Heading into the 2019 NFL league year, the Bills had the least amount of money allocated to their offensive line. They headed into the legal tampering period of free agency with just over $75 million in salary cap space. They also have ten picks in the upcoming NFL Draft. Most NFL fans could imagine that they will spend a good chunk of that to upgrade their line.
Heading into Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens, the Bills had the worst starting offensive line in the league. The Bills rolled out there with Dion Dawkins, Vladimir Ducasse, Ryan Groy, John Miller, and Jordan Mills. That looks ugly especially when they had Nathan Peterman start the first game, with their backup plan being rookie Josh Allen.
It took the Bills about two weeks to realize they need to shake up and put Allen in at quarterback. In that same time period, they made a change at center and replaced Groy with Russell Bodine. Then, it took until Week 10 for the Bills to replace Ducasse with rookie Wyatt Teller.
Throughout the season, whoever was playing quarterback was scrambling all over the place and the run game was tripping over itself with Allen leading the team in rushing, mostly off scrambles.
Since the end of the 2018 season, the Bills have signed center/guard Spencer Long to a three year/$12.6 million contract, added center Mitch Morse to a four-year/$44 million contract, and have signed Ty Nsekhe to a two year/$14.5 million contract.
The Bills are hoping they are getting the Spencer Long that played for the Washington Redskins. He was a solid left guard and center and in 40 career games only committed one total penalty.
With Morse, the Bills signed one of the top free agent centers this season. He is coming over from Kansas City, where had the best offense in the league. He was the anchor and called the line. He hasn’t allowed a sack on 1543 pass blocking snaps.
Nsekhe is an up and coming lineman who can play tackle or guard and both the right and left side. He came through the AFL and then was signed by the Redskins in 2015. He has only started a handful of games and could be a wait-and-see player depending on where he fits.
As of today, the Bills offensive line looks like Dion Dawkins, Wyatt Teller, Mitch Morse, Spencer Long, and Ty Nsekhe. There is still time and room to improve.
This is definitely not the end of the Bills improving their offensive line, as they still have around $55 million in cap space and 10 draft picks. Currently, the Bills select at ninth-overall in the draft and can land one of the top offensive tackles (Jonah Williams, Jawaan Taylor, or Dalton Risner).
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