Bills To Re-Sign C Connor McGovern
Re-signing veteran interior offensive lineman Connor McGovern was a huge priority for the Bills this offseason, and according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the two parties reached an agreement on a new four-year, $52MM contract today to avoid free agency. A report from Ian Rapoport claiming the team was closing in on this four-year pact preempted the final news, but Schefter broke the deal with details, including a guaranteed amount on the new contract of $32MM. 
McGovern came into the NFL as a third-round pick for the Cowboys in 2019. After sitting out his entire rookie season with a torn pectoral muscle, he served as a backup behind an impressive Dallas duo in Zack Martin and Connor Williams. McGovern found eight starts in his first season of play, filling in a couple times when Martin filled in at tackle and getting the rest of his starts as Martin sat with a concussion or a calf injury. In Year 3, he returned to a backup role but stole a few starts as Williams was benched for a short time due to a tendency to commit too many penalties. McGovern earned the starting left guard job in the last year of his rookie contract and, in addition to allowing just two sacks and committing one penalty he continued to show his versatility with some spot starts replacing center Tyler Biadasz.
Off of a strong final year in Dallas, McGovern landed in Buffalo on a three-year, $22.35MM deal as the Bills looked to replace veteran left guard Rodger Saffold. Starting all 17 games, McGovern was part of an offensive unit that allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL in 2023, but individually, McGovern left plenty of room for improvement in the run game. Part of the Bills’ solution for this was a position shift.
Buffalo pursued some cost-cutting moves in 2024 and opted to release veteran center Mitch Morse, shifting McGovern inside to fill the newly vacant role. Starting 16 games at this new position, McGovern looked much more balanced with his pass-pro and run-grading duties. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he graded out as the 10th-best center in the NFL as he earned Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career. In his second year as a full-time center, McGovern continued to improve, grading out as PFF’s ninth-best center in 2025.
After McGovern’s Pro Bowl campaign, the team began extension discussions with him and fellow interior lineman David Edwards. As those discussions continued, it became clear to that it may end up being one or the other between McGovern and Edwards. McGovern didn’t seem confident that it was going to be him sticking around. Just a few days ago, he told The Athletic’s Tim Graham that the team hadn’t contacted him once and that the feeling in his gut was that his time with the Bills was “over and done.” In the end, though, McGovern got the deal, and the consensus opinion remains that Edwards will be bound for free agency, likely to land a bit more money than his presumed former linemate.
In what looks to be a decent crop of free agent centers this offseason, McGovern was largely seen as the No. 2 option. Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum has not reached a new deal with the team that drafted him 25th overall in 2022, despite Baltimore’s best attempts. Linderbaum is expected to set a new market at the position with some reports claiming an aim of $25MM per year, a jump of $7MM from the reigning highest-paid center Creed Humphrey‘s $18MM annual average value. Seeing where the market could’ve ended up, the Bills were smart to lock McGovern in at the time and rate that they did.
With McGovern off the market, all eyes will be on Linderbaum now. There’s a bit of a dropoff in quality after Linderbaum as Panthers center Cade Mays, Browns center Ethan Pocic, and Broncos center Lloyd Cushenberry round out the pack of free agent options at the position. The Ravens had kept an eye on McGovern in case they couldn’t hold on to Linderbaum, but McGovern cashes in here with Buffalo as the NFL’s third-highest paid center, and the Bills secure a key piece of the interior of an offensive line that has helped Buffalo see the 2024 MVP and the 2025 leader in rushing yards.
Bills Notes: McGovern, Knox, Shaheed
Then coming off his first full season as a starter, former Cowboys guard Connor McGovern joined the Bills on a three-year, $23MM free agent contract in March 2023. McGovern has since played out the deal, mostly at center, and is now a week away from returning to free agency. Although McGovern told Tim Graham of The Athletic he wants to stay in Buffalo, he believes his time with the team is up.
“They haven’t contacted me once,” McGovern said. “In my gut, that says it’s over and done.”
While unheralded at the time, the McGovern signing counts among the shrewdest moves Brandon Beane has made in free agency during his nine years as the Bills’ general manager. McGovern started in all 17 games at left guard in the first year of his contract. After the Bills released Mitch Morse in March 2024, they shifted McGovern to center.
McGovern made a seamless transition to the pivot, where he started in all 32 appearances the past two years. As Graham notes, McGovern’s only absences came when the Bills rested him in meaningless Week 18 games.
McGovern played through hand and triceps injuries last season, but Pro Football Focus still ranked him ninth among 37 qualifying centers. The 28-year-old tied for a more impressive third place among interior linemen in pass block win rate (97%). He finished alongside another pending free agent, the Ravens’ Tyler Linderbaum, in that category. Linderbaum is the No. 1 center set to hit the market. McGovern would be the top potential consolation prize at the position for teams that lose out on Linderbaum.
It’s unclear how the Bills plan to proceed if McGovern exits. They are also facing the loss of starting left guard David Edwards, a pending free agent who may do even better than McGovern on his next contract. Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, Alec Anderson and Tylan Grable are among interior O-line options under contract. Cade Mays, Tyler Biadasz, Ethan Pocic, Lloyd Cushenberry and Sean Rhyan represent some experienced centers Buffalo could look into at less expensive costs than McGovern and Linderbaum in free agency.
As is the case with McGovern, there is uncertainty regarding tight end Dawson Knox‘s future. The seven-year veteran and career-long Bill is still under contract for next season. However, with the Bills around $8.28MM in the red, Beane recently indicated a desire to lower Knox’s untenable $17.87MM cap number (via Sal Capaccio of WGR 550).
“He has a tough number as we go into the season, so we’ve gotta figure that out, as we do,” Beane said. “Dawson and I had dialogue. The day after the season, the day after we lost in Denver, he came up to my office. We talked for a while. I have a good relationship with Chase Callahan, his agent. Done a lot of deals, and so I think it just starts with trust, communication, and honest conversation. And so we’ve had some dialogue.”
If the Bills and Knox do not agree to a reworked contract, releasing the 29-year-old before March 15 would save $10.46MM in space. The Bills would take on $7.4MM in dead money at the same time. A post-June 1 cut would free up $11.3MM in savings for the Bills, who would carry dead cap over two seasons ($6.57MM in ’26, $2.34MM in ’27).
Knox has not revisited his 49-catch, 517-yard, nine-touchdown heights from 2021, but he has remained an important cog in a high-end offense. In his first 17-game season in 2025, the former third-rounder’s 57.7% snap share led a solid tight end group that also saw Dalton Kincaid and blocking maven Jackson Hawes log significant action. Knox caught 36 of 49 targets for 417 yards and four scores.
Whether or not Knox sticks in Buffalo in 2026, the team figures to address its receiving corps this offseason. Buccaneers pending free agent Mike Evans is one rumored possibility. Multiple league executives have also connected Packers wideout Romeo Doubs and Seahawks receiver Rashid Shaheed to the Bills, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
Doubs and Shaheed are not No. 1-caliber options, but they should do well in a thin class of free agent receivers. The speedy Shaheed was on the Bills’ radar before last November’s trade deadline, but the Saints wound up sending him to Seattle for a 2026 fourth- and fifth-rounder. Over 12 games with the Super Bowl champions (including playoffs), Shaheed picked up just 18 catches for 266 yards and no touchdowns. The 27-year-old made a greater impact on special teams, where he combined for three kick and punt return scores.
Ravens Eyeing C Connor McGovern As Potential Tyler Linderbaum Replacement?
The list of pending Ravens free agents is topped by center Tyler Linderbaum. The three-time Pro Bowler has loomed as a target for a second Baltimore contract, but nothing has been finalized yet. 
As of November, team and player were not close to reaching an extension agreement. The top of the center market is currently $18MM per year, set in 2024 when Creed Humphrey signed his new Chiefs deal. Linderbaum could very well set a new watermark at the position, but it remains to be seen if his next contract will come from the Ravens or an outside suitor.
SportsBoom’s Jason La Canfora reports the Ravens are receiving “contract rejections” during negotiations with Linderbaum’s camp. The former first-rounder said immediately after Baltimore’s season ended he wanted to continue playing for the team that drafted him. Given the Ravens’ expected decision of declining Linderbaum’s fifth-year option last year, however, they left the door open to a departure in the spring.
Per La Canfora, there are “underlying medical concerns” to be taken into account in this case as well. Linderbaum faced some questions about his size entering the NFL, but through his first four seasons he has missed only two games. Durability and a consistent level of play will help the 25-year-old cash in during his first trip to the open market (provided he makes it there). A new Ravens agreement could be worked out at any time between now and the start of the new league year, but a cap-reducing Lamar Jackson extension remains priority No. 1 for the team.
In the event Linderbaum departs, Baltimore appears to have a replacement in mind. La Canfora points to Connor McGovern as a veteran who could be acquired in free agency. McGovern has made 78 starts in his career between time in Dallas and Buffalo. The 28-year-old has been a steady presence on the Bills’ offensive line since his arrival in 2023. Buffalo inked McGovern to a three-year, $22.35MM deal during free agency in 2023.
A pact along those lines would certainly carry a much lower AAV than the one Linderbaum will soon be attached to. The guard position will likely be subject to change for Baltimore over the course of the offseason, but the team’s approach at center will be worth watching closely.
Bills Have Discussed Extensions With Connor McGovern, David Edwards
Set to return the same starting offensive line from 2024, the Bills are in good shape at these positions. They have Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown locked up long term, and right guard O’Cyrus Torrence‘s rookie deal runs through 2026.
The group’s other two starters, however, are in contract years. Connor McGovern is going into the final season of a three-year, $22.35MM deal; David Edwards‘ two-year, $6MM accord expires after the season. These walk-year statuses create questions for the perennial AFC East champions.
Although the Bills have already completed four notable offseason extensions — for Khalil Shakir, Terrel Bernard, Christian Benford and Gregory Rousseau — and are negotiating with hold-in running back James Cook, the two walk-year O-line starters are not out of the mix for new deals. Both players said (via the Niagara Gazette’s Nick Sabato; subscription required) extension talks have commenced, though Sabato indicates deals are not imminent.
Buffalo’s extension spree spanned a few weeks in the spring, with Benford’s wrapping March 29. That quartet clearly landed in the team’s first tier in terms of extension priorities, and all four agreed on deals outside the top echelon of their respective positions’ markets. The two interior O-line starters’ contract situations lingering into training camp, when Cook exists as a seemingly higher priority, points to at least one — perhaps both — playing out a contract year.
McGovern landed the better deal as a 2023 free agent, and he completed a guard-to-center transition after the Bills’ 2024 Mitch Morse release. ESPN’s pass block win rate metric ranked McGovern 14th among all interior O-linemen last season, and Pro Football Focus graded him 10th among centers. A former Cowboys third-round pick, McGovern has made 62 career starts and is going into an age-28 season.
The Bills as a team posted top-six rankings in pass block win rate and run block win rate, with Edwards also serving as a key presence. Two appearances in concussion protocol during the 2022 season — a slate Edwards managed only four games — impacted the former fourth-rounder’s 2023 market. The Super Bowl LVI Rams starter commanded only a one-year, $1.77MM deal, and he served as a backup in his first Bills season. Morse’s exit opened the LG position, after McGovern’s switch, and Edwards made 16 2024 starts. PFF rated Edwards 28th among guards last season; his final two healthy Rams years (2020, ’21) produced top-30 PFF placements as well.
McGovern talks began at the Pro Bowl (where McGovern was an alternate), per Sabato, pointing to the sides being apart in value. Though, McGovern did come up as an extension candidate in February. The center market saw both Lloyd Cushenberry and Drew Dalman land top-two center money — at the time of signing — during the past two free agency periods, and McGovern’s guard past would give interested teams options come 2026. The Bills also have 2024 fifth-round pick Sedrick Van Pran-Granger rostered at center as a potential contingency option; he is signed through 2027.
With Torrence likely an extension candidate next year, the Bills will have a decision to make. It is certainly possible only one of the McGovern-Edwards duo is retained, and the latter stands to be a more affordable option. This season also figures to be a bit more important for Edwards, as his career earnings do not quite align with his start count (61). Like McGovern, Edwards will play an age-28 season in 2025.
Elsewhere on Buffalo’s O-line, top backup Alec Anderson will be out for a stretch. The former UDFA underwent arthroscopic knee surgery recently, per The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia. The Bills regularly used Anderson in six-O-lineman formations last season. Classified as week-to-week, Anderson has some time to get ready for Week 1.
Bills See RB James Cook As Core Player; Team Plans To Bolster CB Group In Offseason
The Bills see running back James Cook as a “big part” of their future, as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported last month (video link). That is hardly surprising, as Cook has posted a robust 4.9 yards-per-carry average over his first three years in the NFL and led the league in rushing touchdowns (16) in 2024.
Because Cook, a 2022 draftee, is now eligible for an extension, it would be fair to expect Buffalo to engage in contract discussions with the two-time Pro Bowler’s camp this offseason (especially since he is a former second-round pick and does not have a fifth-year option included in his rookie deal). The problem, as Rapoport observes, is that Cook is just one of a number of talented young players whose contract situations may need to be addressed in short order.
Like Cook, linebacker Terrel Bernard, center Connor McGovern, cornerback Christian Benford, and edge defender Gregory Rousseau are all entering platform years, and Rapoport identifies that quintet as a group that could be in line for a new deal. GM Brandon Beane could deploy the franchise tag on one of those players next offseason if need be, but he will still have plenty of work to do to keep a championship-caliber core intact.
Indeed, despite the Bills’ inability to get over a Kansas City-sized hump in the AFC playoff field, Beane understandably is not going to overhaul his roster. In his end-of-season presser following another difficult playoff defeat at the hands of the Chiefs several weeks ago, Beane said he and his staff will “reset” and “recalibrate” as the Bills seek to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1993 campaign (via Alex White and Maddy Glab of the team’s official website, who also name WR Khalil Shakir as a rising fourth-year pro who might be the target of extension talks).
Part of Beane’s offseason plan will almost certainly include negotiations with at least some members of Buffalo’s 2026 free agent class, but Beane naturally indicated he will first attend to the players who are due to hit the open market next month. That list includes players like midseason trade acquisition Amari Cooper – whose disappointing Buffalo stint did not foreclose the possibility of a new contract keeping the high-profile wideout in western New York – and cornerback Rasul Douglas.
Beane said he will not bloat the Bills’ salary cap picture with expensive contracts in an effort to slay their playoff demons, which is perhaps an indication that Buffalo will once again avoid the deep end of the free agent pool. However, he did concede that he will need to address the team’s outside cornerback position in some way.
The Bills’ lack of depth in that regard was on full display when Benford was injured in the first quarter of this year’s AFC Championship Game against the Chiefs and was lost for the remainder of the contest. That depth will become even more of a concern if the team does not re-sign Douglas.
“Whether it’s extending guys, signing a free agent, or draft allocation, [boundary corner] is one of the areas we would look at,” Beane said.
Underlying all of this is the fact that the Bills could look to give quarterback and newly-minted MVP Josh Allen a pay bump. If such a raise comes as part of an extension or restructure, it could allow the team to reduce Allen’s $43MM cap charge for 2025 and improve their salary cap situation (at present, OverTheCap.com estimates that Buffalo is roughly $14MM over the 2025 cap, the third-worst situation in the league).
Bills To Shift Connor McGovern To C
While the Jets have not re-signed four-year starter Connor McGovern, the AFC East will not be without a Connor McGovern at center this season. A Bills change will ensure this.
After Buffalo signed the younger of the NFL’s Connor McGoverns last year, they slotted the ex-Cowboys draftee at left guard. Rather than moving the re-signed David Edwards to center to fill Mitch Morse‘s old post, the Bills are signing off on a more natural transition. McGovern confirmed he will be the one replacing Morse this season.
“I would say center is my natural position,” McGovern said, via the Buffalo News’ Mark Gaughan. “So it’s just going back home. I missed it a lot. I was drafted as a center originally. Then a new coaching staff came in and I got moved to guard. I always kind of sought my way back to center. Every time something happened, I’d play a little bit (at center) and I’d get moved back to guard. Now officially I can move back to center, so I’m very happy.”
The Jets’ Joe Tippmann plan will deny the world a division of two Connor McGoverns at center, but the Bills will give a player with 100 career snaps at center that role in 2024. Morse started at center in Buffalo for five seasons, but a cost-cutting spree led him off the roster. The Jaguars signed Morse soon after. While McGovern has a center past, he played 12 snaps there in 2021 and 88 at the pivot in 2022. Otherwise, his center work came in Cowboys practices or prior to the NFL.
Saquon Barkley‘s final Penn State season featured 13 McGovern starts at center. The Nittany Lions moved McGovern to guard in 2018, however, and the Cowboys slotted him there for the most part. Last season, all 1,135 McGovern snaps came at left guard. This will be a transition for the Bills’ second-highest-paid O-lineman, though his 2017 role points to an easier transition. McGovern, 26, is tied to a three-year, $22.35MM deal.
Edwards, who re-signed on a two-year deal worth $6MM, appears poised to take over at left guard. The former Rams starter has never played an NFL snap at center and primarily played right tackle at Wisconsin. His background makes a McGovern move more logical for the four-time reigning AFC East champs. Dion Dawkins, Spencer Brown and O’Cyrus Torrence are primed to reprise their 2023 roles up front, with Edwards — a 45-game Rams starter from 2019-22 — likely to re-emerge as a starter after a concussion-marred 2022 season and a 2023 campaign spent as a Bills backup.
NFL Restructures: Saints, Ward, McGovern
With the league’s recent release of the new salary cap numbers and the rapid approach of free agency and the draft, NFL teams are working to clear up cap space to help add significant talent to their rosters for the 2024 NFL season. The Saints made a number of moves recently to reflect this pattern.
New Orleans agreed to a restructured deal with defensive end Carl Granderson, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The team converted a $9MM roster bonus that Granderson was due into a signing bonus spread over a five-year period. The move reduced his cap hit in 2024 from $12.45MM to $5.25MM, freeing up $7.2MM of cap space.
The team applied the same tactic to interior offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz‘s contract, per Pelissero, converting his $8MM roster bonus into a signing bonus and adding a void year to the end of his deal. The result saw Ruiz’s cap number drop from $10.85MM to $4.45MM, freeing up $6.4MM more of cap space.
One more time, the Saints got another player to sign a restructured deal this week. This time, star pass rusher Cameron Jordan agreed to convert $11.79MM of his 2024 base salary into a signing bonus, according to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. Jordan’s base salary was reduced to $1.21MM, and the team cleared $9.43MM of cap space as a result.
Granderson, Ruiz, and Jordan join quarterback Derek Carr, defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd, and center Erik McCoy as Saints who have signed restructured deals to help clear cap space recently.
Here are a couple of other restructured deals from around the league:
- The Browns got in on the party, agreeing to a restructured deal with cornerback Denzel Ward, per Pelissero. Cleveland converted $14.2MM of Ward’s base salary into a signing bonus and added a void year to the end of his contract. Ward’s 2024 salary is now $1.13MM as a result, and the move cleared $11.36MM of cap space for the upcoming league year.
- Finally, the Bills were the other team this week to work towards more cap space. Offensive guard Connor McGovern agreed to a reworked deal that would convert $4.68MM of his 2024 base salary into a signing bonus and add two void years to the end of his contract, according to Pelissero. The restructure clears up $3.74MM of cap space for Buffalo.
Latest On Bills’ Offensive Line
Dion Dawkins, Spencer Brown and Mitch Morse are locked into Week 1 starting roles for the Bills, but uncertainty clouds the guard spots. And recent developments have Buffalo’s swing tackle role in flux.
If healthy, Connor McGovern is in place as the Bills’ starting left guard. The Bills gave the former Cowboys starter a three-year, $22.35MM deal early in free agency. The fifth-year blocker, however, suffered a knee injury this week. No return timetable has emerged for the team’s top guard investment, ESPN.com’s Alaina Getzenberg notes. Considering the team has already held a long-running right guard battle, McGovern’s availability adds to the confusion here. For what it’s worth, McGovern does not believe this is a serious injury, per the Buffalo News’ Ryan O’Halloran.
Ryan Bates and second-round rookie O’Cyrus Torrence have competed for the RG role. Although the Bills matched a Bears RFA offer sheet (four years, $17MM) for Bates last year, Torrence may be close to overtaking him for the starting gig. The Bills have given Torrence two preseason starts and used him throughout Josh Allen‘s cameo in the second exhibition game. This usage points to a starting assignment coming soon, The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia writes (subscription required).
Pro Football Focus graded Bates as a mid-pack guard last season, ranking him 41st at the position. The team chose Torrence 59th overall — the earliest O-line investment for the Bills since the Cody Ford pick (39th) in 2019 — and ESPN’s Scouts Inc. graded the Florida product as the draft’s best pure guard prospect. Torrence made 34 straight starts to close his college career, and Buscaglia adds the Bills have been pleased with his development.
McGovern being unavailable for Week 1 would open the door to Bates (19 career starts) keeping a starting role, though the team also has UFA addition David Edwards as an option. A three-year Rams starter, Edwards signed a low-end Bills deal (one year, $1.77MM) this offseason. A concussion limited Edwards to four starts last season, but the former Super Bowl starter has made 45 first-string appearances. Edwards’ arrival also complicates matters for longtime Bills blocker Ike Boettger, who worked with the third-team O-line during the first two preseason tilts. Boettger (17 career starts) sticking around for a sixth Bills season may hinge on his performance against the Bears tonight, Buscaglia adds.
The Bills have run into hurdles to fill the swing post behind Dawkins and Brown. Brandon Shell retired midway through training camp, and Tommy Doyle suffered a season-ending injury. David Quessenberry, a former Titans starter who filled this role last year, has not impressed this summer, and Buscaglia notes rookie UDFA Ryan Van Demark is battling the veteran for the job. Quessenberry, who turned 33 this week, has 26 career starts.
It would be interesting to see if the Bills will look outside to address this swing issue. Jason Peters, who began his career with the team, said recently he is looking to play a 19th season. Peters, 41, may be a name to watch, per Buscaglia. Peters caught on late with the Cowboys last year, signing on Sept. 5, and played both tackle and guard as the team dealt with injuries.
Latest On Bills’ Offensive Line Plans
Competition should take place along the Bills’ offensive front in training camp, but the three-time reigning AFC East champions might not be planning many changes to this unit.
Free agent guards Connor McGovern and David Edwards committed to Buffalo, and O’Cyrus Torrence arrived in Western New York as the No. 59 overall pick. Going into training camp, McGovern is the only outside hire who projects as a surefire starter, per the Buffalo News’ Ryan O’Halloran, who notes four of the five Bills starting blockers from last year should be considered likely to reprise their roles.
The Bills have not re-signed Rodger Saffold, who stopped through in his 13th season. The former Rams and Titans guard remains a free agent. A part-time Cowboys starter until taking over as a regular last year, McGovern signed a three-year, $22.35MM deal early in free agency. He is on track to replace Saffold at left guard. Despite being a three-plus-year Rams starter who lined up at left guard throughout the team’s Super Bowl LVI-winning season, Edwards only scored a one-year, $1.77MM commitment in late March. Edwards may represent a dark-horse starter candidate, but at worst, the fifth-year veteran — who is coming off a season marred by a concussion — should bring better depth for the Bills.
It would seem Torrence has the best case for upward mobility. The Florida alum closed his college career with 34 straight starts at right guard, helping the likes of Kyle Pitts and Anthony Richardson become top-five picks. ESPN’s Scouts Inc. graded Torrence as this class’ top pure guard, slotting him as the No. 42 overall prospect. Torrence’s presence figures to turn up the heat on incumbent right guard Ryan Bates, who worked as a full-season starter for the first time in 2022. Pro Football Focus graded Bates as a mid-pack guard, ranking him 41st at the position. The Bills matched a Bears RFA offer sheet for Bates last year; that four-year, $17MM contract runs through 2025.
On the whole, PFF slotted the Bills as last season’s 23rd-ranked O-line. The Bengals established firm trench control on both sides in the teams’ one-sided playoff matchup, leading to an offseason emphasis for the Bills, who signed inside runners Damien Harris and Latavius Murray. That said, the team did not proceed aggressively at tackle. Spencer Brown is ticketed to stick at right tackle opposite mainstay Dion Dawkins, and the Bills hope the former third-round pick’s return to full strength will make a difference after a down sophomore slate.
Brown underwent back surgery last year, leading to his missing the team’s offseason program and several training camp workouts. As Brown eased into the season, he suffered an ankle injury in Week 6. PFF ended up grading the Northern Iowa alum as a bottom-10 tackle last year. While the ankle issue caused Brown to miss two games, he said he did not feel recovered from the back ailment until near the end of the season.
“I never really got comfortable with anything, then back surgery was – I mean, I’ve had some surgeries, but that was top of the list, by far the worst one,” Brown said, via O’Halloran. “… I had maybe eight practices in training camp. The first time I actually hit the ground was in L.A., the third play of the game. … I’d be pulling some plays and I’d be like, ‘Please just hold up on me.'”
The Bills did not draft a tackle, though the team does have insurance options in the recently re-signed David Quessenberry and post-draft addition Brandon Shell. The latter spent last season as the Dolphins’ primary right tackle, filling in for Austin Jackson, and has 72 career starts during his time in with the Jets, Seahawks and Dolphins. The Bills will bet on Brown faring better in his third season, but veteran backups are in place across the line.
Bills To Sign G Connor McGovern
Expected to make an effort to upgrade their offensive line this offseason, the Bills are signing Connor McGovern. This is the former Cowboys guard, the younger of the NFL’s two Connor McGoverns, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
It is a three-year deal worth $23MM, Garafolo adds. McGovern, who spent his contract year primarily working as Dallas’ left guard, will be expected to commandeer a Buffalo starting spot inside.
Pro Football Focus ranked the Bills’ offensive line 23rd last season, one that ended with an ugly home divisional-round loss to the Bengals. The team has Rodger Saffold unsigned from last year’s starting lineup. The ex-Rams and Titans blocker stepped in as a Bills guard starter in 2022. Buffalo also has Ryan Bates under contract, after matching a Bears RFA offer sheet last year. But McGovern is tied to starter-level money. It should be expected he will work as a first-stringer up front to help the AFC East champions.
McGovern, 25, started 29 games for the Cowboys from 2020-22. An injury kept the former third-round pick off the field as a rookie, and he did not secure a Week 1 starting gig until last season. But McGovern was viewed as having the lead on Tyler Smith for Dallas’ left guard spot — prior to Tyron Smith‘s avulsion fracture that changed the team’s O-line plans — in training camp. McGovern also held off Jason Peters for the Cowboys’ left guard gig, starting 15 games.
PFF did not view McGovern as especially sound in his contract campaign, slotting him outside the top 60 at guard. But the Bills were sold on the Penn State product — on a midlevel deal, at least. McGovern joins Bates, Mitch Morse and Dion Dawkins as veteran-contract players on Buffalo’s front, though none of these blockers is tied to top-five money at their respective position.
The Cowboys will lose an interior starter for the second straight year, with McGovern following Connor Williams to the AFC East. Dallas has higher priorities, however, and has Zack Martin signed to an upper-echelon guard deal. The team is still planning to keep both Tyron Smith and Terence Steele alongside Tyler Smith. It will be interesting to see if Dallas moves one of these blockers to guard to ensure each starts in 2023.