Super Bowl window is starting to close, so they would be wise to bring in veteran support like Zach Cunningham or Shaquille Leonard as insurance policy at least.”

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Holder is correct that Buffalo lacks experienced depth at linebacker, as Williams, Ulofoshio and third-year defensive end Baylon Spector are the likely next men up should Milano or Bernard go down injured. Although the experienced Jones is on the roster at this point, the once-dynamic defender is no longer the athlete he once was, and it’s hard to imagine him being a part of the 53-man unit.

The lack of veteran depth is a bit more concerning when you consider Milan’s injury history; he has missed at least one game in all but one of his professional seasons, missing the vast majority of the 2023 campaign after fracturing his right tibia in Week 5. Bernard’s health may also be a question mark; Although he played on 93% of the team’s defensive snaps last season, he suffered an ankle injury in Buffalo’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers (although he pushed to play next week and is likely to fully recover in the future). training camp).

That said, it’s hard to imagine the Bills trusting a free agent linebacker like Zach Cunningham, Shaquille Leonard or Kwon Alexander more than Williams or Spector, who have been in the system for one and two years, respectively (and don’t have not done so). seemed out of place when given opportunities). Although he will likely be recruited as a special teamer, Ulofoshio possesses the agility and touch-to-touch ability that Buffalo values ​​in its linebackers; he likely views the former Washington defender as someone who could step in if necessary.

While a veteran linebacker could add some peace of mind and raise the defense’s floor slightly, players like Cunningham or Leonard probably wouldn’t raise the unit’s ceiling more than Williams, Spector or Ulofoshio. Additionally, we reject Holder’s premise that the Bills’ “Super Bowl window is starting to close”: As long as quarterback Josh Allen is leading the team, Buffalo’s championship window is open .