Buffalo Bills re-sign guard Ike Boettger to solidify depth at offensive guard

Even though the 2021 NFL Draft is less than two days away, the Buffalo Bills were not done making moves to improve the roster. On Tuesday, the Bills announced they had re-signed offensive guard Ike Boettger to a one-year deal.

This was a deal that seemed like it was only a matter of time before it happened after the team made him a restricted free agent by using the right of first refusal tender earlier in the offseason. This essentially gave the team the option to bring Boettger back if he were to sign with another team for the deal agreed upon.

It never got to that point as and the Bills solidify the depth at the position with the return of Ike Boettger. He originally joined the team in 2017 as an undrafted free agent and remained with the team except for a brief 10-day run with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018.

He would appear in six games during the 2018 and 2019 season but it wasn’t until this past year that he had the chance to see extended playing time. This past season Boettger played in 12 games, including seven starts during the regular season and all three playoff games.

He had the chance to start after Cody Ford suffered a season-ending knee injury at a time the Buffalo Bills were shuffling their offensive line. They had just gotten Jon Feliciano back from his injury but then lost Mitch Morse for two games and Feliciano replaced him at center.

Once Morse returned, the coaching staff settled on a starting offensive line that had Feliciano at right guard and Boettger at left guard. He will now return to the team and compete for a starting job with Cody Ford, who is expected to be ready at the start of the year, and recently signed free agent signing Forrest Lamp.