Bills add LB Otis Reese, place LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles on injured reserve

The Buffalo Bills announced that they have signed linebacker Otis Reese, returning him to the organization as he works to earn a roster spot during the summer. The transaction was paired with a separate move affecting linebacker depth, with the Bills placing Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles on injured reserve.

Reese’s path to the Bills is familiar. According to the team reporting, he spent time on Buffalo’s practice squad last season, and now the organization is giving him another opportunity to compete for a role on the active roster. For players on the bubble during training camp, these signings often reflect a combination of special teams fit, familiarity with coaching systems, and the opportunity to seize reps in a crowded depth chart.

The corresponding decision was to put Flannigan-Fowles on injured reserve. While the Bills did not publicly detail medical specifics in the report, the procedural meaning is straightforward: the team is using an IR roster designation to manage his availability and roster spot while he recovers. That, in turn, can influence who sees early preseason snaps, how coaches distribute linebacker groups during team periods, and how the Bills plan for continuity on run defense.

In the NFL’s roster-building ecosystem, an IR placement can also change the competitive landscape for adjacent players. When a linebacker goes on IR, the remaining inside-outside depth typically gets expanded through either increased snaps for current reserves or additional competition from players already in camp. Reese’s signing, arriving in the same window, underscores Buffalo’s willingness to keep adding competition at the position as camp progresses.

For the Bills, linebacker is an area where execution matters in both run fits and coverage responsibilities. Even when preseason games are treated as evaluation tools, the position group tends to set the tone for defensive communication and rotation assignments. With Flannigan-Fowles on IR, the coaching staff is likely to lean more heavily on the healthy group to maintain tempo and ensure that backup roles are well-defined before the team enters the later stages of preparation.

Reese’s return to Buffalo creates a clear watch item for the rest of camp: whether he can translate prior time with the organization into consistent practice performance and special teams value. The immediate roster picture will remain fluid as teams work through conditional depth needs, but this type of signing typically indicates that the Bills want an additional competitor who can handle linebacker responsibilities within their scheme.

What to watch next is how Buffalo fills the resulting depth gap. If the Bills keep adding linebacker bodies or elevate a particular player from within the current group, it can narrow the field quickly. Conversely, if coaches largely maintain stability with their healthy linebackers, Reese’s path may depend on when, where, and how frequently he earns reps across defensive and special-teams work.