Salary cap limitations may make Bills lineman expendable

When the Buffalo Bills made the decision to churn their offensive line following a 2023 season when the unit had performed so well, it felt like a somewhat unnecessary risk.

But staring at severe salary cap issues, general manager Brandon Beane concluded that moving on from expensive 31-year-old center Mitch Morse was the right move, even though it shattered the line’s continuity and resulted in the changing of two positions.

One year later, it can safely be argued that the risk was well worth it because the Bills’ 2024 offensive line was one of the best in the NFL as Connor McGovern superbly replaced Morse and David Edwards - who was re-signed as a low-tier free agent - excelled in McGovern’s vacated left guard spot.

“What Aaron Kromer and Austin Gund and that group did was impressive,” Beane said. “You always hope, first off, that the group’s going to stay healthy because that unit, they need that continuity, that communication piece. And those guys played well. We were the first team that rushed for 30 touchdowns and threw for 30 touchdowns. That starts with the guys up front.”

Buffalo Bills salary cap situation will force tough decisions

However, just like at the end of 2023, all five starters are still under contract but Beane has another potentially perplexing decision to make that could again upset the continuity of the line.

According to estimates by the sports contract website Spotrac.com, the Bills are around $12 million over the projected salary cap and among the levers Beane will have to pull to get cap compliant is releasing some veteran players, and Edwards seems to be a likely target.

If Edwards is released, the Bills would save $4 million while incurring a miniscule dead cap hit of $875,000. And while the financials certainly work, the other factor at play is that if there’s one thing the Bills have done well in their recent roster building, they have invested in young and inexpensive depth for their offensive line.

To that end, the 28-year-old Edwards is quite a bargain, too. He signed a two-year, $6 million contract last March and easily out-performed that deal in 2024. According to Pro Football Focus there were 38 guards who played at least 1,000 snaps counting the postseason and Edwards had the 17th-best overall blocking grade of that group. PFF tagged him with just one sack and 30 QB pressures allowed on 686 pass blocking snaps and he was also a solid, athletic run blocker.

With Edwards doing his part, PFF graded Buffalo’s offensive line as the fifth-best in the NFL behind only Philadelphia, Denver, Tampa Bay and Detroit. PFF deemed linemen - starters and reserves - responsible for only four of the league-low 14 sacks Josh Allen suffered in 2024, by far the fewest of any offensive line.

“I think it does a lot for just the team in general,” right guard O’Cyrus Torrence said of a line staying together. “I feel like good offensive lines help the team as a whole together. So seeing that the same five guys are going to be back, and a lot of the same like backups are going to be back, I think it’s gonna help keep the core of the team together.”

Why David Edwards may be expandable for the Bills

Well, not so fast because Edwards may be expendable.

Alec Anderson, who just signed his exclusive rights free agent deal for 2025 at $1 million, is someone who saw extensive playing time last season, interestingly in the same role Edwards had in 2023 as the sixth offensive lineman in jumbo packages. He can play guard or center and that versatility is crucial. Edwards is strictly a guard.

And the Bills drafted two players in 2024 - Sedrick Van Pran-Granger and Tylan Grable - who they seem willing to give opportunities to in 2025. Van Pran-Granger was active for all but three games as a backup guard-center and he would be in competition with Anderson at left guard.

Grable won the swing tackle position in training camp and was active for the first three games before suffering a core muscle injury that cost him three months. When he was healthy, he regained that job from Ryan Van Demark and was active for the season finale and all three playoff games.

Grable is similar in size to Anderson and given that he’s stuck behind Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown at tackle, he could be a candidate to fill that sixth man role if Edwards were released and Anderson won the left guard job.

That’s how you could move on from Edwards on the field, and then at the bank, Anderson, Van Pran-Granger and Grable count a combined $3.1 million, nearly a million less than Edwards.

“I’m so proud of our O-line this year,” Allen said. “They’ve played fantastic again, another year where just the numbers of those guys being able to play the entire season, it’s a special group.”

Yet if Beane is really pressed to find cap space, it’s possible that not all five will be returning and Edwards looks like he’d be the odd man out.