Bills may be forced to cut ties with $16.3 million Pro Bowler after season for salary cap reasons originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Buffalo Bills spent the entire 2025 offseason re-signing key players.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAll over the field, Bills got new contracts, even the lingering James Cook uncertainty that hung over Buffalo for most of the summer.
That does create a bit of a problem, though: The Bills don't have a lot of salary cap space for the offseason ahead.
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And one key free agent looms: the center, Connor McGovern.
Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox writes that the Bills should want to re-sign McGovern in the offseason, but he also writes that the numbers might not add up.
"McGovern, a Pro Bowler in 2024, just turned 28 earlier this month and is only entering his prime as a starter," Knox writes. "He has a projected market value of $16.3 million annually, though, which could be an obstacle for the Bills. Buffalo is currently projected to have just $8.7 million in 2026 cap space. While that number will inevitably change, the Bills would be wise to extend McGovern while they're still the only ones who can make offers."
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McGovern is one of Josh Allen's favorite teammates, which was shown in Hard Knocks over the summer. Allen and the other QBs spend a lot of time with the offensive linemen and their families. It's a connected unit.
Allen would certainly support getting McGovern back.
There's also good news just in the fact that the NFL salary cap can often be relatively easily maneuvered around by moving money around in other contracts.
So it'll be interesting to see what the Bills do, if they get backed into a corner where they're forced to get rid of McGovern, or if they can figure out how to keep him.
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