Bills' Matt Milano 'Underappreciated' After Edmunds Exit?
Buffalo Bills linebacker Matt Milano has big shoes to fill heading into his sixth NFL season. And while on the surface this might seem like an outlandish thing to say when talking about a player who is coming off an All-Pro and Pro Bowl season, the departure of Tremaine Edmunds this offseason has left Milano as the only true standalone inside linebacker for the Bills heading into training camp.
As Milano showed last season while partnering with Edmunds, he can play at a high level. But despite this, there is still the sense that he is being overlooked, or as CBS Sports recently wrote, "underappreciated."
"Teammate Tremaine Edmunds just left for lucrative bucks, and while Milano makes a pretty penny as well, he doesn’t get nearly enough league-wide acclaim as a difference-making linebacker for Sean McDermott’s annually feisty defense," CBS Sports writes. "The last three times he’s started at least 15 games, he’s combined for 34 pass deflections and 20 QB hits, affecting the entire field."
While Edmunds signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Chicago Bears in March, Milano received a contract extension to stay in Buffalo. The six-year veteran is locked down for another two seasons, as the Bills will pay him $27 million in guaranteed money.
The extension was anything but handed to him, as Milano is coming off a career year, as evidenced by his accolades. Milano totaled 99 tackles, 12 for a loss, two fumble recoveries, 11 passes defended, three interceptions, and a pick-six while playing in 15 games.
Despite having the best season of his career, Edmunds got much of the praise due to his highlight plays in pass coverage, overshadowing this area as a strength of Milano's. Pro Football Focus gave Milano a grade of 82 for his pass coverage, not far below Edmunds' 88.1.
While the Bills would undoubtedly love to have kept Edmunds and Milano together as their inside backer pairing, the latter can be the standalone backer in Buffalo if last season is any indication.
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