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Linebacker Nicholas Morrow began the 2023 NFL season on the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad. By the time it was over, the Huntsville High School alumnus had started 12 regular-season games and one playoff contest and was the Eagles’ defensive signal-caller.
Morrow will become an unrestricted free agent at 3 p.m. CDT Wednesday and will join the Buffalo Bills for the 2024 season, the Buffalo News and Syracuse.com reported on Tuesday, on a one-year contract. Terms have not been disclosed.
Morrow recorded 95 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, three sacks, five quarterback hits, five passes defended, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and one safety in 15 regular-season games in 2023.
Even before adding Morrow, the Bills seemed set at linebacker for 2024 with Terrel Bernard returning after leading Buffalo with 143 tackles and 2022 All-Pro Matt Milano coming back after a broken leg and torn anterior cruciate ligament limited him to five games in 2023.
At Huntsville, Morrow played mostly in the offensive line until moving to outside linebacker as a senior in 2012. That season, the Panthers went 7-5 and won a first-round game in the AHSAA Class 6A playoffs against Florence 37-19.
With no scholarship offers, Morrow went to NCAA Division III Greenville University to study biology and play football. At Greenville, Morrow had 222 tackles, 38 tackles for loss, four fumble recoveries and three interceptions in 34 games.
As a second-team selection on the American Football Coaches Association’s NCAA Division III All-American team, he became Greenville’s first All-American in 2016, when he was the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a hybrid safety/linebacker.
Morrow did more than play defense at Greenville. He had 26 yards and two touchdowns on four rushing attempts, caught a 19-yard pass and returned 11 kickoffs. As a senior against Minnesota-Morris, Morrow ran for a TD as a wildcat quarterback, made his only career reception, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble.
Morrow became the first Greenville alumnus to play in the NFL when he began his pro career as an undrafted rookie in 2017 with the Oakland Raiders.
Las Vegas moved to keep Morrow in the 2020 offseason, using a second-round tender on him when he was a restricted free agent. Morrow had been scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2021, but he signed a one-year deal with the Raiders again, then missed the entire campaign after having surgery for an ankle injury sustained in training camp.
Morrow joined the Chicago Bears as a free agent in 2022. He played every Bears’ defensive snap and led the team with 116 tackles before leaving for Philadelphia as a free agent last offseason.
In 94 regular-season games, including 58 starts, Morrow has recorded 465 tackles, seven sacks, 43 tackles for loss, 20 quarterback hits, three interceptions, 11 passes defended, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
Philadelphia’s season-ending 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Jan. 15 is Morrow’s only postseason appearance. He registered 10 tackles in the game.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
