Brandon Beane said he was looking “hardcore” at adding a defensive tackle to the Buffalo Bills’ 53-man roster. He wasn’t kidding.
Less than 24 hours after making the comment, the Bills announced that they had signed Linval Joseph to their 53-man roster. To make room for Joseph, Kaiir Elam was placed on the injured reserve with an ankle injury. Joseph, 35, most recently played with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022.
With Joseph in the fold, here are four things to know about the Bills’ new defensive tackle.
Former 2nd round pick
Joseph was taken with the No. 46 pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He was part of the team that won Super Bowl XLVI. After four seasons in New York, Joseph would go on to play with the Minnesota Vikings (2014-2019), Los Angeles Chargers (2020-2021) and Philadelphia Eagles (2022).
Two-time Pro Bowl selection
Linval hit his stride as a pro during his stint with the Vikings. In back-to-back seasons (2016, 2017), Joseph was named to the Pro Bowl. It was at this time of his career that he played some of the best football of his career as a run stopper.
Not long removed from being considered ‘the NFL’s premier run stopper’
Back in 2017, Pro Football Focus wrote an article about Joseph’s dominance in run defense. After six weeks that season, Joseph led the league with 18 run stops, the highest total among all positions. He also had a run stop percentage of 16.1.
While Joseph is closer to the end of his career than his prime, Buffalo is banking on Joseph being able to stop the run when he’s on the field.
Can stop anyone in their tracks
Joseph will tackle anyone. He proved that at one point in his career when he accidentally took out a FOX Sports sound guy pregame in a matchup against the Cardinals.
