The Buffalo Bills signed LB Christian Kirksey and QB Shane Buechele to the practice squad completing their 16-man practice squad to begin the 2023 season.
Kirksey, who turned 31 on Thursday, was a surprise cut by the Houston Texans this week. He was third on the team with 124 tackles in 17 games last season. He was in Cleveland for six seasons, Green Bay for one and spent the last two in Houston. His career totals: 778 tackles, 16.5 sacks and seven interceptions.
Kirksey spent the last two seasons with the Texans and has previously played for the Packers and Browns. He started all 17 games for the Texans last season and should have a good chance of getting called up to the active roster and getting some playing time in Buffalo.
With Matt Barkley on injured reserve, the Bills have only Kyle Allen behind starting quarterback Josh Allen. Buechele will be the third man in the quarterback room.
Kirksey, a former linebacker for the Texans, has started in 29 games since 2021 and has experience playing both middle linebacker and outside linebacker. He is from St. Louis, MO and is going into his 10th NFL season.
Buechele spent the last two years with the Chiefs, who signed him as an undrafted rookie out of SMU in 2021. He has never appeared in a regular-season game but showed some promise in the preseason this year.
Buechele joins the Bills after spending the last two seasons with the Chiefs. The former SMU QB had a solid preseason showing for KC, throwing for 349 yards and three touchdowns with a 64.4% completion rate in three games.
Kirksey will wear No. 55 and Buechele will wear No. 6.
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