THE MILANO FILE
Team: Buffalo Bills
Position: Linebacker
Height: 6-4
Weight: 230
40 time: 4.67
College: Boston College
Draft: Fifth round, 163rd pick, 2017
Contract: Signed a two-year, extension, 2023
WAG: Single
Children: None
Record/Accomplishments:
First-team All-Pro, 2022
This is about as improbable as it gets.
In an era when the linebacker position has been devalued like a rotary phone, old-school Matt Milano has thrived.
A fifth-round pick in the 2017 Draft, Milano’s chances of just sticking with the Buffalo Bills were slim. But he kept bringing the pain every day in practice, every play in the preseason of 2017 and there he was, still on Buffalo’s roster after the final cuts.
He’s still there, betting better with every play, every game, every season.
He didn’t receive his first All-Pro recognition until the 2022 season. After that the Bills rewarded him with a two-year extension work $14 million per season. The deal is on top of an extension that would have kept Milano in Buffalo till 2024. Now he’s a member of the Bills Mafia through 2026.
Milano played at Boston College, a fine university with a competitive football program but it doesn’t walk with the likes of Alabama or Ohio State. In fact, Milano only received All-ACC honorable mention after his senior season.
But that’s only stuff on paper. Milano’s ability to diagnosis plays and hit like a Mike Ditka nephew got him in the league and it’s keeping him there. His sixth season with the Bills was his best – 99 tackles, one and one-half sacks, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and his first career touchdown.
Some say Milano is a throwback. Fine. He’s more than content to do his job – play after play, day after day, game after game, season after the season. That’s what got him to Buffalo and he knows that’s what will keep him there.