The Buffalo Bills recognize the importance of a strong starting five along the offensive line. They also recognize the value of versatility in their offensive linemen. Most of their linemen on the 90-man roster are able to slot in at multiple positions. While that is a trait that they actively seek in reserve offensive linemen, it’s not one that’s exclusive to their reserves. The Bills have a few starting linemen who either could play elsewhere along the line or have done so already at the professional
level.
What this does for the team is that it allows the Bills’ offensive coaches to determine what the best group of five is up front. While some regimes might see a player who is a tackle and keep him outside, never testing his ability as a guard, the Bills try to put the best group of five athletes on the field that they can. This is one of many reasons why the team has been so good up front over the last few seasons.
In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we discuss Buffalo’s center, a player the team still lists at guard.
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Name: Connor McGovern
Number: 66
Position: G
Height/Weight: 6’5”, 318 pounds
Age: 27 (28 on 11/3/2025)
Experience/Draft: 7; selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round (No. 90 overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft
College: Penn State
Acquired: Signed with Buffalo on 3/16/2023
Financial situation (per Spotrac): McGovern enters the final year of the three-year, $24 million deal he signed with Buffalo two offseasons ago. His cap number for this year is $9.385 million if he makes the 53-man roster. If the Bills were to release him, they’d owe a dead-cap charge of $8.74 million, which constitutes the total remaining guarantees on the deal. Those guarantees are slated to count against Buffalo’s cap via void years from 2026-2028.
2024 Recap: McGovern slid over from left guard to center last season, replacing veteran Mitch Morse, whom the team released for salary cap reasons. McGovern looked like a natural in his first pro season at center, as he played in all of Buffalo’s games that mattered in both the regular season and the postseason. He sat out the team’s regular-season finale against the New England Patriots because the Bills had clinched the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
Pro Football Focus graded him at a 69.6 for the year, which was 12th out of all qualifying centers. McGovern was named to his first career Pro Bowl in his first season at a new position. He did not allow a sack on the season.
Positional outlook: McGovern is still listed at guard, but he’s the team’s starting center. Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, Kendrick Green, and Jacob Bayer are the other listed centers on the roster. Alec Anderson, who serves as the team’s sixth offensive lineman, is listed as a tackle, but mostly plays the interior offensive line when not acting as a jumbo-package sub player, can also play the pivot.
2025 Offseason: McGovern is on track to retain his starting gig. He has been healthy for most of the offseason, though a hamstring tweak in the joint practice with the Chicago Bears prior to the preseason game against them caused him to miss that exhibition contest.
2025 Season outlook: McGovern will once again be Buffalo’s starting center, and I expect that he’ll be a very valuable asset for the club this season, as well. McGovern is a very good offensive lineman who can use his brute strength in addition to his quickness and agility to create gaps in the run game. He’s also heady enough to diagnose what’s in front of him and maintain his pass protection even in the face of some difficult disguises.
With the extensions recently given out to multiple young players, it’s hard to see a situation where the Bills can also afford to pay McGovern what he’s worth beyond this season, so I’d wager a guess that this is his final year with the Bills. By continuing to list him as a guard, the Bills are doing McGovern a solid, as guards are paid much better on average than are centers. This could lead to an interesting scenario in the offseason where other teams might try to devalue McGovern from a contract standpoint because of the position he will have played for two years with the Bills. McGovern is currently the NFL’s seventh-highest paid center, but his current contract would put him just 23rd among guards.
None of the financial stuff matters for 2025. McGovern is a very good player who acts as the glue to this offensive line, and his ability to swap positions seamlessly has made the lives of all of Buffalo’s offensive stakeholders much easier. As long as he’s healthy, he’ll be the guy who touches the ball on every play, giving the ball to the man that all the fans paid to see. McGovern is a great fit for this team.
