The defense for the Buffalo Bills featured a great amount of changes this offseason. Ranging from players being released, walking into free agency, and transactions through trading and the NFL Draft, Buffalo’s defense is set to look different for the 2026 season and moving forward.
Edge rushers are a key component to have in Jim Leonhard’s defense, and Buffalo brought in players like Bradley Chubb and T.J. Parker to solve the team’s pass-rushing abilities. They also revamped their secondary with bringing in C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Geno Stone, Dee Alford, and Davison Igbinosun.
Fans should be excited for the additions, but with the switch to a 3-4 defense also required more interior linebackers on the unit and Buffalo did not aggressively attack that position as much as they should have.
The only notable addition that Buffalo made to this unit was Kaleb Elarms-Orr, who fans should be super excited for heading into the 2026 season. While Elarms-Orr could become a special player for the Buffalo, he’s only a rookie, and the likelihood of him making a serious impact right away is slim. Buffalo may now have to wait until next offseason to take care of this issue, and Sayre Bedinger from NFL Spin Zone has the Bills doing that in an early 2027 mock draft.
Bills take care of current roster position of need in 2027 mock draft
In Bedinger’s mock draft, the Bills spend their first round pick on Notre Dame linebacker, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa.
"Buffalo doesn't have a ton of pressing needs right now, but how much are they going to feel the loss of a player like Matt Milano? Dorian Williams is also a projected 2027 free agent as of right now, so it would make some sense for them to load up here again. Viliamu-Asa racked up 48 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks last season for Notre Dame. At 6-foot-3, 239 pounds, he's got the ideal size to play all three downs at the next level." said Bedinger.
Even Elarms-Orr could be a starter soon than later, it doesn’t hurt to have well-needed depth. However, with Terrel Bernard also being on the roster (and receiving a contract extension last offseason), spending a first round pick on Viliamu-Asa wouldn’t make sense unless the Bills are looking for more changes to the defense after 2026.
This pick shows fans that the Bills missed out on adding more quality depth to the position. Maybe they view Elarms-Orr, Dorian Williams, and Terrel Bernard as potential starters. At the same time, they needed to address linebacker more this offseason and now there are a bunch of risks. We will see how it plays out.
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