Re-grading the Buffalo Bills top free agent signings from 2020
Buffalo Bills. A.J. KLEIN. C+. .
Free Agent Contract: 3 years, $18 million
A.J. Klein had some of his best seasons in the NFL playing in Sean McDermott’s defense with the Carolina Panthers. He did leave to play a few seasons with the New Orleans Saints, where he played from 2017-2019 but in 2020 signed a three-year deal to play for the Buffalo Bills.
During his time with the Panthers, Klein was the primary backup to Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis and due to injuries would start 21 games over his final three seasons in Carolina.
With the Buffalo Bills, he played a similar role as the backup to both Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano and actually started 11 games in his first season with the team. This was due to Milano dealing with a number of injuries and Klein had some big games for this defense, and was even named AFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 12 that season.
With Matt Milano being healthy all of this past season, Klein’s playing time did significantly diminish. However, he would get on the field occasionally as the third linebacker when the Bills would shift from their typical nickel defense to the standard 4-3.
The Bills did release Klein this offseason for salary cap reasons but in the end this was a good move for Brandon Beane because the veteran linebacker met expectations and did exactly what the team would have hoped.