Bills Central

Bills could be forced to overpay following $51 million extension for interior lineman

The interior lineman market just went through the roof.
Randy Gurzi|
Kansas City Chiefs guard Joe Thuney against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game.
Kansas City Chiefs guard Joe Thuney against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Joe Thuney has established himself as one of the NFL’s premier guards, and recently signed a contract extension that reflects that. Thuney, who was traded to the Chicago Bears this offseason, just landed a two-year extension, giving him an average of $17.5 million per season.

Ian Rapoport says Thuney will get $33 million guaranteed and will get paid $51 million over the next three seasons.

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At first glance, this doesn’t seem to be an issue for the Buffalo Bills, but it could be.

Buffalo has two interior linemen in the final year of their deals — center Connor McGovern and left guard David Edwards. Their right guard, O’Cyrus Torrance has two years remaining.

Buffalo Bills offensive linemen against the Jets.
Buffalo Bills offensive linemen against the Jets. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Those three aren’t on the same level as Thuney, but that hardly matters in contract negotiations. Edwards, who is making just $3 million per season on his current deal, will especially point to Thuney’s deal during negotiations. McGovern could use it as well, especially since he’s arguably a top-10 center after his strong performance in 2024.

Torrance is the least likely to demand big money, unless he shows massive improvement this season.

While Buffalo isn’t going to be on the hook for nearly $18 million per season with their linemen, their days of bargain contracts could soon end.

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Randy Gurzi
RANDY GURZI

Randy Gurzi is a graduate of Arizona State and has focused on NFL coverage since 2014.

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