Joining Desmond King as an experienced defender cut by the Texans this week, Christian Kirksey will also resurface in the AFC. After King agreed to terms with the Steelers, Kirksey will head to Buffalo.
The Bills are adding the veteran linebacker to their practice squad, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Buffalo will be Kirksey’s fourth team. With Tremaine Edmunds departing for a lucrative Bears deal in free agency, Kirksey’s experience could be important for the Bills. But they do have several young linebackers in place alongside Matt Milano.
Buffalo kept eight off-ball linebackers on its active roster, a rather high number. Third-round picks Dorian Williams (2023) and Terrel Bernard (2022) and 2022 seventh-rounder Baylon Specter join fifth-year defender Tyrel Dodson, Travin Howard and veterans A.J. Klein and Tyler Matakevich.
Signing with the Texans during Nick Caserio’s first year running the team, Kirksey started 29 games with the rebuilding squad. His presence was a bit out of place on a rebuilding team, but Caserio has preferred to stock the Texans with midlevel veterans on short-term deals during his early years as GM. But Houston added a few linebackers this offseason, including Denzel Perryman, leading the former Browns third-rounder off the roster.
Kirksey, who will turn 31 on Friday, has 94 starts on his resume. The Browns gave him an eight-figure-per-year extension back in 2017 but cut bait in 2020, leading to a Packers one-off. Kirksey profiles as an insurance option for a Bills team set to rely on inexperienced linebackers alongside Milano.
Love this move.