The Buffalo Bills have added to their Offensive Line for 2023 by signing Connor McGovern to a 3 year $22.35 million contract. McGovern has indicated that he expects to play left guard, where he should provide stability next to Dion Dawkins. He is young enough to project continued improvement which is what the Bills are counting on with this signing.
Meanwhile, his athleticism and positional flexibility, along with Ryan Bates’ ability to play either guard spot provide the Bills with some flexibility moving forward. Regardless of how the individual positions shake out, the Bills need to do more to beef up a line that PFF has ranked in the bottom third of the league for the past two seasons.
The market for offensive linemen has not developed the way many projected, with a few of the top options receiving large contracts, but many of the middle-tier options struggling to find deals in the first week of free agency. This development provides the Bills with an interesting opportunity to continue to add affordable depth through free agency, and possibly add players who seemed to be out of their price range at the start of free agency.
While they will likely add at least one offensive lineman early in the draft, there are plenty of options to add depth still available in free agency. Given Brandon Beane’s success in identifying under-valued players late in free agency and bringing them in to be big contributors, expect him to be active over the coming days to continue to address needs before the draft so the Bills are not reliant on rookies entering the 2023 season.