NFL Draft: Dee Winters reportedly meets with Buffalo Bills at Senior Bowl

The linebacker position could be a priority for the Buffalo Bills this offseason depending on what happens with Tremaine Edmunds. The team’s starting middle linebacker for the past five years is set to be a free agent and if they can’t agree to a new contract, Buffalo could use the franchise tag or let him leave.

If he does leave, the Buffalo Bills have last year’s third round pick Terrel Bernard but will likely need to add more to the position, either with a veteran or use another draft pick.

One option in the 2023 NFL Draft could be former TCU linebacker Dee Winters, who according to Justin Melo with The Draft Network, said he had an excellent meeting with the Buffalo Bills. Winters also mentioned the Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans.

Is Dee Winters a good fit for the Buffalo Bills’ defense?

The Buffalo Bills typically look for smaller, quicker linebackers that can cover a lot of ground, play sideline to sideline and drop back into pass coverage due to how much they play nickel.

Dee Winters certainly fits that as he began at TCU playing safety before moving to linebacker and had back-to-back seasons with 70+ total tackles. He also showed a great ability to make plays behind the line of scrimmage with 33.5 tackles for a loss, including 14.5 just last season during TCU’s run to the National Championship Game.

The biggest question for the Buffalo Bills is whether or not they believe he can be a direct replacement for Tremaine Edmunds as the team’s MIKE linebacker. He doesn’t have the same size as Edmunds and at the Senior Bowl measured at only 5’11” and 223 pounds.

If Dee Winters is a player that the Buffalo Bills like, they could consider moving Matt Milano inside to replace Edmunds and have Winters play the role that Milano has previously. However, this probably isn’t ideal because of how well Milano played last year and the coaching staff probably doesn’t want to disrupt that.

There is a lot to like in Dee Winters game and he probably would be a good fit for this defense but more of a replacement for Milano than replacing Tremaine Edmunds.