The Bills made their biggest addition to their team in free agency via trade. Stefon Diggs upgrades the Bills offense, but don’t you worry, the Bills aren’t going to neglect their defense and special teams.
In an effort to do both, Buffalo added linebacker AJ Klein. If things pan out well for him in Orchard Park, Bills fans could be hearing his name a lot. So let’s get to know the person behind the mask a bit.
Here are eight things to know about new Bills linebacker AJ Klein:
Carolina connection
A cut-and-paste type of start here for Klein’s background. He has some extensive experience knowing the Bills front office brass from his time with the Panthers.
Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane was part of the front office that made Klein their fifth-round pick in 2013. From there, the 28-year-old would then play in Sean McDermott’s defense. McDermott was Carolina’s defensive coordinator before taking the Buffalo head coaching job. Add Klein to the list of players that appeared in the Super Bowl with the Panthers as well (playing 22% of special teams snaps).
But while with the Panthers, Klein did not see the snaps on defense he was probably hoping for. In his four-year career there, he played in 13, 27, 29, and 33 percentage of defensive snaps per season, respectively. He eventually left for the Saints, where he played in at least 63 percent of defensive snaps in each of his three seasons there.
Klein was stuck behind Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis in Carolina. So it was simply hard to find him some snaps.