Bills’ Tremaine Edmunds looking to surpass these NFL greats
Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane drafted LB Tremaine Edmunds in 2018 to be the “quarterback-of-the-defense”, the play caller and leader on the defensive side of the ball.
Now Edmunds has hit free agency for the first time and is expected to fetch a solid new contract, having logged 100 or more tackles each season since first entering the league.
Despite having one of the best seasons of his young career during the Bills 2022 campaign, he’s also looking to take the next step at his position in addition to a new deal.
“I think as far as taking that next step, it’s understanding little stuff,” he said earlier this month via FOX Sports. “That’s gonna make me be able to do [things like] call out stuff to let this person know. We’re all playing as one out there. I’ve been able to be a part of good defenses, and that’s what it started with. I think the next step is just learning those types of things.”
Edmunds’s progression has been a slow burn, he has reached a point where he’s both played to good results yet still has a high ceiling with plenty of room to continue to develop and grow as a player.
With opportunities to help improve the team’s run defense, and pass rush, and to become the lead communicator in getting the defense ready and adjusted as needed on each play.
“You’d look at guys like Ray Lewis, guys like Luke Kuechly that did it at a high level,” Edmunds said. “We play that position to strive to be like these guys, if not better than these guys. That’s just a true competitor’s mindset.”
The Bills linebacker has said he will “let the process take shape” in terms of his free agency while spending the offseason with family while splitting time between the film and weight rooms.
“I look at that stuff and try to add little pebbles on my way. It’s like a treasure hunt,” he noted. “You just add the little things from everybody and put it into your basket to ultimately come out as a whole,” he added.
“I’m a student of the game. I love the game so much. [There] are definitely tips that you can take from the type of leader Lewis was [and] the type of player Luke Kuechly was as far as like calling.”
Kuechly had success in Bills head coach Sean McDermott’s system while he was the defensive coordinator in Carolina with the Panthers, becoming a seven-time Pro Bowler.
The coach even set up a meeting between Kuechly and Edmunds to provide the young LB with mentorship at the position from an NFL great whose had success in the same role.
“I’ve had the pleasure of talking with [Kuechly] and just sitting down and talking ball,” Edmunds said. “And some of those things, man, you just can’t — like it’s just rare respect. Just getting game from him, that’s something that money can’t pay for.”
