When the NFL’s legal tampering period opened up, it allowed any pending free agent that the Buffalo Bills had to agree to terms with another team. However, the Bills have been a team where they had a great amount of free agents and only a select few agreed to terms with teams.
Fans saw players like Reggie Gilliam, Mitch Trubisky, David Edwards, and Cam Lewis agree to leave Buffalo and join other teams. After them four, there still has been a ton of Bills free agents that have yet to sign anywhere.
Then about two weeks ago, Adam Schefter reported that the Cleveland Browns were going to be signing Bills edge rusher A.J. Epenesa to a one-year deal worth up to $5 million. When the news first initially broke, it was seen as a bit of a steal considering that Epenesa was a solid rotational player in Buffalo. He wasn't anything spectacular, but he did provide some great pass rushes.
Now, things have changed as Daniel Oyefusi, who covers the Browns on ESPN, has reported that the Browns will not be signing Epenesa anymore. Oyefusi said that the Browns “were not comfortable finalizing the deal after his physical.”
The Browns won’t be signing DE A.J. Epenesa as was initially reported, per source. Team wasn’t comfortable finalizing the deal after his physical.
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) March 30, 2026
This is very interesting considering that Epenesa hasn’t missed more than three games in a season for the Bills since 2020. However, he will now not be heading to the Browns and he is back on the free agent market. This news could very well give the Bills an opportunity to bring Epenesa back as quality depth.
Bills have unexpected chance to bring A.J. Epenesa back to Buffalo
Epenesa was drafted by the Bills in the second round in 2020 and was given a second contract in 2024 after back-to-back 6.5 sack seasons in 2022 and 2023. His sack numbers dropped last season but his pressure was noticeable coming off the edge and he was a very solid run-stopper as well.
The Bills have a need at edge rusher, especially as they prepare to go to a 3-4 defense. Even though they need a true starter, they still need depth as well. Epenesa can provide that and give the Bills a little bit of room as they go into the draft next month.
Now granted, if the Bills were looking to bring Epenesa back, it would be interesting to see what they would find with his physical that Cleveland saw that ultimately made them back out of signing him.