On Sunday evening, long-time Buffalo Bills reporter Sal Capaccio reported that a reunion with linebacker A.J. Klein and the team was imminent.
Sure enough on Monday afternoon, the signing was made official. It’s a one-year deal for Klein for what we can assume will be a smaller amount, likely around the $2 million range. It will bring Klein back for his fourth year in Buffalo.
Last off-season, Klein was a cap casualty after his second season of a three-year deal. He bounced around a couple of teams before being claimed off waivers by the Bills in November. With Klein back in town yet again, it has a few impacts on the team.
Impact No. 1: The Buffalo Bills continue to add great depth
Football is all about the next man up, and the Buffalo Bills feature some of the best depth pieces year in and year out. Over the past few years, A.J. Klein has been central in that, and a crucial piece in the linebacker room. He filled in nicely for Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds over the past few seasons.
In three seasons in Buffalo, the 6’1″ 240lbs linebacker has appeared in 37 games, including 16 starts. Klein recorded 110 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. While pass defense isn’t his strong suit, he did okay in it, recording nine passes defended and an interception. For reference, Tremaine Edmunds recorded 14 passes defended over the past three years, as the starter.
Klein is a guy you have confidence in when he has to step in. Not to mention, he’s a very solid special teams player and brings a veteran presence as well.
Impact No. 2: It allows the Buffalo Bills more flexibility in the NFL Draft
The Bills lost their leader of the defense this off-season when the Chicago Bears signed star linebacker Tremaine Edmunds to a record deal. Edmunds inked a four-year $72 million deal, including $50 million guaranteed with an average annual salary of $18 million. The Bills will have a hole in the middle of their defense for the first time in five years.
The obvious choice for replacing Edmunds would be to draft a linebacker early on in next week’s draft. However, the Bills have other areas of need and this doesn’t seem to be a good year to need a linebacker in the draft. The Buffalo Bills have some less experienced options and the re-signing of Klein could help them to avoid reaching for someone.
If the Bills are on the clock at pick 27, and they have a first-round grade on a receiver, or offensive lineman, and a borderline second-round grade on a linebacker, naturally they might opt to reach for the linebacker. With Klein back in the picture, the brass can feel comfortable about taking a risk that the linebacker they passed on, might fall to their second-round pick.
Impact No. 3: It allows the Buffalo Bills to get creative with the linebackers
As reiterated multiple times by head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, the Bills’ replacement for Edmunds could be on the roster already. A hot name-dropped a few times by McDermott is Tyrel Dodson. Although, the most obvious answer seems to be last year’s third-round selection, Terrel Bernard.
The Bills at draft time last year had a minimal need for a linebacker, and it didn’t warrant a third-rounder. With more pressing needs at the time, the pick of Bernard had to have “potential starter,” written all over it. Well, now is the time for that.
Bernard got one start last year and was underwhelming. While it’s not fair to use such a small sample size, Klein was claimed off waivers halfway through the year, as mentioned earlier, to reclaim his number three linebacker role. Now if the Bills don’t want to sink another high-value pick in a linebacker, the re-singing of Klein could allow for a Klein-Bernard platoon in the middle.
Bernard made a name for himself in college with his pass coverage prowess. Klein is at his best defending the run. The Bills could use Klein as the run defender and send him on blitzes and use Bernard as the coverage guy. It would allow Beranrd to continue his development, especially in run defense, and rounding out his game in total. More importantly, the Bills can wait to add a linebacker in the draft and beef up the trenches on both sides of the ball, with premium draft selections.
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