This past week, the Buffalo Bills signed veteran defensive tackle Greg Gaines to beef up their defensive line. Gaines played with the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout his career and now he joins another contender in Buffalo as a rotational player.
Gaines hasn't been an All-Pro like player, but he has been a solid rotational piece in the defenses that he has been in. Now with the Bills moving to a new 3-4 scheme, the Bills are looking to make the necessary changes that were needed and Gaines will look to be part of it.
Addition of Greg Gaines helps Bills with veteran presence in trenches
Gaines doesn’t just have Super Bowl experience, he also has a great act for helping stuff the run in the middle. Deone Walker is set to the main guy in the middle, but there was plenty of depth behind him. The addition of Gaines gives the Bills a veteran who has played in big games and has been doing it for awhile now.
With the Bills being mentioned as a team that was interested in trading for Vita Vea from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per Mike Garafolo, seeing the Bills made some kind of move at defensive tackle shouldn’t come as a major shock. Now with Vea agreeing to an extension with the Bucs, per Adam Schefter, it makes sense why the Bills managed to bring in Gaines.
With the Bills signing Gaines, they released another defensive tackle in Tommy Akingbesote, so it was essentially a swap. However, the signing of Gaines did create some speculation on what it could mean for the rest of the depth guys behind Walker. However, head coach Joe Brady has made it clear that it doesn't make an impact with a specific defensive tackle that has yet to make a real impact.
Joe Brady makes clear message about DeWayne Carter's roster impact with Greg Gaines signing
Brady spoke with the media earlier on Thursday, and according to Andy Young of Spectrum News 1, Brady not only talked about liking Gaines’ veteran presence, but that him getting signed by the Bills “is not an indictment on DeWayne Carter.”
Joe Brady says newly signed DT Greg Gaines has been a problem in his other NFL stops and likes his veteran presence.
— Andy Young (@AndyYoungTV) August 20, 2026
Brady says the signing of Gaines is not an indictment on DeWayne Carter. #BillsMafia
Maybe this truly is the case, or maybe something changes. Either way, added competition is great to see and Carter definitely needs it. He missed all of last season due to a torn Achilles injury, and then his rookie season was underwhelming once he sustained a wrist injury.
Now with adding Gaines, it is safe to say that Carter faces a good amount of pressure for the rest of the summer and if Gaines does outperform him, there could be a world where Gaines isn’t just ahead of Carter on the depth chart, but maybe he will even take a roster spot from him as well.
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