The countdown of the 30 most important Bills of 2025 continues with linebacker Matt Milano coming in at number 13.
As the Buffalo Bills prepare for the 2025 NFL season, we'll take a look at the most important contributors on their roster. They have a ton of cornerstone players who will be returning for another shot at bringing a Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo, and they'll have help from some new additions as well.
Leading up to the season, we will be counting down the top 30 most important players on the roster. We'll recap their 2024 season, look ahead to what they'll offer in 2025, and tackle the most pressing questions surrounding them this coming year.
Next up on the countdown is Matt Milano.
Background
Position: Linebacker
Age at start of season: 31
Experience: Ninth year
2025 cap hit: $12,188,500
2024 recap
Matt Milano has now had back-to-back seasons where he was forced to miss the majority of the year due to injury. He has logged just nine regular season games over the past two seasons. This past year he returned down the stretch in hopes of ramping up for the playoffs, and although it started out rocky he did play more like his old self down the stretch. In the playoffs (three games), he posted 17 tackles, two sacks, and five QB hits.
2025 outlook
Milano will return to his starting role alongside Terrel Bernard in the middle of the Bills defense. He'll be a trusted veteran leader as a former All-Pro. Last year, Dorian Williams played well in his absence, but instead of taking Milano off the field there may be more looks like with three linebackers for certain situations.
Biggest question: Can he stay healthy for the season?
Ever since he went down in Week 5 of 2023 with a fractured leg, it's been a major effort just to get back on the field. After fighting back to health ahead of the 2024 season, he ended up tearing his bicep before the season started. He's now had two major injuries and will turn 31 ahead of the 2025 season. He has still showed that he has some juice left. It's just a matter of if he can stay on the field to show that he's got more left in the tank. Prior to 2023, he gave the Bills double-digit games played for the first seven years of his career. If he can get back to that, the Bills will be very happy and will have a proven performer in the middle of their defense.
30 Most Important Bills of 2025
Check back as we continue to countdown on our list of the 30 most important Bills ahead of the 2025 season.
No. 30 DT T.J. Sanders, No. 29 LB Dorian Williams, No. 28 DT Larry Ogunjobi, No. 27 Alec Anderson, No. 26 DE A.J. Epenesa, No. 25 DT DaQuan Jones, No. 24 TE Dawson Knox, No. 23 WR Elijah Moore, No. 22 WR Joshua Palmer, No. 21 S Cole Bishop, No. 20 K Tyler Bass, No. 19 WR Keon Coleman.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Previewing 30 most important 2025 Bills players including Matt Milano
Category: Football