{"id":687770,"date":"2026-01-19T02:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/687770\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T02:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:56:19","slug":"bills-may-lose-top-free-agent-after-playoff-heartbreaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/687770\/","title":{"rendered":"Bills May Lose Top Free Agent After Playoff Heartbreaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the heartbreaking loss to the Denver Broncos, the Buffalo Bills may lose top free agent Matt Milano during the offseason. With the loss, the Bills have plenty of key free agents<\/a> on defense that they can\u2019t afford to lose, but Milano might be someone they may be willing to let go. While impending free agent Joey Bosa<\/a> had a huge impact on this Bills defense, nobody should look past Milano, as he could be an intriguing name if a team is looking to sign him on a low-stakes deal. Originally selected in the 2017 NFL Draft, the former fifth-rounder has been a staple in the defense.<\/p>\n

Bills May Lose Top Free Agent Matt Milano After Playoff Heartbreaker<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, injuries have caught up to Milano, so he took a paycut instead of receiving a contract extension during the 2025 offseason. Milano may have lost a step during his career, but he\u2019s still one of the better veteran linebackers in today\u2019s league. He can be considered a hidden gem, given his experience and injury history. Milano isn\u2019t going to sign a blockbuster contract anymore, but a team might offer him a one-year deal at most.<\/p>\n

It may take some time for a team to sign the linebacker. Although he\u2019s been a consistent difference maker when healthy. While that happens, the Bills have plenty of questions they need to answer for their future. It\u2019s been rumored that they could fire head coach Sean McDermott<\/a>, so if that happens, the team letting Milano hit the free agent market makes sense in this situation. Here are three teams that could take a chance on the veteran.<\/p>\n

Next Possible Destinations
\nDallas Cowboys<\/p>\n

After rebuilding the interior defense, the Dallas Cowboys now turn their focus on upgrading the linebacker and its edge rush. While they need to fix the secondary room, the linebacker unit is in dire need of help. The Cowboys traded for Kenneth Murray Jr. and Logan Wilson in attempts to help the pass-rush, but it wasn\u2019t enough. Milano won\u2019t do much to help this defense, but he could sure be an underrated anchor.<\/p>\n

Even though Dallas plans to re-sign Jadeveon Clowney<\/a>, they might not bring back Murray. Milano is arguably the better player in this situation, and he fits into the cap space for the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Washington Commanders<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders are another team that needs to rebuild its defense. After firing Joe Whitt, the team must build a crucial linebacker unit to help Frankie Luvu.<\/a> Bobby Wagner and Von Miller will most likely hit the market in March, so this leaves a major void in Washington\u2019s defense. None of the veterans did enough to give Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota more chances to stay on the field.<\/p>\n

Milano isn\u2019t going to save the Commanders\u2019 defense single-handedly, but he could turn into a reliable captain who can make an impact if he can stay healthy.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers<\/p>\n

While most of the attention will be on offense this upcoming offseason after firing Greg Roman, the Los Angeles Chargers must continue upgrading the defense. They haven\u2019t made any major moves since releasing Joey Bosa. Khalil Mack<\/a> is on the verge of returning, but the Chargers could use the experience from Milano. Los Angeles won\u2019t see much from Milano, but Mack and him in the postseason might be what the Chargers need to sustain themselves to sneak in a win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the heartbreaking loss to the Denver Broncos, the Buffalo Bills may lose top free agent Matt Milano…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[2090,5403,427,436,7,3645,4893,5736,3278,2453,12187,6,855,111,10421,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-687770","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-buffalo-bills-news","9":"tag-chargers-featured","10":"tag-commanders","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys-news","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-frankie-luvu","14":"tag-jadeveon-clowney","15":"tag-joey-bosa","16":"tag-khalil-mack","17":"tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","18":"tag-matt-milano","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-washington","21":"tag-washington-commanders","22":"tag-washington-commanders-news","23":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115919519132802531","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}