Bills add Greg Van Roten to Already Loaded Offensive Line
There won't be room for all of the qualified offensive linemen the Buffalo Bills have assembled ahead of this year's mandatory minicamp, which begins Tuesday.
Their most recent acquisition, 32-year-old guard Greg Van Roten, signed on Monday and has 50 career starts on his resumè.
None of them came easily, either. Only after two seasons with the Green Bay Packers, two more with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL and one with the Carolina Panthers did he finally get a chance to start.
Going north of the border turned out to be a necessary career move.
"I got a lot of film, got a lot of experience, really matured and developed as a player," he said during his time with the Panthers, "and it gave me an opportunity to be where I am today."
The former University of Pennsylvania star, who also has experience as a center, walks into a logjam in Buffalo, though, behind projected starters Mitch Morse, Rodger Saffold, Ryan Bates, Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown and a plethora of highly experienced backups, including Greg Mancz, Cody Ford, Ike Boettger, Bobby Hart and David Quessenberry. All have starting experience in the NFL.
Even if the Bills keep 10 offensive linemen, which isn't a certainty considering the versatility most possess to play multiple positions, it means there will be at least one from this group on the outside looking in by the end of camp.
In the meantime, the Bills brought back their former offensive line coach from 2015-16, Aaron Kromer. None of the players he'll be working with this year were with the Bills during his first stint, however.
If the Bills can get the best of the offensive linemen they have assembled, they're going to be facing some excruciating decisions by the end of August.
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Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
