How Will Shawne Merriman Fit in Buffalo With Bills’ Defense?

In one of the biggest days the NFL’s waiver wire has ever seen, the Buffalo Bills made an odd move and claimed 3-4 outside linebacker Shawne Merriman from the San Diego Chargers.

On the surface, there’s nothing odd about that. Before suffering a few injuries, Merriman was talked about as one of the best players in the league regardless of position. And at only 26 years old, it’s likely Merriman has a lot of good years left in him.

The move is peculiar, however, because of the Bills’ defensive scheme. The Bills started the season running the 3-4, but recently decided they didn’t have the personnel and switched back to the 4-3.  And just to give a quick refresher course, Merriman is a 3-4 outside linebacker. In the 4-3, he doesn’t really have a position.

So what do the Bills do now? Really, they have only two options.

1. Find a place for Merriman within their 4-3 scheme — either outside linebacker or defensive end. Or 2. the defensive coordinator can run into the meeting room, scream “Got ya!” and reimplement the 3-4 to fit the needs of one player.

I’m not sure either one of those options goes down real well. If they take Option 1, it’s going to piss off Merriman. If they take Option 2, it’s likely going to frustrate the defensive players who are just trying to get some consistency.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand entirely why the Bills wanted Merriman. He’s a great, great talent who could really flourish with a change of scenery, but it looks like they got him about a week or two too late.

The only thing really saving this move is the fact that there aren’t any big egos on the Bills’ defense (or big talent, for that matter), so they might just accept the move and shut up about it. But it is going to agitate the guys who were playing because they fit the 4-3 system better. Now, once again, they’re being told they don’t serve much of a purpose.

So while this is a good move on the surface, it could cause some unforeseen problems down the road.