Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
#Bills at #Bears: 7 players to watch during preseason finale:
Here are seven players to watch during the Buffalo Bills’ preseason contest against the Chicago Bears on Saturday at Soldier Field:
5 takeaways from the #Bills’ 27-15 preseason loss to the #Steelers:
Here are five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 27-15 preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers:
Matt Milano much higher rated:
EA Sports is going position-by-position and releasing player ratings for their upcoming NFL video game, Madden 24.
This year’s game will feature Bills quarterback Josh Allen on the cover and we now know how the game rates linebackers in the NFL.
Here are the Madden 24 ratings for every Bills linebacker set to feature in the game:
The huge question to ask of the #Bills defense and more:
The Buffalo Bills are set to open training camp on July 26. Ahead of that, here is Bills Wire’s preview of the team’s linebackers heading into the summer:
Klein is a dark horse candidate to takeover at LB:
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AJ Klein is a dark horse candidate to become the Buffalo Bills’ replacement for Tremaine Edmunds.
Over the past few seasons, Klein has spent time with the Bills backing up both Edmunds and Matt Milano, Buffalo’s two starting linebackers. At one point. Klein earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors in December 2020 while doing just that.
Additionally, he has years of experience playing in Sean McDermott’s defense and the coach has now become Buffalo’s defensive play caller. There’s a level of trust there.
It still feels like more of an uphill battle for Klein, but he’s fine with that. Klein said he re-signed with the Bills this offseason because of two reasons: He’s chasing a Super Bowl and he’s happy to finish his football days off in western New York.
“This is the one place I knew I could come to and win the Super Bowl and be around quality people and quality teammates,” Klein told the Buffalo News. “If this is the end of my journey as far as football goes, I want it to be here in Buffalo.”
While the 31-year-old has factors on his side, others are not. The Bills have invested draft picks in the likes of younger teammates such as Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams. Tyrel Dodson, who has been Edmunds’ main backup more recently, is on the radar too.
In addition, it’s much easier for Buffalo to move Klein’s contract off the roster than the younger players on rookie deals. Per Spotrac, the Bills would save approximately $1 million on the salary cap by letting Klein go.
Even so, he’s going to get a look. After the 2023 draft, general manager Brandon Beane said the door is open.
“We brought in A.J. Klein as a guy who has done it. I know everyone is concerned about it, but we have good guys who are working hard. We’ve got a veteran defense,” Beane said.
The middle linebacker position battle will be the most watched during the team’s 2023 training camp. Bills camp opens on July 26.
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1 #Bills player on the roster bubble at each position on defense:
Ahead of the start of 2023 training camp, here’s one player on the roster bubble to watch from the Buffalo Bills defense:
How the summer will look for the #Bills, post-Tremaine Edmunds:
The Buffalo Bills left the 2023 NFL draft with Dorian Williams as the player selected to replace Tremaine Edmunds’ spot in the linebacker room.
But it’s not as cut and dry as that. Williams might take Edmunds’ chair during meetings, but not his spot on the field.
The third-round rookie is more likely to begin his career in the NFL learning the position Matt Milano plays. That will be the case according to general manager Brandon Beane, who said Williams could line up “outside” early in his Bills tenure,
… So now what?
Status quo from before the draft is back on in Buffalo. The Bills will hold an open competition between the players already in-house.
“There are going to be mistakes. They aren’t going to be Tremaine. He had five years at that spot. He made his mistakes early on too,” Beane said via video conference. “We believe in these guys, and we are going to give them a chance.”
“You have guys on your roster who are backups — until they aren’t,”Beane added.
Of the options the Bills have, there’s up to four that are viable candidates.
At the top are Terrel Bernard and Tyrel Dodson. Bernard was a third-round selection by Buffalo in 2022. Dodson, who has more experience, re-signed via a one-year deal with the Bills this offseason after Edmunds’ departure.
Players with more of an outside chance at the job are Baylon Spector and AJ Klein.
Spector was also drafted last year by the Bills, but in the seventh round. Klein returned to Buffalo once again, re-signing again this offseason like Dodson. He has the most experience of the bunch having appeared in 144 games with 82 starts in his career, but the Bills haven’t always been keen to keep him around.
Once spring workouts and training camp begins to unfold, we’ll start to see a clearer and clearer picture as to who will take that first snap in place of Edmunds in 2023. As of now, it could be anyone’s guess.
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Ahead of the NFL draft, knowing who is entering the final year of their contract is important. Here’s who on the #Bills will be a free agent in 2024:
The 2023 NFL draft is right around the corner. The Buffalo Bills will add new players in positions of need throughout the event.
But the Bills will be looking well beyond just next season. All needs aren’t considered immediate and we’ve seen this before from the Bills.
At last year’s draft, Buffalo selected Georgia running back James Cook with a second-round pick. As talented as Cook is in his own right, Devin Singletary played a part.
The Bills knew Singletary was entering the final year of his contract and understood it might be difficult to re-sign him… and now he’s a member of the Houston Texans.
In terms of the upcoming draft, there are other players currently on the Bills that could fall into the same realm.
Here’s the full list of the team’s 31 upcoming free agents after next season:
#Bills re-sign LB AJ Klein to one-year deal:
AJ Klein is set to return to the Buffalo Bills in 2023.
The team announced that the 31-year-old has re-signed with the team. He inked a new one-year deal.
Klein has spent parts of the past four seasons in Buffalo. The Bills previously released him in a salary cap move last offseason. After jumping over to the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and Baltimore Ravens briefly in 2022, Klein was claimed off waivers in November by Buffalo and returned.
Klein played six games for the Bills last season, with one start.
In the past, he has provided veteran depth behind starting linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano. With Edmunds departing to the Bears, Klein will likely resume that role if Buffalo addresses the position at the upcoming NFL draft.
Klein also played in 52 percent of the Bills’ special teams snaps last season. He has played in 144 career games and started 82, having also played for the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints. In October 2022, Klein was previously named the AFC Defender of the Week during his first stint in Buffalo.
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Stock up, stock down following the #Bills’ win over the #Lions:
Following the Buffalo Bills’ 28-25 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 12, here is Bills Wire’s latest stock report:
