The Bills have a thing for signing free agents before free agency opens. It’s happened in years past and reoccurred again just this week with cornerback Josh Norman’s signing.
It might happen again soon, too.
According to NYUP, the Bills have expressed interest in free agent linebacker Christian Kirksey. The 27-year-old was released by the Browns on Wednesday, so he’s free to sign with any team before the NFL’s free agent market opens on March 18.
Source: #Bills interested in former #Browns LB Christian Kirksey https://t.co/JzcOmhWf3C #BillsMafia
— Ryan Talbot (@RyanTalbotBills) March 11, 2020
Since his recent release, Kirksey has at least one free agent stop on his map, one with the Las Vegas Raiders. There are no reports of a planned visit with the Bills just yet.
Over the past two seasons, Kirksey has struggled to stay healthy, leading to his release. His situation has included ankle and hamstring issues. He only played two games in 2019 thanks to a pectoral injury as well.
Prior to injury, Kirksey had a good run of form. In 2016 and 2017, he was among the Browns’ leading tacklers in both seasons. While the Bills do have Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, they’re certainly in the market for a Lorenzo Alexander replacement as a pass rusher and pass defender. Kirksey could fit that bill. In 73 career games, he has 11.5 sacks and 16 passes defended with 484 tackles.
Interestingly, he has one cheerleader on the Bills already via safety Micah Hyde, his college teammate. Hyde already started a bit of a hype train for the Bills landing Kirksey:
— Micah Hyde (@micah_hyde) March 10, 2020
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