3 impacts of A.J. Klein re-signing with the Buffalo Bills
By Joe Cook
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.