Buffalo Bills: Signing Darron Lee would be a good move for LB depth
It would be a boost to the depth at linebacker if the Buffalo Bills were to sign Darron Lee.
On Monday, the Buffalo Bills had tryouts with two linebackers, Michael Pinckney and Darron Lee, according to Mike Jones of USA Today. Pinckney is an undrafted free agent who played four years at the University of Miami.
However, the visit by Darron Lee is the more intriguing and would fill more of a need for this defense. Lee is a former first round pick by the New York Jets and started 36 games from 2016 to 2018. During that stretch he had 241 total tackles, four sacks and three interceptions.
Most recently, he spent this past season with the Kansas City Chiefs after the Jets traded him last offseason. However, he saw limited action during their Super Bowl run on defense playing 14% of the defensive snaps but did play 57% of their special teams snaps.
The ability to play special teams is a big selling point for the Buffalo Bills as Lee can contribute in a number of different areas.
The Buffalo Bills under Sean McDermott has tried to find athletic linebackers who has the speed to move sideline to sideline. Lee is 6’1″ and 232 pounds and performed similar to Matt Milano at the NFL Combine with Milano running a 4.67 40-yard dash while Lee finished at 4.47 seconds. The other tests Milano performed better in the bench (24 vs. 17) but Lee finished better in the Broad Jump (133 vs. 126).
The other reason the addition of Darron Lee would make sense for the Buffalo Bills is that they are very limited in experience after their starters of Edmunds, Milano and A.J. Klein. The trio of Tyler Matakevich, Corey Thompson and Vosean Joseph combined have played 286 snaps and one career start on defense.
The team adding a veteran like Darron Lee gives the Buffalo Bills defense some security if they lose a starter at any point during the season. He also is only 25 years old and being a former first round pick there is still the potential that he could develop into the linebacker the Jets envisioned when they selected him 20th overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.
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It remains to be seen if the Buffalo Bills will end up signing him but this is a move that makes sense and addresses some needs at the linebacker position with a high upside addition.