Buffalo Rumblings
On Sunday, the NFL transaction report showed that the Buffalo Bills waived linebacker Baylon Spector with an injury settlement. The move comes after a week of uncertainty for the 2022 seventh-round draft pick.
On Monday, Spector left practice with a calf injury — his third in less than a year. The Bills released the 26 year old on Wednesday, but when no other NFL team claimed him off waivers by Thursday, he reverted back to Buffalo’s Injured Reserve (IR).
In his time in Buffalo, Spector has missed significant time due to injuries. In 2023 he missed two games with a hamstring injury and then sat out the division championship game with a back injury. Last season was more of the same — or worse, if you will. He initially injured his calf in August and missed a couple of preseason games but ultimately was removed from the injury report before the start of the league season.
However, by midseason, it was evident that the calf injury was still an issue. By Week 9, Spector was placed on the Bills’ IR missing the next four games. While he was activated for Week 15’s game — and immediately listed on the team’s game day active roster (something uncharacteristic of head coach Sean McDermott’s regime) —- the rush was likely due to a hamstring injury keeping Matt Milano off the field.
Spector then re-injured his calf (or possibly it was never fully healed to start?) during the Bills’ Week 16 win over the New England Patriots. The injury sent the linebacker back to IR where he remained throughout the postseason.
Despite last season’s calf injuries, Spector had his most productive year as a pro-football player. He played in 11 games (he only appeared in six in 2022 and nine in 2023), starting four of them. He recorded 40 combined tackles (he had just six in each of his first two seasons) along with 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.
Whether Spector’s time in Buffalo is officially over is yet to be determined. Spector can sign with any other NFL team as soon as that team deems him healthy enough to play. Or, he can return to Buffalo — the catch is that he must wait until the length of the injury settlement plus six weeks. Of course, we are not privy to the terms of the settlement between the linebacker and the Bills, so we have no way of knowing when that wait-time may expire.
What do you think? Are the Bills done with Spector? Or is he the new “A.J. Klein” and someone the team will keep bringing back for “one more go”?
