Bills Seeking Run Defense Boost in Former Chiefs Defender Welcomed for Free-Agent Visit

With the draft in the rearview mirror, Buffalo has gotten back to work in free agency.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Mike Danna (51) celebrates against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The NFL Draft is now in the past, and the Buffalo Bills’ focus has returned to free agency, where the team has brought in former Kansas City Chiefs defender Mike Danna for a visit.

Danna, whose visit was reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, would serve as a potential veteran boost for Buffalo’s defense, particularly in run support, which allowed the fifth-most yards rushing [2,315] in the NFL a year ago. The sixth-year edge defender hasn’t recorded more than 3.5 sacks since 2023, when he finished the year with a career-high 6.5 sacks. But Danna does have a history as a solid run defender.

His performance this past season was rough in both respects, as he played just 42% of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps, the lowest mark since his rookie season in 2020. However, he earned a solid Pro Football Focus run-defense grade of 65.6 in 2024, ranking 48th out of 121 players graded at the position.

In nine career games against the Bills [including playoffs], Danna has registered 19 tackles and five quarterback hits, including a solid performance in the 2024 AFC Championship game, in which he recorded four tackles, a tackle for loss and two QB hits. The veteran EDGE has appeared in at least 13 games in every season of his career, including 15 in 2025.

Where he fits

Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Mike Danna (51) against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

If the Bills eventually sign the 28-year-old, he would fit in as a reliable veteran option behind Greg Rousseau, Bradley Chubb and rookie T.J. Parker, who the Bills drafted with the 35th overall pick in the second round of the ’26 draft. Parker joins 2024 fifth-round pick Javon Solomon and 2025 third-round pick Landon Jackson as just the third edge rusher the Bills have drafted since Rousseau and former second-round bust Boogie Basham in 2021.

The Bills also signed free-agent Michael Hoecht last year before he sustained a season-ending Achilles injury, which may impact his ability to suit up for Buffalo in Week 1. Danna would offer another insurance option, beyond Andre Jones Jr., if Hoecht’s return is delayed.

Signing Danna would also make it appear as if Buffalo may have moved on from the idea of re-signing one, if not both, of its former edge defenders, Joey Bosa and A.J. Epenesa. The two veterans remain free agents as the Bills are set to open rookie minicamp on Friday in Orchard Park.

After Buffalo's group of first-year pros hit the field together for the first time, the Bills’ voluntary offseason training program will resume when veterans return to Western New York on May 18.

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