30 most important Buffalo Bills players of 2025: No. 5 Terrel Bernard

As the Buffalo Bills prepare for the 2025 NFL season, we'll take a look at the most important contributors on their roster. They have a ton of cornerstone players who will be returning for another shot at bringing a Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo, and they'll have help from some new additions as well.

Leading up to the season, we will be counting down the top 30 most important players on the roster. We'll recap their 2024 season, look ahead to what they'll offer in 2025, and tackle the most pressing questions surrounding them this coming year.

Next up on the countdown is Terrel Bernard.

Background

Position: Linebacker

Age at start of season: 26

Experience: Fourth year

2025 cap hit: $2,528,248

2024 recap

Terrel Bernard was named one of two team captains (other was Josh Allen) prior to the 2024 NFL season, which spoke volumes to the trust that his coaches and teammates have in him. Bernard was hampered by injuries throughout the year, missing four games due to a combination of pectoral, ankle, and quad injuries. Like teammate Matt Milano, Bernard came into the NFL as a safety and made a successful transition to linebacker where he can still display his unique coverage and ball skills in the middle of the field. Despite missing four regular season games, Bernard appeared in all three playoff games, where he most notably forced a fumble on the Ravens' Mark Andrews to help secure a spot in the AFC title game.

2025 outlook

Bernard received a four-year, $42.1 million contract extension this offseason as general manager Brandon Beane anticipates him being a leader in the middle of the Bills defense for years to come. Bernard played most of 2024 with his running mate Milano sidelined due to injury, but this year the former All-Pro Milano looks fully healthy which should make things easier for Bernard. With a new contract, Bernard will hope to return to the level of production he had in 2023 when he recorded 143 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, and 3 interceptions in 17 games played.

Biggest question: Can the Bills defense improve in 2025?

As captain of the defense, Bernard will be looking for his unit to rebound in 2025 after a disappointing 2024 season. Although the team was excellent at taking the ball away (third in the NFL with 32 takeaways), they struggled on third downs and struggled to force punts. They ranked among the bottom of the league in a few key categories, like punts forced per drive (31st), rate of drives to reach red zone (30th), and opponent third down conversion rate (30th). Of course, some of the key guys staying healthy like Milano, Bernard, and Taron Johnson would help the Bills' case, but that side of the ball has a lot to improve on in 2025.

30 Most Important Bills of 2025

Check back as we continue to countdown on our list of the 30 most important Bills ahead of the 2025 season.

No. 30 DT T.J. Sanders, No. 29 LB Dorian Williams, No. 28 DT Larry Ogunjobi, No. 27 Alec Anderson, No. 26 DE A.J. Epenesa, No. 25 DT DaQuan Jones, No. 24 TE Dawson Knox, No. 23 WR Elijah Moore, No. 22 WR Joshua Palmer, No. 21 S Cole Bishop, No. 20 K Tyler Bass, No. 19 WR Keon Coleman, No. 18 G David Edwards, No. 17 DE Joey Bosa, No. 16 G O'Cyrus Torrence, No. 15 CB Max Hairston, No. 14 TE Dalton Kincaid, No. 13 LB Matt Milano, No. 12 DT Ed Oliver, No. 11 S Taylor Tapp, No. 10 RB James Cook, No. 9 C Connor McGovern, No. 8 WR Khalil Shakir, No. 7 DE Greg Rousseau, No. 6 CB Taron Johnson.

This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: 30 most important Buffalo Bills players of 2025: No. 5 Terrel Bernard