As the Buffalo Bills take stock of how they will go about improving their roster in 2025, first and foremost on Brandon Beane’s checklist is bringing in difference makers for the defense.
We’re still a month away from the start of free agency and more than two months from the draft and I’ve already beaten this horse so much I should be called up on animal cruelty charges. Simply put, in 2024 the Bills really didn’t have anyone on their defense who an opponent pointed to and said, “We gotta watch out for that guy” and that has to change.
One player who used to be that guy for the Bills is linebacker Matt Milano, a 2022 All-Pro who at that point was considered one of the best at his position, a chaos creator against both the run and the pass.
However, since then a broken leg early in 2023 and a torn bicep in training camp 2024 have limited Milano to 12 games counting the postseason since his All-Pro nomination, and with those battle scars, and the fact that he’s turning 30 in March, Milano may no longer be the elite player he once was.
As Beane scours the free agent market and the draft for potential upgrades on defense, the bulk of his work needs to be focused on the defensive line and cornerback, but linebacker could be a sneaky need as well.
Bills linebacker situation as it stands now
Going into 2025, Milano and Terrel Bernard are the likely starters while Dorian Williams will be the primary backup for Milano. Behind them, it’s slim pickings with 2022 seventh-round pick Baylon Spector, 2024 fifth-round pick Edefuan Ulofoshio, and 2024 undrafted free agent Joe Andreessen.
After 2025, the unit could look vastly different because there’s a chance that Milano, Bernard and Spector are playing their final seasons in Buffalo. Beane has some tough choices on the horizon on Milano and Bernard, so planning ahead at linebacker needs to be considered.
Terrel Bernard took a step back in 2024
Bernard, a 2022 third-round pick, is entering the final year of his contract and the Bills have to decide whether to give him an extension before he hits unrestricted free agency. However, with other 2022 picks like running back James Cook, wide receiver Khalil Shakir, and cornerback Christian Benford also eligible for extensions, as well as edge rusher Greg Rousseau, can Beane really get all of them re-signed, and where should Bernard be in the pecking order?
Bernard spent his rookie season as the backup to Tremaine Edmunds, then moved into the starting lineup in 2023 when Edmunds bolted to the Bears in free agency. That year, Bernard made a big splash as he led the Bills in the regular season with 143 tackles, plus made three interceptions, three fumble recoveries and 6.5 sacks, but then got hurt in the playoff victory over the Steelers and he missed the postseason loss to the Chiefs.
Then in 2024, despite being named a captain, Bernard took a big step back on the production front. Part of it was because he missed four games for various reasons, but he slipped to 104 tackles, two picks, one fumble recovery and one sack. Among Buffalo’s full-time starters, he was the lowest graded defender by Pro Football Focus, and one of the lowest among other NFL linebackers.
You can definitely see a world where the Bills allow Bernard to play 2025 and move on. Remember, they had no trouble releasing several captains prior to the 2024 season.
Matt Milano has played a full season just once
That brings us to Milano. He has put together a very nice career considering he was an undersized 2017 fifth-round draft pick who many believed would be nothing more than a core special teamer in the NFL. That prognostication proved wildly inaccurate as Milano began getting opportunities to play defense as a rookie, flashed in the five games he started, and then moved into the lineup full-time in 2018.
Despite a constant spate of injuries – he has had only one season (2021) where he played a full schedule – Milano became one of the best all-around linebackers in the NFL, culminating in his 2022 All-Pro selection when he came up with five turnovers, defended 11 passes and made 99 tackles.
Now, after his two injury-shortened seasons, he currently sits as the fifth-highest paid player on the roster before the Bills start making any moves such as restructures, extensions and new signings.
He is scheduled to count $15.8 million on the cap in 2025 and the Bills can’t logically release him because the dead cap hit is $17.2 million, though doing so with a post-June 1 designation would allow them to spread the cap over two years and they could open up $9.6 million in 2025 cap space.
But the Bills don’t want to give up on Milano. What they hope, and need, is for Milano, in his age 30 season, to return to at least a semblance of the player he was before he went down in 2023. A few weeks ago after he made his debut on Dec. 1 in the snow against the 49ers that was starting to happen. But then he got hurt again (hamstring) and missed the first New England game, and he sat out the second New England game because it was meaningless.
“My heart aches for Matt,” coach Sean McDermott said following the AFC Championship Game loss to the Chiefs, referring to his injury struggles. “And there’s a real mental component to that, also, of him being able to get himself back mentally that, ‘Hey, I can still do this and I can still do it, not just do it, but do it at a high level like Matt Milano used to do.’
“I applaud him for his mental ability and his ability to push through overall, until he found again, a rhythm that I think he said, ‘Hey, you know what, I can do this.’ And you saw that at moments, not as consistent as he once was, but going into the offseason now, not needing another surgery or not having to rehab will be important for him.”
Beane said what Milano accomplished in 2024 was impressive in that by the time he got on the field, it had been 14 months since he played in a game.
“I don’t care what you’re doing, riding a bike, swimming, whatever it is, if you hadn’t done it for 14 months, you’re not just going to hop in there and start, and this is the NFL, the best of the best,” Beane said. “I wouldn’t say that I’m worried about him breaking down. I think it’s something that we’re aware of with age, and sometimes one injury can lead to another injury. I thought Matt was continuing to get better and better.”
Ideally, the Bills get a full season out of both Bernard and Milano as a tandem in 2025, but beyond that, the future is pretty murky at the linebacker position.