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The Buffalo Bills have seen some big changes at linebacker this offseason, watching Pro Bowler Tremaine Edmunds leave in free agency and using a third-round pick on a potential replacement in Dorian Williams.
One insider said there’s still one more significant move to come. The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia predicted that veteran A.J. Klein would not make the final roster, the most likely loser of the competition to grab a spot alongside Matt Milano.
Veteran Linebacker on Outside of the Roster Bubble in Buffalo
In a position-by-position preview published on May 9, Buscaglia wrote that Milano is the only lock for the Bills at linebacker. While there will be an open competition between Klein, Tyrel Dodson and 2022 third-round pick Terrel Bernard for the other spot, Buscaglia wrote that Klein would be the long shot of the bunch.
“Considering Bernard was a 2022 third-round pick, he’s likely the favorite to win the job, but he’ll compete against Dodson, veteran A.J. Klein and even second-year [Baylon] Spector,” Buscaglia wrote. “Klein was brought back as insurance if neither player emerges, but if Bernard, Dodson or Spector win it outright, Klein seems the likeliest to get cut. With only $100,000 in guaranteed money, they can cut Klein with a minimal cap penalty.”
Klein has become a familiar face in Buffalo, playing with the Bills from 2020-21 and returning midway through last season after stints with the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens. Bills general manager Brandon Beane told the Buffalo News in November that he kept an eye on Klein during the last season, and moved quickly to pick him up after he was waived.
“Tremaine [Edmunds] has missed practice a couple days here with the groin, so (Klein is) a good insurance piece,” Beane said at the time. “You know, he’s stepped in for us before. So another guy, another piece. We’ll see what happens from that standpoint. I don’t know that he’ll play this week, but get him back in the mix and see if he can help us out from a depth standpoint.”
The Bills re-signed the veteran linebacker in April, the team announced.
Klein had also been a key special teams player during his two stints with the Bills, which could give him a boost when competing for a spot on the final roster.
Rookie Linebacker Could Play Big Role for Bills
While Beane said shortly after the draft that the rookie Williams would likely serve as an outside linebacker at first, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote he could eventually serve as a replacement for Edmunds in the middle.
“Watch for third-round linebacker Dorian Williams to make an immediate impact,” Fowler wrote in a story published May 8. “Buffalo needs a starter to replace Tremaine Edmunds. Williams is an explosive player (4.49 speed at 228 pounds) who was considered a late-bloomer at Tulane: He weighed around 190 pounds when he enrolled in 2019.”
There could also be another, more unconventional option — safety Taylor Rapp. Greg Cosell of NFL Films said in an appearance on “One Bills Live” that the versatile Rapp could line up in a hybrid linebacker-safety role when the team plays a bigger version of their nickel defense.
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