Orchard Park, NY (WGR550) - For the first time in a couple years, the Bills have a bit of uncertainty surrounding their starting offensive line. That's where I look next in my 2026 State of the Bills.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Under contract:
- Dion Dawkins
- Spencer Brown
- Connor McGovern
- O’Cyrus Torrence
- Alec Anderson
- Sedrick Van Pran-Granger
- Tylan Grable
- Travis Clayton
- Chase Lundt
- Jude Bowry
- Nick Broeker
- Austin Corbett
- Lloyd Cushenberry III
- ⁃ Ar’Maj Reed-Adams
Starting left guard David Edwards signed a free agent contract with the New Orleans Saints.
Alec Anderson, who’s been working primarily at center and guard over his first two seasons on the active roster, and has also played tackle and the extra lineman spot in jumbo packages, will most likely have the inside-track to win the job at training camp.
But that’s not a certainty and Anderson has to prove he can be a reliable starter on a weekly basis.
He’ll have some competition in veteran free agent Austin Corbett who's started 78 NFL games over an eight-year career.
At the other guard spot, O’Cyrus Torrence enters the final year of his rookie contract. Torrence won that starting job his first year in the league and hasn’t looked back, starting every game over three years, except a Week 18 contest at the Patriots in 2024 when most starters rested.
Since he’s now finished his third season, Torrence is eligible to sign a contract extension. It will be interesting to see if that eventually happens, but he’s still under contract for this season and will start at right guard again.
Between the two guards, the Bills got some very welcome and maybe even unexpected news when center Connor McGovern signed a four-year contract extension in March.
McGovern can also play guard, but there’s been no indication the team is moving him off the pivot.
With McGovern back, where does that leave Sedrick Van Pran-Granger? The fifth-round pick from two years ago has started two games in his career - both when starters were rested at the end of the season. Otherwise, he’s been and will continue to be the backup to McGovern.
With no real path to start, could the Bills look to trade the 24-year old before his rookie deal expires after 2027? Or just feel comfortable with him as the backup?
If McGovern had signed elsewhere, head coach Joe Brady said they would have targeted Lloyd Cushenberry III as his possible replacement as a starter.
McGovern came back, but the Bills still signed Cushenberry as a free argent. A Denver Broncos third-round pick in 2020, Cushenberry played for Brady at LSU in college and has started all 80 games he’s played over a six-year NFL career with Denver and the Tennessee Titans.
The Bills are set at both their starting tackle spots with 32 year-old Dion Dawkins, who has two years remaining on his current contract, on the left side, and Spencer Brown, who signed a four-year extension before last season, on the right.
Behind them is where there are questions.
With Ryan Van Demark signing with the Minnesota Vikings, that leaves a gaping hole at swing tackle.
The Bills drafted Jude Bowry out of Boston College in the fourth round of this year’s draft. The 6’5”, 311 pound Bowry will immediately compete for the backup swing tackle job with Tylan Grable, who earned that role in 2024 out of training camp, but then missed time due to injury and most of last season after suffering a concussion in training camp.
Chase Lundt could factor into that battle, as well. The Bills drafted Lundt last year and liked him so much they kept him on the active roster all season instead of risking losing him to waivers by trying to put him on the practice squad.
But Lundt may be best-suited for guard and then could either compete for the starting left spot or a backup interior swing man.
The Bills drafted Nick Broeker in the seventh round in 2023, but lost him to the Houston Texans for a couple years. Once he became available again, he re-signed with Buffalo’s practice squad and will compete for a roster spot.
This year, the Bills drafted Ar'maj Reed-Adams out of Texas A&M in the seventh round, and have reportedly signed Da’Metrius Weatherspoon (Syracuse) and Bruno Fina (Duke) as undrafted free agents. Fina is the son of former Bills first-round offensive tackle John Fina.
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