Connor McGovern center Buffalo Bills
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ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 18: Connor McGovern #66 of the Buffalo Bills in action during the NFL 2025 game against the Miami Dolphins at Highmark Stadium on September 18, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The Buffalo Bills have made a significant splash in the offseason, but their biggest move wasn’t the addition of a new player.
NFL Writer Thinks Re-Signing Connor McGovern Was The Bills’ Best Offseason Move
Buffalo agreed to re-sign center Connor McGovern to a four-year deal worth $52 million. According to Zoltán Buday from Pro Football Focus, bringing back McGovern is considered Buffalo’sbest move of the offseason.
“Although they let guard David Edwards walk in free agency, the Bills re-signed center Connor McGovern, who has been a huge reason for their offensive line’s success in recent years,” Buday wrote on Tuesday. “The Penn State product, who can also play guard, has become one of the better pass-blocking centers in the league during his time in Buffalo. His 70.8 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2025 ranked 10th among 37 qualifying centers.”
McGovern has been in the NFL since 2020, spending his first three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys before heading to the Bills for the last three. He has been a cornerstone of Buffalo’s offensive line, and bringing him back was a fantastic decision not only for the line but also for quarterback Josh Allen,who played a part in his return.
Josh Allen Played a Role in Getting McGovern Back
“They were gonna let me test free agency,” McGovern said of the Bills on March. 10, via Heavy’s own Ryan Ward.“Then our good friend No. 17 kind of got involved and wanted to make sure that this got done.
“It means a lot when you have a guy like (Allen) back there, an MVP, and (Cook who’s) a rushing leader. You want to protect them, so you got to invest up front; and I’m very excited that I get to be one of those guys. I knew I loved it here (in Buffalo]). . . I knew they loved me. They knew I loved it here. It was easy. It was one of those things we knew it was going to happen at some time, but it was nice to finally put that pen to paper and make sure it’s finalized.”
Brandon Beane Was Close to Losing McGovern and David Edwards
In a recent interview with Sal Maiorana from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle on March 16, Buffalo’s president of football operations, Brandon Beane, disclosed that the Billswere on the brink of losing McGovern at the start of free agency.
“We knew it’s the longest of long shots to keep them both with where their markets were going to be,” Beane said. “And I’ll even tell you, 12 hours before (McGovern’s deal) was done, I thought we were probably losing them both. I didn’t feel great about it. I hadn’t given up, but I didn’t have a lot of faith for either and so we were also making plans because you’ve got to be prepared for anything.”
Losing McGovern and guard David Edwards in the same offseason would have been detrimental for the Bills, especially since Edwards signed with the New Orleans Saints on the first day of the league’s free agency period.