The Buffalo Bills will have to find other offensive line depth this offseason, as Ryan Van Demark is officially off to Minnesota, per Tom Pelissero. The Bills had five days to match the Vikings' offer to restricted free agent Van Demark and opted not to so, now he'll be wearing purple and the Bills have some work to do with their o-line depth.
It was a bit surprising that the Bills didn't end up matching the offer. Sure, Van Demark was only a backup for them but he stepped up to the plate and delivered whenever the Bills needed him to. A prime example of that was when both Spencer Brown and Dion Dawkins had to miss the game against the Steelers but Buffalo still managed 249 rushing yards.
Finding reliable offensive line depth is hard to do in this league and the Bills seemingly had an excellent option in that department. Furthermore, keeping Van Demark wouldn't have cost them a ton, as the Vikings ended up inking him to a deal worth $4.2 million.
Bills could end up regretting Ryan Van Demark decision
The Vikings were clearly interested in the former undrafted free agent, however, and it's a rare time we've seen an RFA deal end with the player going to a different team.
Losing a backup is never the end of the world but this is a bit of a puzzling decision by Brandon Beane and the front office. Van Demark played well when called upon, was a good locker room presence, and was inexpensive. Why didn't Buffalo match the offer and keep him as a blocker for Josh Allen?
We'll have to see if this ends up backfiring on the Bills or if we look back at this moment and realize the front office made the right call. For now, however, it's understandable why some fans might be confused by this decision.