Here is Bills Wire’s position-by-position breakdown of the team’s roster, continuing with the linebackers, including the season that was and projecting forward:
Buffalo’s young linebacker duo of Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano give the Bills’ linebacker position group arguably the brightest future among any unit on the team. Edmunds, in his second season as the team’s middle linebacker, was named to his first Pro Bowl. Milano, for his part, has been an all-everything player for the Bills, effectively stuffing the run and playing in coverage. Both players reached the century mark in tackles, with Edmunds registering 115 in total and Milano hitting an even 100.
Lorenzo Alexander was the third linebacker when the team employed a 4-3 system. He added 50 total tackles, two sacks, and nine passes defensed in his final season. The leadership he bestowed upon this team will be the greatest attribute that this team will miss with his retirement.
Julian Stanford, Corey Thompson, and Maurice Alexander provided depth for the unit. However, most of their contributions occurred on special teams. With the league trending toward nickel packages as the base unit, Edmunds and Milano garnered most of the snaps, and they rarely needed to come off the field.
Tyrel Dodson missed the first part of the season due to a suspension for multiple transgressions and then landed on the team’s practice squad. Vosean Joseph missed the entire season due to a shoulder injury.
Cap situation
Buffalo’s linebackers have far exceeded their value, thanks to the rookie wage scale. Edmunds will count approximately $3.4 million against the salary cap, while Milano will constitute a paltry $800,000 on the books. Milano will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2020 season. However, it won’t be surprising when the Bills present an extension to Milano. Edmunds has two years left on his rookie deal, and it’s anticipated that Buffalo will make an extension happen as soon as allowed by the CBA, or the team will flex his fifth-year option as a former first-round pick.
Alexander’s retirement eliminates one player from the fold. Technically, he’s a restricted free agent. However, it’s nice to see a player whose been such a positive member of the organization wrap up his career in an uplifting manner. Along with his leadership, his role as a pass rusher with coverage skills must be replaced.
Thompson has one more year on his deal with a cap hit of $660,000. He will be a restricted free agent after this upcoming season. Joseph enters the second year of his deal with a cap hit of approximately $590,000.
Stanford and Maurice Alexander are unrestricted free agents, but the Bills had huge improvements on special teams this year, and bringing them back could be in the team’s best interest.
The future
Let’s not play games–this unit is all about Edmunds and Milano. Even with projections of future cap hits in excess of $13 million for each player, Buffalo will find a way to get these players into the fold for the long-term. Milano is on pace to become one of the biggest draft steals in the franchise’s history. Edmunds is Buffalo’s answer to Luke Kuechly. The Virginia Tech’s future is insanely bright as a core piece of Buffalo’s defense.
The involvement of a third linebacker is reduced with teams setting on nickel formations as their base defense. Thus, this spot doesn’t carry the weight that it did for decades. Nevertheless, it’s still a spot that needs to be filled with a competent player. Alexander played 48-percent of the team’s defensive snaps. Buffalo will need someone to fill this role. This player could also be someone who has a specialty in rushing the passer. There are many economical players who could fit this role, but the price needs to be right. Someone such as Green Bay’s Kyler Fackrell may be the type of low-budget option to fill this spot on the Bills roster. Or is an in-house option such as Joseph possible? Or via the draft a player such as Application State’s Akeem Davis-Gaither or Michigan State’s Kenny Willekes a rookie solution?
The Bills could also find a stronger option in case Edmunds is to miss any time on the field. It might be a challenge finding an unrestricted free agent who would want to come without the promise of playing time, but that will be Brandon Beane’s task (albeit not a major priority) this offseason.
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