Buffalo Bills: Lorenzo Alexander “praying that it’s an easy decision”
By Ryan Brennan
Buffalo Bills’ free agent linebacker Lorenzo Alexander spoke to CBS Sports Insider Jason La Canfora on the upcoming free agency period.
Lorenzo Alexander surprised everyone last season, especially the Buffalo Bills — who signed him as a free agent last offseason. He was added as a special teams player that would also bring depth to the linebacker position.
Not too long after Buffalo drafted Shaq Lawson, it was announced that he would miss the first half of the season while he recovered from right shoulder surgery. This opened the door for several players to step in and make a lasting impression.
Lorenzo Alexander was that player.
Alexander is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but is going to have a longer list of offers to sort through compared to last year. Not only did he play well enough last season to win any team’s interest, but that interest will be even higher with a less-exciting market. There’s going to be a lot of team’s looking for linebackers — even if it’s just for depth — and that will make Lorenzo a hot commodity.
He recently sat down with CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora and spoke about the upcoming decisions he will have to make and how the season he had last year will affect those decisions. As usual, Lorenzo Alexander kept to his humble nature and re-iterated that it will be a decision made when the offers are on the table.
When asked about how his play last season will affect his decision, he replied:
"“The last couple of years I’ve been on the other end of the spectrum, with one or two teams interested, and it’s much easier when it’s like that because the money is pretty much the same and the roles are all the same. So it’s a harder decision when you have a bigger marker. I’m just praying that it’s an easy decision, and it all works out. We’ll see when it comes time to sign.”"
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Turning 34 in July, teams will have to factor in his age when pondering whether he would fit in their scheme. Alexander has a message for those teams that think age will affect his play:
"“I’m a football player,” Alexander said. “I play off the ball as a stack linebacker, and I play on the line of scrimmage as an outside defensive end, and have good film at both positions … I’m excited about what the future brings. I’m a throwback football player. You can’t pigeon hole me, and people have always tried to do that. But every time they do I try to break the mold and show what I can do.”"
Alexander had quite the season to show for it. After leading the league in sacks practically all season long, he finished with tied for third in the NFL with 12.5 sacks. That number is even more incredible when you realize he has only had 9 sacks TOTAL in his 9-year career — entering last season. Now, that number has spiked to 21.5 sacks.
He also added 76 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, one interception, 6 passes defended and 4 stuffs.
When asked why he thinks his ability to find the quarterback was highlighted last season, Alexander said:
"“I think I’ve always had the ability to rush the passer. I don’t think I’m a natural pass rusher, and I’m not a guy with the skill set of Von Miller and Khalil Mack. I need volume, and most guys need volume, because we aren’t as fast as some of those guys and we’ve got to set the tackle up and we go against some pretty good, very athletic tackles. So it takes three quarters sometimes to set a guy up, and this was really my first time to have opportunity to be on the field for that amount of time to do it.”"
Alexander also showed a bit of his versatility last season, as well as his ability to change his role within the defense to better suit what his coaches need — that will win him over with any coach.
After getting off to a hot start in the first 9 games, totaling 10 sacks over that span, he would cool off as the season winded down. In the final 7 games, he only recorded 2.5 sacks. That wasn’t due to lack of production, it was actually do to his role changing. Late in the season, the Buffalo Bills used him more as a stack linebacker.
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He explained a very key concept for any football player — be ready when your name is called.
"“Your role can change drastically from week to week, and within games,” Alexander said. “So you always have to be ready, and I’ve always tried to make sure that I was that guy who the coach could trust if called on to do whatever he had to do for the team. I was taught that a long time ago by coach Gibbs. He told me the best guys don’t always last the longest, it’s the guys you trust who end up sticking around.”"
Lorenzo Alexander seems ready to follow up a Pro Bowl season with another one and I would be very upset if it wasn’t with the Buffalo Bills. Although he has spoken that he would like to stay in Buffalo, this is a business and anything can happen. If he decides to take more money somewhere else, or leaves for any reason, I would respect his decision — he’s earned it.
In my opinion, I think the Bills will bring him back for at least one more season. In Alexander’s words, “we’ll just go into March and figure things out then.”
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Do you think the Buffalo Bills should bring Lorenzo Alexander back this offseason? Leave your thoughts below!