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Buffalo Bills Have Released LB Tony Steward

By Dennis Moody

Nov 12, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall (15) runs in for a touch down in front of Buffalo Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore (24) and Buffalo Bills linebacker Tony Steward (50) in the 2nd half at MetLife Stadium.The Bills defeated the Jets 22-17 Mandatory Credit: William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall (15) runs in for a touch down in front of Buffalo Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore (24) and Buffalo Bills linebacker Tony Steward (50) in the 2nd half at MetLife Stadium.The Bills defeated the Jets 22-17 Mandatory Credit: William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports /
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Buffalo Bills Have Released LB Tony Steward

The Buffalo Bills have released LB Tony Steward according to the team’s website. The news was also confirmed by the below tweet from Steward himself.

In February, Steward lost his terminally ill fiancée, Brittany Burns, to ovarian cancer. Burns passed away at the young age of 26. Steward has shown remarkable perspective focusing on the time they spent together since they met in college rather than dwelling on the awful disease she suffered from.

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Steward is a 6’0″ and 241-pound linebacker according to NFL.com. He was a sixth-round pick for the Bills in the 2015 NFL Draft. He only saw eight defensive snaps in his one season with the team according to Pro Football Focus.

Linebacker was already an area of need for the Bills since it was one of their worst performing units last season and that was before they lost a couple of players this offseason for various reasons. The Bills opted not to extend a tender offer to Ty Powell, free agent Nigel Bradham left Buffalo and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and would be second-year linebacker A.J. Tarpley recently retired from the NFL due to health concerns.

The team did add two linebackers to the roster this offseason in Zach Brown and Lorenzo Alexander but they still need to add more talent in the draft if they want to improve upon last season’s poor play at the position.

The team has shown a ton of interest in linebacker prospects including pre-draft visits from linebackers Su’a Cravens, Leonard Floyd, Darron Lee, Antonio Morrison and Reggie Ragland. Most of these players are projected to go in rounds 1 or 2 so it seems like the Bills front office understands that linebacker might be the team’s most pressing need.

More bills: Is Offensive Tackle The Bills Biggest Draft Need?

For more on some of the other linebackers that might be available to the Bills in the draft check out this article where we explore five of their options.

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