ORCHARD PARK - Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane came right out and admitted on Wednesday that he was taking a “hardcore” look at adding a free agent defensive tackle to the roster and he said things were getting close to being wrapped up.

Close as in Thursday morning when the team announced that 35-year-old Linval Joseph is joining the team and taking the roster spot of cornerback Kaiir Elam who was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury.

The contract is reportedly one year worth up to $3.7 million which is certainly costly for half a season. The cap space was essentially available when the Bills restructured offensive tackle Dion Dawkins’ contract last week.

More: What channel is the Bills game on? How to watch Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals

“Proven veteran, obviously has a long history in this league and has played really good football,” Beane said Thursday morning during an appearance on WGR-550 in Buffalo. “One of the older players in the game but you watch his film from last season, he signed around this time last year, came off the couch and started the first week there.

“He’s a one-tech run stuffer in our defense. We’re not expecting him to be sacking the quarterback but to get to third down you gotta stop the run. So just trying to add a big body back in there for (defensive line/assistant head coach Eric) Washington to use in our D-line rotation.”

Joseph has 13 years of NFL experience spread across stints with the Giants, Vikings, Chargers and Eagles.

He was originally a second-round draft pick of the Giants in 2010 and became a full-time starter in his second season. He signed with the Vikings as a free agent in 2013 and started all 88 games he played in Minnesota through 2019, recording 15 of his career 25.5 sacks there and earning two Pro Bowl invitations.

He then joined the Chargers and was a two-year starter, and in 2022, he wasn’t on a team throughout training camp but eventually joined the Eagles at midseason and became a starter down the stretch and was a heavy volume snap count player.

Then in the postseason, while he started all three games including the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs, he only played 10 snaps in each game. That night, he became the first player who was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands to appear in a Super Bowl.

What Linval Joseph brings to the Buffalo Bills

Joseph is a 330-pound one-technique tackle which is exactly what the Bills have lacked since DaQuan Jones got hurt in London. The Bills’ run defense has sagged because none of Jordan Phillips, Tim Settle or Poona Ford has adequately filled in for Jones, so the Bills are hoping that Joseph has something left in the tank.

The Bills rank 31st in the NFL in yards allowed per rush (5.1) as they have allowed 25 runs of at least 10 yards, tied for third-most in the league. Coach Sean McDermott was asked about the run defense Wednesday and he acknowledged that the stats can be a little misleading, but also that it needs to improve.

“I think if you look at it, we've been very good 80-90% of the time and then we give up a couple of explosives,” he said. “A little bit of that is inconsistency, some of that is gap integrity, some of that is tackling in the hole. When we have a guy there we got to make that tackle. I think those are the two biggest things that stand out, and in some of it, if you look at the film, some of it is mop up time and so you're playing a situation there, but overall there are things that we definitely can get better at.”

During his career, Joseph has made 664 tackles including 56 for lost yardage.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Linval Joseph signs with Buffalo Bills to help run defense