Matt Milano
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Matthew Vincent Milano (born July 28, 1994) is an
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
for the Buffalo Bills of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He played college football at Boston College.


College career

Milano attended and played college football at Boston College under head coach Steve Addazio.


Collegiate statistics


Professional career

The Buffalo Bills selected Milano in the fifth round (163rd overall) of the
2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...
. The pick used to draft him was given by the New England Patriots as compensation for the Patriots signing restricted free agent running back
Mike Gillislee Michael B. Gillislee Jr. (born November 1, 1990) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the University of Florida. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years G ...
. He was the first of two linebackers Buffalo selected, along with Boise State's Tanner Vallejo.


2017

On May 11, 2017, the Buffalo Bills signed Milano to a four-year, $2.66 million contract that included a signing bonus of $261,506. Throughout training camp, Milano competed against veterans Ramon Humber and
Gerald Hodges Gerald Davon Hodges Jr. (born January 17, 1991) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Penn State. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round, 120th overall, of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years ...
for the job as the starting weak side linebacker. Head coach Sean McDermott named Milano the backup weakside linebacker behind Humber to begin the regular season. On October 8, 2017, Milano earned his first career start and recorded four combined tackles during a 20–16 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals. He earned the start in place of strongside linebacker Ramon Humber, who was ruled inactive due to a broken hand suffered the previous week. On October 22, 2017, he had an impressive performance in his second consecutive start, making five combined tackles, two tackles for a loss, a pass deflection, and recorded his first career interception in the Bills' 30–27 victory over the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
. His first career interception was off a pass attempt by
Jameis Winston Jameis Lanaed Winston ( ; born January 6, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State, where he became the youngest player to win the He ...
and he returned it 15 yards and received the game ball from head coach
Sean McDermott Sean Michael McDermott (born March 21, 1974) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL coaching career as an assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001, ...
. In Week 8, Milano collected four combined tackles and scored his first career touchdown in the 34–14 win against the Oakland Raiders. In the second quarter of that game, cornerback Leonard Johnson forced a fumble by Raiders' running back
DeAndré Washington DeAndré Washington (born February 22, 1993) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Texas Tech, and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Early years Washington atten ...
, that was recovered by Milano and returned 40 yards for a touchdown. The following week, Humber resumed his starting role at weakside linebacker and Milano returned to a reserve role. On December 10, 2017, Milano was named the starting weakside linebacker over Humber and recorded a season-high 11 combined tackles in a 13–7 victory against the Indianapolis Colts. The next day, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier stated Milano would remain the starting weakside linebacker barring any unforeseen circumstances. During a Week 17 matchup at the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
, Milano recorded six combined tackles, but ultimately left the 22–16 victory after suffering a hamstring injury. He was listed as inactive and missed the Buffalo Bills 10–3 AFC Wildcard loss at the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...
. Milano finished his rookie season with 49 combined tackles (32 solo), two pass deflections, one interception, and a fumble recovery in 16 games and five starts.
Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...
gave Milano an overall grade of 72.2 for 2017. It ranked 41st among all qualifying linebackers and third among all rookie linebackers, behind
Reuben Foster Reuben Foster (born April 4, 1994) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. A consensus All-American in high school, Foster was regarded as the best linebacker prospect of his class before committing to Alabama, where he played ...
(90.7) and
Zach Cunningham Zachary Daniel Cunningham (born December 2, 1994) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Vanderbilt and was selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans. He also played ...
(80.6).


2018

In Week 3, Milano recorded a sack, an interception, a fumble recovery, two passes defensed and eight tackles in a 27–6 win over the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
, earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week. In Week 14, Milano suffered a broken fibula and underwent season-ending surgery. He was placed on injured reserve on December 11, 2018. Milano finished his second professional season with 78 combined tackles, 1 sack, and 3 interceptions.


2019

Milano returned from injury, recording a career high 100 combined tackles along with 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble in 15 starts. As Buffalo also returned to the playoffs, the team faced the Houston Texans in the wild card round. Milano had a game-high 12 tackles, but as the game went into overtime, Milano and Bills safety Siran Neal failed to sack Texans quarterback
Deshaun Watson Derrick Deshaun Watson (born September 14, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson, where he led the team to a national championship in 2 ...
, who spun out of the tackle attempt and completed a pass which set up Houston's game-winning field goal, sealing a 22–19 Bills loss.


2020

In Week 1 against the New York Jets, Milano recorded his first interception of the season during the 27–17 win. He was placed on injured reserve on November 7, 2020, after dealing with a pectoral injury since Week 4. He was activated on December 7.


2021

On March 11, 2021, Milano signed a four-year, $44 million contract extension with the Bills. He recorded his first sack of the season in Buffalo's week two 35–0 victory over the Miami Dolphins. He would record a season-high nine tackles in week ten during a 45–17 win over the New York Jets. Milano finished the season with 86 total tackles, three sacks, a career-high 15 tackles for a loss and five passes defended, as Buffalo finished the season 11–6 and won the AFC East for the second consecutive season.


2022

In Week 2 against the
Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...
, Milano recorded an interception off of
Ryan Tannehill Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, an ...
and returned it 43 yards for a touchdown in the 41–7 win. In Week 11, he had 12 tackles, three for a loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery in a 31–23 win over the Browns, earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week. He had an outstanding performance in Buffalo's two playoff games at the end of the season, racking up a total of 20 combined tackles and 3 sacks. Milano was named to the
2023 Pro Bowl Games The 2023 Pro Bowl Games will be the National Football League's all-star game for the 2022 NFL season. For the first time, the event will consist of skills competitions and a non-contact flag football game, rather than holding an actual tackle footb ...
after Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt forwent the games due to injury.


2023

On March 12, 2023, Milano signed a two-year contract extension with the Buffalo Bills, keeping him under contract through the 2026 season.


NFL career statistics


Regular season


Postseason


References


External links

*
Boston College Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milano, Matt 1994 births Living people American football linebackers Boston College Eagles football players Buffalo Bills players Players of American football from Orlando, Florida American Conference Pro Bowl players