The legal tampering stage opened up at noon today and teams were allowed to reach a deal with free agents in the market. The Buffalo Bills were quiet throughout the day, with their first free agency move was officially re-signing offensive guard Quinton Spain to a three year deal worth $15 million dollars. The Bills are looking to solidify the left side of their line as a contract extension is due for Dion Dawkins.
A lot of names were announced to have reached a deal today with their new teams. Teams like the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns made a splash while others were limited and others made almost none.
The Bills first official free agent signing was announced by Adam Caplan on Twitter on Monday night, who tweeted the signing of linebacker A.J. Klein to a three year deal worth $18 million, and $9.7 million guaranteed.
Former #Saints LB A.J. Klein agreed to terms with the #Bills, source said. 3 years, $18m. $9.7m fully guaranteed.
HC Sean McDermott coached him when he was DC with the #Panthers.
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) March 17, 2020
Klein has spent the last three seasons with the Saints where he served as an excellent player on special teams and built up into a productive player on the defense. He played over 70 percent of snaps last season while recording 69 tackles, 2.5 sacks and one forced fumble.
With the retirement of Lorenzo Alexander, it looks like the Bills have found the replacement to help the linebacker core. While it may not be a big time splash, it solves an immediate need and the linebacker position gets younger.
Also, did we mention the Buffalo-Carolina connection once again? Head coach Sean McDermott was the defensive coordinator of the Panthers when Klein played in Carolina. Connections have been big for the Bills since the arrival of McDermott. The Bills are on the board for free agency and they solve a need that had to be figured out no matter what.
