The Buffalo Bills are locking in one of their own. Linebacker Joe Andreessen is signing a two-year contract extension worth $5 million, with $3 million guaranteed, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero.
The agreement keeps the 26-year-old in Western New York through the 2028 season and rewards a player who reached the NFL without a draft pick and made himself useful almost entirely on special teams.
Andreessen was born in Depew, New York, and played at Lancaster High School before college. Bryant University was the only school to offer him a scholarship.
He spent five seasons there, and his final year in 2022 was his best: he set a school record with more than 110 tackles, finished among the FCS leaders, and earned Associated Press second-team All-American honors.
After graduating, he used an extra year of eligibility as a graduate transfer at the University at Buffalo in 2023, leading the Bulls in tackles and tackles for loss and playing a short drive from home.
That local path continued into the pros. After going undrafted in 2024, Andreessen signed with the Bills following a rookie minicamp tryout.
He made the roster and has since appeared in the large majority of Buffalo’s regular-season games, even as his defensive role has stayed limited.
The Bills have used him as a core special-teams player rather than a regular in the linebacker rotation. In 2025 he finished second in the NFL with 23 special-teams tackles, and his share of third-phase snaps led the team.
Through three games in 2026, he has five tackles, continuing the same work.
The extension fits that profile. Andreessen is not being paid like a starter. Buffalo’s inside linebacker group is still built around Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams, with rookie Kaleb Elarms-Orr also in the mix, and Andreessen has not been a regular on defense this season.
What the Bills are buying is continuity on the units that decide field position. A player who already knows the scheme, the city, and the special-teams assignments is cheaper to keep than to replace, especially when the alternative was restricted free agency after this season.
For Andreessen, the deal is the clearest sign yet that the long route worked.
From the only scholarship offer he received, to a graduate year at Buffalo, to an undrafted camp tryout with the hometown team, he has stayed employed by being available and productive on special teams.
The new contract does not change his role. It simply confirms that Buffalo wants that role filled by him for two more years.
The Bills will face the New England Patriots on Sunday.
