Bills' C Connor McGovern: Buffalo's No. 12 Player Looks to Pay Off Big Contract

As the team enjoys its summer break, Bills On SI will unveil its Top 25 Player Rankings (based upon expected impact) for the 2026 season. The ranking methodology is based on positional value, past performance and expectations for any player. C Connor McGovern carries a new contract with his No. 12 ranking.

The anchor of any offensive line in football is the center, the player who snaps the ball to the quarterback and gives the signals up front, and those qualities make the Buffalo Bills' Connor McGovern one of their more important players.

After a three-season stretch in Buffalo that saw McGovern start 56 total games, including in the playoffs, and earn a Pro Bowl nod in 2024, he was awarded a four-year, $52 million contract in March.

McGovern is one of the best all-around centers in the game, and his being the fourth-highest-paid center in the NFL backs up that belief. Also, his annual average value is less than half of that of the Las Vegas Raiders' Tyler Linderbaum, who became the highest-paid center in league history, so the Bills retained him at a relatively low price.

Why is McGovern so important?

Connor McGovern last season:

- 1037 Offensive Snaps
- 0 Sacks Allowed

Got paid that BAGGGG 🤑🤑🤑 pic.twitter.com/ooiCN3xfkX
— BillsOnReal (@BillsOnReal) June 29, 2026

Despite Josh Allen being sacked a career-high 40 times in 2025, McGovern was not responsible for a single one on 1,037 snaps, the second-highest snap count of his career. His 73.4 Pro Football Focus pass protection grade ranked him as the sixth-best in the NFL in that regard.

McGovern played 98.1% of Buffalo's offensive snaps in 2025, and of the 16 games he played (he sat out the regular-season finale against the New York Jets), McGovern played every snap in 13 of them, being constantly available when others missed games with injuries.

Although McGovern had only a 65.3 run-blocking grade, Buffalo had the league's best rushing offense and James Cook won the league's rushing title, a testament to McGovern's role along the unit up front.

McGovern's background

Connor McGovern and Josh Allen — Bills guard Connor McGovern and quarterback Josh Allen celebrate in the end zone Allen’s third touchdown during second-half action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov 16, 2025 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

McGovern was born on November 3, 1997 in Larksville, Pennsylvania, and attended Lake-Lehman High School, where he earned Wyoming Valley Conference Most Valuable Player and first-team All-State honors as a senior.

As a four-star recruit, McGovern chose Penn State over schools like Boston College and Duke. He split time between right guard and center during his three seasons as a Nittany Lion, starting 34 games overall and earning third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2018.

The Dallas Cowboys selected McGovern in the third round at No. 90 overall, but he missed his entire rookie season due to a torn pectoral muscle. He made 29 starts in 45 appearances with the Cowboys across three seasons before inking a three-year, $23 million contract with the Bills in March 2023. Since then, he has developed into a key cog on Buffalo's offensive line.

The rest of the top 25 so far:

25. RB Ty Johnson, June 16
24. CB Maxwell Hairston, June 17
23. K Tyler Bass, June 18
22. CB Dee Alford, June 19
21. LB Dorian Williams, June 20
20. RB Ray Davis, June 22
19. S C.J. Gardner-Johnson, June 23
18. G Alec Anderson, June 24
17. TE Dawson Knox, June 25
16. DT Deone Walker, June 27
15. TE Dalton Kincaid, June 28
14. G O'Cyrus Torrence, June 29

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