The Buffalo Bills dominated NFL headlines on Friday, August 7 in signing right guard O’Cyrus Torrence to a massive contract extension. Torrence’s new deal will pay him $78.4 million, including $46 million guaranteed over the course of four years, beginning with the 2027 NFL season.
It’s certainly true that Torrence’s latest contract is set to carry massive cap weight against Buffalo’s salary cap, adding to an already astronomically priced offensive line. It’s also an immediate point of contention
for people who aren’t fully versed in the role of an offensive guard, as well those quick to pass judgment on the recently promoted president of football operations/general manager Brandon Beane.
This latest deal is far from the first offensive guard contract that Beane has signed during his time at One Bills Drive. How do others Bills contracts at the position during his tenure stack up? Let’s take a quick stroll down memory lane, a path paved with plenty of hyperlinks leading to the archives of Buffalo Rumblings.
Vladimir Ducasse
Buffalo signed offensive guard Vladimir Ducasse to a three-year, $3.5 million free-agent contract ahead of the 2017 NFL season. Ducasse started 12 games (after spending the first 4 weeks inactive) in his first season with Buffalo. After making nine starts to begin the 2018 season, Ducasse was benched in favor of rookie offensive guard Wyatt Teller.
Ducasse was released in August of 2019. During two seasons with the Bills, Ducasse made 21 regular-season starts (22 games played), adding one playoff start in 2017.
Wyatt Teller
Wyatt Teller’s history with the Bills is fraught fan angst. Buffalo originally selected Wyatt Teller 166th overall (Round 5) during the 2018 NFL Draft. Teller would only last one season with the Bills after signing his rookie deal, starting seven games in eight total appearances.
Days prior to the start of the 2019 NFL regular season, Beane traded Teller (and a 2021 seventh-round pick) to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a pair of picks (fifth- and sixth-round) in the 2020 NFL Draft. Teller went on to a stellar seven-season tenure with the Browns.
Cody Ford
Selected by Buffalo in Round 2 (38th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft, Ford signed his four-year rookie deal and spent the entirety of that first season playing right tackle. In that season’s playoff race, Ford was fined more than $28,000 for a blindside block in a game against the Houston Texans. It was a play that garnered plenty of controversy, and one that was ultimately levied as a reduced fine of $4,000 for Ford.
Ford succeeded Spain at left guard in 2020, making seven starts in the regular season, though ultimately benched in favor of Ike Boettger and then later Ryan Bates. The trouble with Ford was his and the team’s inability to nail down a starting spot for long anywhere along the offensive line.
In 2021, Ford moved over to right guard and made seven starts in 15 games played. Ahead of the 2022 NFL season, Ford was traded to the Arizona Cardinals in return for a 2023 fifth-round pick.
Ike Boettger
Offensive lineman Ike Boettger entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent, signing a three-year, $1,71 million deal with Buffalo following the 2018 NFL Draft. After being waived ahead of Week 1 that season, Boettger was claimed by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Boettger made his way back to the Bills following his release from KC later that month, and he went on to play in six games at offensive tackle over the next two seasons. Buffalo tendered (as a restricted free agent/RFA) then re-signed Boettger to a one-year RFA deal for the 2021 NFL season.
Boettger made 10 regular-season starts (15 games played) at left guard during the 2021 season before a torn Achilles claimed the remainder of his season. He re-signed on a one-year, $$1,047,500 million deal with the Bills for the 2022 NFL season, but spent majority of the campaign on Buffalo’s reserve/physically unable to perform (PUP) list as a result of that late-season Achilles injury.
The Bills signed Boettger to another one-year contract ($1,182,500) for the 2023 NFL season, ultimately releasing him at final cutdowns ahead of Week 1.
Jon Feliciano
Offensive guard Jon Feliciano originally arrived in Buffalo in 2019 as a free agent on a two-year, $8.3 million deal that included $2.4 million guaranteed. Beane later re-signed Jon Feliciano to a three-year, $17 million contract. In three seasons with the Bills, Feliciano started 31 of 34 regular-season games, adding four playoff starts among six total postseason games. Buffalo eventually released Feliciano ahead of the 2022 NFL season.
Spencer Long
The Bills signed offensive guard Spencer Long to a three-year, $12.6 million contract early in 2019. The team picked up his second-year option for the 2020 NFL season, ultimately releasing him during training camp later that summer. Long announced his retirement from the NFL two weeks later.
Quinton Spain
After playing out his four-year, undrafted rookie free-agent (UDFA) contract with the Tennessee Titans, Quinton Spain signed a one-year free-agent contract to play for the Bills during the 2019 NFL season. Following a promising season playing every offensive snap in which he didn’t give up a sack, Spain was rewarded with a three-year, $15 million contract extension ahead of the 2020 NFL season.
It was a contract that failed to meet expectations, with Spain starting at left guard only for Weeks 1 and 2 before being benched in favor of Cody Ford and later Brian Winters.
Ryan Bates
At the close of training camp in 2019, Buffalo made a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles that sent defensive end Eli Harold to Philly to acquire versatile undrafted rookie offensive guard Ryan Bates.
Though Bates’ rookie contract was initiated by the Eagles’ front office, he never played a snap with the team. As a rookie, Bates did appear in eight regular-season games and three postseason contests with Buffalo. Bates would go on to play out his rookie contract with the Bills, starting four games in 41 games played over three seasons.
Buffalo tendered Bates, a restricted free agent following his UDFA rookie deal, ahead of free agency in 2022. Bates would pay visits to the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots before meeting with and signing an offer sheet to play for the Chicago Bears during the 2022 season.
We soon learned that Beane decided to match the Bears’ offer to Bates, signing him to a four-year, $17 million deal with the first two years fully guaranteed to the tune of $8.85 million. Bates would go on to play two more seasons with the Bills, starting 15 regular-season games and two playoff matchups in 2022; then appearing in 17 regular-season and two playoff games in 2023.
Beane then decided to trade Bates to Chicago in March of 2024, receiving a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft in return. In five seasons with Buffalo, Bates made 19 starts in 73 regular-season games for the Bills, adding four starts in nine playoff games.
Brian Winters
The Bills signed offensive guard Brian Winters to a one-year, $3 million contract ($2 million guaranteed) ahead of the 2020 NFL season. In one season with Buffalo, Before being benched ahead of a Monday Night Football game late in 2020, Winters started nine regular-season games (16 total), adding in three playoff appearances.
Winters signed a contract to play for the Arizona Cardinals after his lone season with the Bills.
Daryl Williams
A former fourth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers, offensive lineman Daryl Williams signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract to play in Buffalo during the 2020 season. That first year he started at right tackle in every game for the team, including 16 regular-season games, plus three playoff matchups.
The following offseason, Beane managed to re-sign Williams ahead of free-agency’s start, inking him to a three-year deal worth a total of $24 million. The 2021 NFL season saw Williams make the switch (primarily) to right guard, where he again started every game for the team (17 regular-season; 2 playoff). Unfortunately, that was the final season with the Bills — and in the NFL — for Williams, who was released ahead of the 2022 season in part due to cap savings and the emergence of Spencer Brown (at right tackle, where Williams also played).
Rodger Saffold
Buffalo brought in Rodger Saffold on a one-year, $6.25 million free-agent contract for the 2022 season. Saffold brought stability to the position, starting all 16 regular-season games and two playoff matchups, and earning his second career Pro Bowl nomination (as an alternate). The 2022 season would prove to be Saffold’s final NFL campaign.
Connor McGovern
The Bills originally signed offensive guard/center Connor McGovern to a three-year, $22.35 million free-agent contract as a means to replace Saffold’s departure. McGovern started at left guard for every (17) regular-season game and two playoff games of the 2023 NFL season.
For the 2024 NFL season, McGovern took over the starting center role vacated by Mitch Morse. An accomplished multi-role lineman, McGovern played lights out in 16 regular-season games plus three playoff affairs, earning a Pro Bowl alternate nomination in the process.
McGovern signed a four-year $52 million contract extension, a deal that included $32 million guaranteed, in the spring of 2026, which prevented his signing elsewhere in free agency.
David Edwards
Brandon Beane signed offensive guard David Edwards to a one-year free-agent contract in March of 2023. Edwards played a total 16 regular-season and two playoff games in his first season with Buffalo.
Edwards signed a two-year, $6 million extension ahead of the 2024 season, and went on to make 16 regular-season starts and three playoff starts that campaign. In his final season with the Bills, Edwards started 16 of 17 regular-season games played, adding two more starts in the playoffs. Buffalo and Edwards parted ways this past offseason, with him signing a four-year $61 million contract to play for the New Orleans Saints.
Austin Corbett
As chance would have it, another former Panthers player landed with the Bills during the 2026 offseason. Corbett actually entered the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, who made him the 33rd overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Corbett played out his rookie contract in Cleveland before signing to play for Carolina beginning with the 2022 season.
This offseason, Austin Corbett signed a one-year, $1,487,500 deal, which, when considering the veteran salary benefit, will actually count slightly less at $1,262,500 for the 2026 NFL season.
Ar’maj Reed-Adams
The Bills selected offensive guard Ar’maj Reed-Adams with pick 241 (Round 7) of the 2026 NFL Draft. Reed-Adams signed a four-year rookie contract worth $4,509,752 overall.
O’Cyrus Torrence
An oft-chosen first-round mock draft pick of Buffalo in the lead-up to the 2023 NFL Draft, the Bills ultimately selected O’Cyrus Torrence in Round 2 (pick 59 overall). He signed a four-year, $6,220,978 rookie deal following the draft. Adding Torrence in the second round was a move applauded by many due to his fit in the team’s offensive scheme.
Torrence started every game (including playoffs) at right guard for the Bills as a rookie in 2023. He again started every meaningful game for Buffalo during the 2024 NFL season.Torrence reprised that starting streak in 2025, and he led the team in offensive snaps a third consecutive season.
Entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract, Torrence signed a new four-year, $78.4 million contract extension It’s a contract managed by Beane that represents the first of its type given to an offensive guard drafted during his tenure.
