The Buffalo Bills deploy two of the NFL’s best offensive tackles in their starting lineup. Both of those players are under contract for the 2026 season. Does that mean that the team has nothing to do along the offensive front — at least as it relates to the tackle position?
President of football operations/general manager Brandon Beane is known to build depth along the offensive line, and the Bills have had success finding athletic, developmental prospects late in the NFL Draft and via the free-agent
process after drafts. The Bills have built an enviable stable of depth along the offensive line, and while they have been fortunate enough where they haven’t had to use most of it, when it’s been necessary to start backups, the offensive tackle reserves have performed well.
In another look at the state of the Buffalo Bills roster, we discuss the offensive tackles.
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LT Dion Dawkins
Contract Status for 2026: Signed; second year of three-year $60.06 million contract ($24,877,333 cap hit; $21,946,833 dead-cap number)
Age: 31 (32 on 4/26/2026)
Playing Time: 15 games (15 starts), 957 offensive snaps (84.54% of team total), 67 special teams snaps (15.44% of team total)
Key Statistics: 10 penalties, 6 sacks allowed, 73.9 PFF Grade (28/89 tackles)
Buffalo’s Walter Payton Man of the Year remains a franchise cornerstone. Dion Dawkins is consistently graded among the league’s better offensive linemen, and while it’s fair to say that he’s closer to very good than he is elite, he’s still an asset to the team both on the field and in the locker room.
The Bills can clear a boatload of space on the salary cap by restructuring his contract, which would help the team in its pursuit to improve the roster through free agency. While such an action would add void years and “kick the can down the line,” it’s a sacrifice that Brandon Beane needs to be willing to make.
Dawkins isn’t going anywhere, so ensuring that he remains on the roster at a more palatable cap figure is a good idea. According to Spotrac, a base and bonus conversion plus adding three void years would reduce Dawkins’ 2026 cap hit to $12.8 million. In an offseason where the Bills need every penny they can find, I’d expect that Buffalo’s front office will do something similar.
RT Spencer Brown
Contract Status for 2026: Signed; second year of four-year $72 million contract ($8.97 million cap hit; $30.915 million dead-cap number)
Age: 28 (29 on 2/28/2027)
Playing Time: 14 games (13 starts), 846 offensive snaps (74.73% of team total), 21 special teams snaps (4.84% of team total)
Key Statistics: 4 penalties, 3 sacks allowed, 76.2 PFF grade (21/89 tackles)
Speaking of players who embody the culture of the team, Brown has gone from a super-athletic developmental project to one of the better right tackles in the NFL over the course of the last few seasons. Even as he battled some injuries this past season, Brown was one of Buffalo’s most consistent players overall when he was on the field.
Now entering the second year of the big contract extension he signed before last season, Brown recently had his contract restructured to give the Bills more cap space. Buffalo whacked around $11 million from his 2026 cap number and pushed some money on down the line with void years in 2029 and 2030. Does it make for some potential cap problems in the future? Absolutely. Can Beane afford to sit on his hands and assume that he’ll still have a job five years from now? I don’t think he can.
Reworking Brown’s contract keeps him in town while also giving the Bills room to add talent to their roster.
RT/swing Chase Lundt
Contract Status for 2026: Signed; second year of four-year rookie contract ($1,056,231 cap hit; $153,693 dead-cap number)
Age: 25 (26 on 6/16/2026)
Playing Time: 2 games, 3 offensive snaps (.27% of team total), 5 special teams snaps (1.15% of team total)
Key Statistics: NA
Lundt’s rookie year was essentially a red-shirt season. He’ll look to compete for a jersey on game days next season, and depending on what the Bills do with Van Demark and Anderson — and then in free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft — Lundt could have a clearer path to backup work on Sundays.
LT/swing Tylan Grable
Contract Status for 2026: Signed; third year of four-year rookie contract ($1,117,478 cap hit; $84,956 dead-cap number)
Age: 26 (27 on 10/4/2026)
Playing Time: 1 game (1 start), 72 offensive snaps (6.36% of team total)
Key Statistics: NA
After spending most of his rookie season as the active swing tackle, Grable missed most of his second campaign on Injured Reserve thanks to a concussion. Grable’s third pro season could go in myriad directions. He could be a starter at left guard, as he’s spent time cross-training on the inside. He could be a swing tackle like he was in 2024. Or, he could be a healthy scratch on game days if the Bills have more offensive linemen than they need. I think it’s almost a given that he’ll be on the team this coming season, but his role remains in flux.
LT/swing Ryan Van Demark
Contract Status for 2026: Unsigned; RFA
Age: 27 (28 on 3/22/2026)
Playing Time: 17 games (4 starts), 312 offensive snaps (27.56% of team total), 75 special teams snaps (17.28% of team total)
Key Statistics: 3 penalties, 2 sacks allowed, 74.4 PFF grade (25/89 tackles)
Buffalo’s top reserve on the outside of the line did a great job in spot duty this season. He handled a tough assignment against edge rusher T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers very well, and he also played well in relief of Spencer Brown the following week against the Cincinnati Bengals.
I’m sure that Buffalo would love to retain his services, but given the needs elsewhere on the roster, it wouldn’t surprise me for Van Demark to take an opportunity somewhere else that might offer more pay and more opportunity for regular playing time. He’s earned the right to gamble on himself at this point in his career, and the Bills happen to be blessed with two excellent starting tackles and an abundance of young depth at the position.
Buffalo will probably try to keep him, but I wouldn’t expect him to be back.
RT/swing Alec Anderson
Contract Status for 2026: Signed one-year extension worth $2.5 million ($2.5 million cap hit; $1.8 million dead-cap if released)
Age: 26 (27 on 10/3/2026)
Playing Time: 17 games (2 starts), 127 special teams snaps (29.26% of team total), 189 offensive snaps (16.7% of offensive total)
Key Statistics: 2 penalties
Alec Anderson has been a valuable reserve for the club, serving as a sixth offensive lineman in heavy packages and as a backup along the interior offensive line, as well. The team clearly values him, as they gave him a nearly fully guaranteed deal for the 2026 season without having to deal with signing an RFA tender.
Anderson could serve as a sixth lineman again this year, and he could also be the primary swing tackle if Van Demark leaves via free agency. However, he’ll also likely be in the mix for a starting job at left guard, as he has played everywhere along the offensive line at some point.
Arguably, the Bills have used Anderson more as an interior offensive lineman than they have as a tackle, so it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see him start inside this season.
LT Richard Gouraige
Contract Status for 2026: Signed; final year of two-year practice-squad contract
Age: 27 (28 on 10/15/2026)
Playing Time: NA
Key Statistics: NA
Gouraige is familiar with the offensive system, having spent the last two seasons on the practice squad. However, he did not appear in a game this past season, and the Bills have shown that they aren’t afraid to add an abundance of depth along the offensive line. Gouraige is likely fighting for a roster spot again next year.
RT/swing Travis Clayton
Contract Status for 2026: Signed; third year of four-year rookie contract
Age: 25 (26 on 2/17/2027)
Playing Time: NA
Key Statistics: NA
The big, athletic former rugby player has yet to appear in a real game for Buffalo, but he has been toiling on the practice squad for two seasons. Is the 2026 season the time Clayton makes an impact on game days? While I wouldn’t bet on it, especially given the depth Buffalo has up front, Clayton’s athletic prowess is at least intriguing enough to explore this summer.
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Final Thoughts
With all the needs the Bills have on their current roster, this isn’t a place where the team needs to overthink. Re-signing Alec Anderson was tremendous, as it gives the team a baseline for a solid reserve tackle at worst, and it also gives them a potential combatant in a hypothetical battle for what should be a vacant left guard job.
Now that we know Connor McGovern is back in the fold, it takes out the possibility of Anderson playing center, but he could find himself in a battle with Tylan Grable for that job despite the fact that both players are listed on the team’s official roster as tackles.
Buffalo’s policy of cross-ttraining offensive linemen comes in handy here, as they might be a little limited in terms of interior linemen who are actually listed as interior linemen, but they have some depth in the offensive line grouping overall. In the tackle group alone, they have Dawkins, Brown, Anderson, Grable, Lundt, and Gouraige under contract for next season. If the team goes in the same direction it has recently, I could see the top five in that list all making the roster, with Gouraige sticking around as a practice-squad signee after final cuts are made in August.
Buffalo could make a push-to re-sign Ryan Van Demark, as well, as he has proven himself to be a valuable swing tackle in spot-start duty over the last two seasons. He also might be able to find an opportunity elsewhere with a greater likelihood of sustained playing time. If he wants to test the market, I assume the Bills will let him do so.
We already saw a restructure of Spencer Brown’s contract, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a restructure of Dion Dawkins’ deal, as well, to open up more cap space. There have been some trade rumors about Buffalo’s longest-tenured offensive player, but frankly, I believe dealing one of their locker room leaders would be dumb, especially as he continues to play at a high level overall.
This isn’t a position where Buffalo needs to do much. Decide whether or not to re-sign Van Demark, consider adding a versatile late-round player who could develop into a solid backup, and call it a day. The offensive tackle group is a solid one overall.
