While injuries derailed the Buffalo Bills at multiple positions during the 2025 NFL season, one spot where injuries did not impact the team much was along the offensive line. Especially when evaluating the interior offensive linemen, the Bills were able to remain quite healthy, as they started the same combination of players at left guard, center, and right guard in 16 of the team’s 17 games. The only game where they didn’t start the same interior trio was the regular-season finale, and that was done
to rest and preserve players’ health heading into the playoffs.
That doesn’t mean that the interior offensive line was without dings — Buffalo’s center, in particular, dealt with nagging injuries all season despite playing nearly every snap. President of football operations/general manager Brandon Beane has done a fine job of adding depth along the offensive line throughout his tenure, consistently developing late-round players into viable reserves while also finding strong contributors in free agency to protect franchise quarterback Josh Allen.
Entering this offseason, however, the Bills find themselves at a crossroads along the offensive line. Two of their three interior starters are set to hit free agency. The third starter is about to enter the final year of his rookie contract. The Bills are tight against the salary cap. How will they approach the offensive line? Will they try to retain their 2025 starters? Will they be able to retain those players even if they want to keep them?
In today’s look at the state of the Buffalo Bills roster, we discuss the players Buffalo lists as interior offensive linemen on their official website.
_____________________________________________________________________________
David Edwards
Contract Status for 2026: Unsigned; UFA
Age: 28 (29 on 3/20/2026)
Playing Time: 17 games (16 starts), 1,035 offensive snaps (91.43% of team total), 75 special teams snaps (17.28% of team total)
Key Statistics: 3 penalties, 3 sacks allowed, 71.4 PFF grade (19/81 guards)
Edwards wasn’t Buffalo’s most talked about lineman last season, nor was he the biggest or the strongest. What he might be, though, is the most cerebral, as he was often the player making checks up front and assisting Josh Allen in setting protections. Keeping Edwards on the team is likely to be something Brandon Beane wants to do, but it also might be something that he can’t do thanks to Buffalo’s salary cap situation.
The Bills will be faced with the age-old choice in the NFL: Do they maintain the status quo at a position where they’ve had plenty of success? Or, do they trust the depth that they’ve built over the years to step in once the starters earn the right to ask for more money? Edwards will likely test his market, but the Bills should make an honest attempt to re-sign him.
Connor McGovern
Contract Status for 2026: Unsigned; UFA
Age: 28 (29 on 11/3/2026)
Playing Time: 16 games (16 starts), 1,037 offensive snaps (91.61% of team total)
Key Statistics: 5 penalties, 0 sacks allowed, 69.1 PFF grade (15/40 centers)
Speaking of players the Bills would like to re-sign, McGovern has been an asset for the team at multiple positions during his time with the club. He was very good at left guard after signing with Buffalo before the 2023 season, but he’s been outstanding at center since shifting to the pivot for the 2024 season. McGovern gutted through injury this season and was once again one of the better centers in football.
Will the Bills be able to afford to keep him in the fold? Do they have the depth at center to withstand losing him? That’s just one of many big questions Brandon Beane will have to answer this offseason.
O’Cyrus Torrence
Contract Status for 2026: Signed; final year of four-year rookie contract ($1,979,402 cap hit; $381,087 dead-cap number)
Age: 25 (26 on 1/20/2026)
Playing Time: 17 games (17 starts), 1,129 offensive snaps (99.73% of team total), 75 special teams snaps (17.28% of team total)
Key Statistics: 1 penalty, 3 sacks allowed, 59.9 PFF grade (44/81 guards)
Torrence is a funny player to evaluate. When I watch the games, I almost always like what I see from him, especially in the run game. He’s a road-grader type who bullies defensive linemen and linebackers alike while clearing space for James Cook III and the rest of Buffalo’s top-notch run game. Sometimes, though, he can be a little off in pass protection, and he’s still not great at passing players off when picking up games and stunts up front.
Given that this is the final year of his rookie deal, Buffalo has some questions to answer as it relates to the salary cap. Are they going to give Torrence a big-money extension? Will they forgo the extension for Torrence and retain one — or both — of Edwards and McGovern instead? Some of the choices might come down to what kind of offense Joe Brady wants to build as the head coach rather than as the offensive coordinator. It also might boil down to finances.
Sedrick Van Pran-Granger
Contract Status for 2026: Signed; third year of four-year rookie contract ($1,163,813 cap hit; $177,626 dead-cap number)
Age: 24 (25 on 10/23/2026)
Playing Time: 15 games (1 start), 57 special teams snaps (13.13% of team total), 97 offensive snaps (8.57% of team total)
Key Statistics: 1 penalty, 0 sacks allowed
In his second professional season, Van Pran-Granger had one big opportunity to play. That game was the regular-season finale against the New York Jets, and while the obvious caveat here is that his performance came against the New York Jets, the fact remains that SVPG acquitted himself well in that contest. Buffalo ran for 211 yards and a score, and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky took zero sacks on the afternoon, so the nearly all-reserve offensive line held up well.
Van Pran-Granger could be in the running for a starting gig next season given that both Connor McGovern and Alec Anderson are slated to become free agents, but it’s also possible that one or both of those players return next season.
Nick Broeker
Contract Status for 2026: Signed reserve/future deal on 1/13/2026 (one-year deal worth $1.08 million; $5,000 dead-cap number)
Age: 25 (26 on 10/7/2026)
Playing Time: NA
Key Statistics: NA
Broeker is a former seventh-round pick of the Bills, and while he’s never played a regular-season game with the team, it’s his third stint on the roster. He’ll have a chance to compete for a roster spot this summer.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Final Thoughts
Presenting this positional group comes with a pair of very large caveats: While the team lists Alec Anderson and Tylen Grable as offensive tackles, each player has spent a significant amount of time on the interior. Anderson, in particular, profiles more like a guard or a center at this point than he does a tackle. While we strive to discuss the players in the positional groups where the team lists them, it feels incomplete to have a discussion about Buffalo’s guards without mentioning Anderson and Grable as legitimate options inside.
As much as the Bills likely want to keep Edwards and McGovern in the fold, doing so while also trying to sign Torrence to an extension is not likely due to the constraints of the salary cap. If I had to guess, the Bills will likely prioritize re-signing McGovern over Edwards, as the center position is more valuable overall than a guard position. That’s not to demean Edwards, as his teammates would argue that he was their most intelligent lineman, which obviously comes as a huge advantage when trying to diagnose complex blitzes, games, and stunts up front. With that in mind, losing Edwards might actually hurt worse than losing McGovern, as the Bills have more centers with in-game experience than they do legitimate options at guard.
Does the offensive line look better with Alec Anderson in the lineup? If so, do you prefer him at center or guard? He’s seen more time at center, so if you think that he’d be an adequate replacement for McGovern, perhaps re-signing Edwards is the way to go. Maybe you’re a big Sedrick Van Pran-Granger fan, though, and you think he is ready to step into a starting role. Do you re-sign Edwards, then? Or, maybe you want nothing to do with re-signing a pair of veteran linemen with Spotrac market values of $19.9 million (Edwards) and $16.2 million (McGovern), so you’re going to re-sign Torrence and let Anderson, Van Pran-Granger, and Tylan Grable duke it out for two starting spots.
The positive here is that the Bills have options, and all of those options come with some benefits. There is also risk involved, as Anderson hasn’t played much aside from his snaps as the sixth lineman, and neither Grable nor Van Pran-Granger has started a game with any real stakes attached. Buffalo could scour the bottom of the veteran free-agent market for someone who might fit the mold of either Edwards or McGovern before their values skyrocketed. Sean Rhyan from the Green Bay Packers is one example, as is Evan Neal of the New York Giants. Both plyers come with risk, as Rhyan was graded 31st out of 40 centers with a 59 PFF grade and a league-worst 38.9 pass-block grade among qualifying centers. Neal spent most of the year on injured reserve with hamstring and neck issues.
Buffalo could also spend draft picks on the interior offensive line, which would likely be a better move than trying to sign castaways from other squads. Olaivavega Ioane from Penn State, Gennings Dunker from Iowa, and Emmanuel Pregnon from Oregon would all require premium picks, but they would immediately jump in and provide help at guard. Connor Lew from Auburn, Jake Slaughter from Florida, and Logan Jones from Iowa are centers who could likely step right in and contribute.
With needs at wide receiver, linebacker, edge rusher, and defensive end to consider, it will be interesting to see exactly what Beane and the Bills choose to do along the offensive line. The game is won and lost in the trenches, so without a solid plan up front, most, if not all, of the other plans are moot.
I think I’d be inclined to trust the depth here while trying to re-sign one of team’s two pending free agents. I’d have a backup plan, though, as I am not confident that the Bills will be able to meet either Edwards’ asking price or McGovern’s.
