NFL writer suggests Bills should trade for veteran LB amid injury troubles

Bleacher Report believes that the Buffalo Bills should pursue Indianapolis Colts defender E.J. Speed amid their wave of injuries at linebacker.

Kyle Silagyi | Sep 18, 2024

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The injury bug has attacked the Buffalo Bills’ linebacker room with particular ferocity to start the 2024 NFL season; former All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano is sidelined for the foreseeable future with a bicep tear while starting middle linebacker Terrel Bernard is set to be out for “about a month” for a pectoral strain. Further complicating matters is the fact that nickel cornerback Taron Johnson, who plays as a quasi-linebacker in the Bills’ defensive scheme, is also injured with a forearm ailment, leaving three glaring holes on the second level of the team’s defense.

Buffalo’s depth options have performed well in spot duty, this a testament to the team’s coaching staff and their ability to get the most out of players when their numbers are called upon. Sean McDermott has praised the physicality with which new starting linebacker duo Dorian Williams and Baylon Spector play, while nickel defender Cam Lewis has played admirably since being asked to take over for Johnson in the slot; that said, one would be forgiven for not having immense confidence in the trio’s ability to man the middle of the team’s defense for an extended stretch.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox feels as though the Bills should look at auxiliary options from outside the organization to wade through the injury waters, identifying Buffalo as a potential trade destination for Indianapolis Colts linebacker E.J. Speed in a recent article for the outlet.

“Speed, who had a breakout 102-tackle campaign last season, is set to be a free agent in 2025,” Knox wrote. “He's a fast, physical, do-it-all linebacker who should draw trade interest even if Indianapolis isn't necessarily selling. Already this season, Speed has recorded 21 tackles and a quarterback hit. He's also allowed an opposing passer rating of just 56.2 in coverage.

“The Buffalo Bills might want to consider Speed after losing linebacker Terrel Bernard to a pectoral injury in Week 2. His absence is expected to be an extended one.”

A sixth-year defender out of Tarleton State, Speed has tallied 233 tackles, seven pass deflections, and six forced fumbles throughout his professional career, the entirety of which has been spent in Indianapolis. He’s been a generally solid, if not unspectacular defender throughout his NFL stint, with missed tackles being a persistent concern; he has a career missed tackle rate of 12.3%, per PFF, missing 19 tackles last season. He’s already missed four tackles through the first two games of the 2024 campaign.

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That said, Speed, as Knox notes, is a physical defender who is generally capable in coverage, which are traits Buffalo’s brass looks for in its linebackers; he has a $5.46 million cap hit this season, so the Bills—who currently have just north of $4 million in salary cap space, per Over the Cap—would have to do some financial finagling to acquire him.

Though looking outside of the organization for a linebacker seems like a realistic scenario for Buffalo given its injuries at the position, the team generally has immense confidence in its depth options and, more often than not, places them in advantageous positions to succeed. McDermott has already stated that Spector will likely start in Bernard’s absence; with both Bernard and Milano expected to return this season, it’s difficult to imagine the team giving up draft capital to bring in a veteran linebacker on an expiring deal.

A Speed acquisition is not necessarily out of the realm of possibilities, but the Buffalo faithful likely shouldn’t bank on it.

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