Buffalo Bills pick up fifth-year option for linebacker Tremaine Edmunds
The Buffalo Bills just got through the 2021 NFL Draft where they added eight new players but on Monday they made sure one of their starters remains with the franchise for at least one more year. The team announced they were picking up the fifth-year option for linebacker Tremaine Edmunds which will keep him in Buffalo through the 2022 season.
Edmunds was selected 16th overall in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and stepped in right away as the team’s starting middle linebacker. At 6’5″ and 250 pounds, he is a linebacker that has a unique combination of size and speed that makes him a great fit for Sean McDermott’s defense.
In the three years with the Buffalo Bills, Edmunds has 355 total tackles, 19 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, three interceptions, 24 passes defended, and two forced fumbles. He also is a player who doesn’t leave the field and his snap percentages were 91% of the defensive snaps in 2018, 95% in 2019, and then 85% this past year. This past season, he missed Week 2 after suffering a shoulder injury in the first game of the season against the New York Jets.
In the past two seasons, he has started to make a name for himself as one of the best young linebackers in the NFL and has been named to the Pro Bowl each season.
The combination of Edmunds, along with Matt Milano, gives the Bills coaching staff a lot of flexibility in how they scheme this defense. The speed both linebackers possess allows for them to play more nickel without giving much because of how Edmunds and Milano can move from sideline to sideline.
Grades for every Bills selection in 2021 NFL Draft. dark. Next
The question now becomes whether or not the Buffalo Bills are able to reach a long-term deal with Edmunds. He is a player that has become a key part of this defense and at only 23 years old, he is a player that could be around for a long time.