Bills linebacker Kiko Alonso is expected to miss the entire season after tearing his ACL in a pre-camp workout, but the door is still open for his return.
The Bills placed Alonso on the reserve/non-football injury list on Tuesday, which means that he could be activated and eligible to practice or play between the 6th and 11th weeks of the season. If he practices, the team would have three weeks to put him on the active roster or Alonso would revert to injured reserve.
Unlikely as that timeline might be, it would work out better for Alonso to wind up on injured reserve. If he spends the entire year on NFI, which is for players injured outside of team activities, he won’t accrue a season toward free agency and would be a restricted free agent after his the final year of his rookie deal. That would limit his options, although any future contract discussions are probably best left until there’s some idea how Alonso looks after recovering from his injury.
The move also clears another roster spot as the Bills, who have 74 players and can now add someone if they’re so inclined.