Connor Mcgovern’s Rock-solid Consistency Key For Buffalo Bills’ Ol In 2026

The Buffalo Bills have had a remarkably consistent run along the offensive line of late. They were among the healthiest offensive lines over the last two seasons, and they have been especially healthy along the interior of their offensive line.

Due to free agency, however, the Bills are looking for a new left guard. Their current center joined the team as the left guard, playing that position for the duration of the 2023 season before moving to center full-time in 2024. Will the Bills move him back to left guard, or will they keep their pivot consistent?

In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss a player who is still listed at two positions, but who has really cemented himself as a stud at one in particular.
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Name: Connor McGovern

Number: 66

Position: C/OG

Height/Weight: 6’6″, 318 pounds

Age: 28 (29 on 11/3/2026)

Experience/Draft: 8; selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round (No. 90 overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft

College: Penn State

Acquired: Signed with Bills on 3/16/2023

Financial situation (per Spotrac): McGovern signed a four-year, $52 million contract last winter. Of that total, $31.44 million is guaranteed. For the 2026 season, the first year of the deal, his cap hit is $5.25 million. If the Bills wanted to release him, they would carry a dead-cap hit of $26.2 million. As a fully vested veteran, McGovern’s base salary, which is just $1.89 million, becomes fully guaranteed if he’s on Buffalo’s roster for Week 1.

2025 Recap: McGovern started every game at center that mattered for the second straight season. Once again, he was ridiculously consistent, battling through some dings to play nearly 92% of the team’s snaps on offense. Only right guard O’Cyrus Torrence played more.

He committed two holding penalties and a false start, continuing to be one of the league’s least-penalized offensive linemen. Pro Football Focus graded McGovern as the 15th-best center in the league overall, scoring a 69.1 in their rating system. He was, however, sixth in pass blocking, earning a 73.4 grade and allowing zero sacks on the season. His run block grade was a 65.3, ranking him just twentieth at his position.

Positional outlook: McGovern is one of four players listed as a center/guard. Austin Corbett, Alec Anderson, and Sedrick Van Pran-Granger are the others. Veteran Lloyd Cushenberry is listed exclusively at center.

2026 Offseason: McGovern participated in offseason workouts before Buffalo took a break for the early summer.

2026 Season outlook: McGovern has not missed a start due to injury in his three years with the Bills, sitting out only because Buffalo’s playoff positioning had been determined entering Week 18 during each of the last two seasons. He’s played between Torrence and David Edwards for both of his seasons at center, and with Edwards now down south with the New Orleans Saints, it means that the team will need to break in a new left guard. It does not appear that they are considering moving McGovern back to left guard, however, even though that’s where he played when he originally came to Buffalo.

There’s no need to slide one of the league’s most consistent centers elsewhere, and McGovern’s rapport with star quarterback Josh Allen certainly helps. In an offseason flush with change, the center position isn’t somewhere that will experience much, if any, difference, as McGovern is firmly entrenched as the pivot man in the trenches for a Buffalo team trying to win a Super Bowl.

Connor McGovern is intelligent and good in space, and he is an excellent leader in the locker room. His on-field communication is sound, as well, and that will be an area where he’ll need to be even better this year. It was often Edwards calling out blitzers and protection shifts, and now that he’s gone, that responsibility likely will shift to McGovern. I don’t expect much of a downturn in protection, however, as McGovern is more than capable of picking up the slack.

McGovern is one of the league’s highest-paid centers, and he deserves it. So long as he’s healthy, he’ll continue to be a big part of the Bills’ success.