This is the second in a series examining key Bills position groups – what happened in 2025 and what could change in 2026. This installment is on the offensive line.
For the past three seasons, the Buffalo Bills have enjoyed incredibly uncommon good luck with the health of their offensive line. That, along with talented players taking advantage of great coaching by line coach Aaron Kromer has been instrumental to the offensive success the Bills have had.
In 2023, all five starting linemen – Dion Dawkins, O’Cyrus Torrence, Connor McGovern, Mitch Morse and Spencer Brown – played every game which is generally unheard of in the NFL given the injury risk in the trenches.
In 2024, not counting Week 18 when the Bills rested almost everyone, that same group with the exception of David Edwards replacing Morse lost only one man-game to injury when Brown missed the victory over the Chiefs.
And then in 2025, again taking Week 18 out of the equation because the Bills rested many starters, the same 2024 fivesome lost only four man-games to injury – three by Brown and one by Dawkins.
Buffalo Bills offensive line stability meets a crossroad
No offensive line in the NFL has savored the type of continuity that Buffalo’s has in a position group where that intangible is so important, but things are about to change. Kromer has retired and since been replaced by veteran O-line coach Pat Meyer, while McGovern and Edwards are set to become unrestricted free agents, and it seems like a stretch – given the always challenging salary cap situation the Bills are in – that general manager Brandon Beane will be able to re-sign either, let alone both.
“Obviously, some of it is going to be dictated by salary cap and guys who are free agents, so they’ll have opportunities to see what their value is and what we can afford within the cap,” Beane said. “We have to find answers in case we lose them because these guys, you have to assume, when you get this close, you may lose them. So, all it takes is one team to wow them with a number that you just can’t compete with. But I’m still hopeful that maybe we can get one back.”
As much as fans will scream for a revamped wide receiver room, and rightly so, what will be equally important for Beane and head coach Joe Brady is to make sure Josh Allen is protected and James Cook is blocked for.
“I think anytime you can have consistency and the people that are out there playing, especially at the O-line position, where you’re next to each other, making the communication calls, understanding how you’re approaching blocks, (it’s important),” Brady said late in the 2025 season when he was still the offensive coordinator. “That continuity is huge.”
Bills offensive line by the numbers
Pro Football Focus grades offensive line play throughout the season and at the end of 2024 it ranked Buffalo’s unit fifth-best overall in the league, a year when Allen was sacked just 14 times and PFF attributed only four of those to the linemen. The Bills also ranked 11th in rushing yards per attempt (4.5) and Cook finished with a 4.9 average and scored 16 TDs.
This past season, the Bills finished sixth in PFF’s offensive line rankings, even though Allen was sacked 40 times and the line was blamed for 17. The reason for dropping just one spot was the success in the run game as Cook won the league’s rushing title with 1,621 yards, and the Bills ranked No. 1 at 159.6 yards per game and second at 5.0 yards per attempt.
“Just the dirty work that they put in each and every week,” Cook said when asked how important the line was to his success in 2025. “They stick through a lot of stuff just by being banged up, and they just keep going.”
The loss of Kromer is substantial because not only was he one of the best line coaches in the NFL, he was largely responsible for the run game plan. That role will now probably fall to new offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, and it will be more difficult if the Bills lose either McGovern or Edwards or both.
“He’s meant everything,” Torrence said upon hearing the news of Kromer’s retirement the day the Bills cleaned out their lockers following the divisional round playoff loss to the Broncos. “From coming into the league and being able to start, I feel like I have to give him most of the props. I know I had the talent inside me already, but him being the coach he was, to make me believe in myself, to be able to go out there and start and block the high-caliber guys I had to block from rookie year to last year to this year. I feel like my success is largely a part of him being here and being my coach.”
Connor McGovern and David Edwards market outlook
McGovern is certainly a player who Brady respects. PFF gave McGovern its 13th-highest overall grade among 21 centers who played at least 900 snaps, but he was graded third-best in pass blocking. According to PFF charting, among those 21 centers he was one of only five who did not allow a sack (he didn’t allow one in 2024, either) and his yield of 15 pressures was fifth-fewest. Sports contract site Spotrac has projected McGovern’s market value at around $16 million per year.
“He’s kind of like the glue guy of the crew up there,” Brady said of McGovern in December. “He is as tough as it gets. I feel like every game, it looks after the game like he can’t even move, but he doesn’t blink and he’s ready to go to practice the next day. He embraces the grittiness and the toughness that it takes to be an offensive lineman. He’s an elite communicator, really does a great job just communicating to the guys to the left and right of him, and making sure Josh and everything were in the right play call.”
Edwards, probably the most overlooked of Buffalo’s linemen, actually graded out better than Torrence. Among 36 guards who played at least 900 snaps, Edwards’ PFF grade ranked 13th while Torrence’s ranked 26th. Spotrac has projected Edwards’ market value at around $20 million.
In-house options and offseason plan for Bills offensive line
The Bills have potential in-house replacements with backups Alec Anderson and Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, both of whom can play center while Anderson can also play guard. It’s uncertain how much the Bills trust their interior depth, but if they lose McGovern and/or Edwards, Beane may have to expend resources in free agency or the draft because inserting two replacement-level players would be a risky play.
“I think where I’m at is if we lost both of those guys, then those (depth) guys can compete for it, but I would bring in competition. Best man wins,” Beane said.
Beane said the scouts would be back at One Bills Drive this week to begin the process of preparing for the scouting combine, the draft, and free agency, and offensive line is going to be a key topic.
“I believe in our staff that we can find some people, the way we found (McGovern and Edwards), those guys on the lower end of the (free agent) salary. “I give our pro scouts credit for doing that. We’ll be up there meeting every day this week now, narrowing down that pool for me to look at, and then the ones I’m in a lockstep with them. Then we’ll have the coaches kind of look at them, once we get all that settled, and see the ones we’re aligned on.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 36 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills face offensive line shakeup after years of unmatched stability
Reporting by Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
