Bills 'still need to make' move at this position ahead of 2024 NFL season

One outlet feels as though the Buffalo Bills need to add a veteran linebacker before the 2024 NFL season commences.

Sep 11, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Buffalo Bills linebacker Matt Milano (58) reacts after his interception with linebacker Terrel Bernard (43) during the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The linebacker position was one of the few to survive the Buffalo Bills' offseason spending purge, with the team not adding or subtracting any significant players at the position. Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard—who were both stellar, when healthy, last season—still project as the team’s two starters, with 2023 third-round draft pick Dorian Williams serving as their primary depth. Buffalo did add external reinforcements in the form of free agents Nicholas Morrow and Deion Jones and rookie Edefuan Ulofoshio, but its linebacker corps remains largely unchanged from last season.

Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder thinks that this may be an oversight; in a recent article highlighting one move that each NFL team "needs to make" before the start of the 2024 NFL season, the analyst wrote that the Bills should sign a veteran linebacker to add proven depth at the position.

“At his peak, Matt Milano is an All-Pro caliber player,” Holder wrote. “However, he turns 30 at the end of July and is coming off a season-ending injury. Also, Buffalo let Tyrel Dodson, who filled in well for Milano last fall, walk in free agency.

“While the roster does have some young talent at the position, it feels like the Bills' Super Bowl window is starting to close, so they'd be wise to bring in a veteran backer like Zach Cunningham or Shaquille Leonard as an insurance policy at the least.”

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Holder is correct in his assessment that Buffalo lacks experienced depth at linebacker, as Williams, Ulofoshio, and third-year defender Baylon Spector are the likely next-men-up if either Milano or Bernard were to go down with injury. While the experienced Jones is on the roster at this juncture, the once-dynamic defender is not the athlete he once was, and it’s difficult to envision him making the 53-man unit.

The lack of veteran depth is a bit more concerning when one considers Milano’s injury history; he’s missed at least one game in all but one of his professional seasons, missing the vast majority of the 2023 campaign after fracturing his right tibia in Week 5. Bernard’s health may be a bit of a question mark, as well; though he played on 93% of the team’s defensive snaps last season, he was carted off with an ankle injury in Buffalo’s Wild-Card Round win over the Pittsburgh Steelers (though he did push to play the next week and will likely be fully recovered come training camp).

That said, it’s difficult to envision the Bills trusting a free agent linebacker like Zach Cunningham, Shaquille Leonard, or Kwon Alexander more than they trust Williams or Spector, who have been in the system for one and two years, respectively (and haven’t looked out of place when afforded opportunities). Though likely drafted as a special teamer, Ulofoshio possesses the ranginess and sideline-to-sideline ability that Buffalo values in its linebackers; it likely views the former Washington defender as someone who could step in if needed.

While a veteran linebacker could add peace of mind and may marginally raise the floor of the defense, the likes of Cunningham or Leonard likely wouldn’t raise the ceiling of the unit more than Williams, Spector, or Ulofoshio. Additionally, we reject Holder’s premise that the Bills’  “Super Bowl window is starting to close”—as long as quarterback Josh Allen is at the helm of the team, Buffalo’s championship window is open.