Popular Bills Free Agent Center Now Off Market For Detroit Lions

One of the top free agent centers is now officially off the free agent market for the Detroit Lions.

According to multiple reports, Connor McGovern has reached a new, lucrative contract extension to remain with the Buffalo Bills.

The 28-year-old reportedly will sign a four-year, $52 million deal that will include $32 million in guaranteed monies.

Detroit's front office has a key decision to make, as the team has a clear need at center, but may not be able to afford the high-priced free agents that are on the market.

Tyler Linderbaum is the top talent available, but the Baltimore Ravens did just make secure the services of Maxx Crosby in a blockbuster trade with the Las Vegas Raiders, making it a little more difficult to retain him.

General manager Brad Holmes was asked at his season-ending media session how he views the center position going forward.

Following the conclusion of the 2025 season, the decision was made to cut Graham Glasgow. In the deal that sent David Montgomery to the Houston Texans, offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, who has played center, was included in the deal.

"Those are fair questions. I’m not trying to dodge your questions, but we don’t have all the answers right now," said Holmes. "And I have full confidence to say that we don’t have all the answers right now. And actually if we did have all the answers right now, you should actually be concerned because we have not taken the necessary time to do the necessary deep-dive analysis into our roster, our operations, everything from top to bottom like we are going to do."

The team has mentioned on a couple of occasions Tate Ratledge could be a viable option at center moving forward.

"There’s some infancy stages, things that we’ve already started to look at that we’ll just keep to ourselves," Holmes said. "Obviously Tate (Ratledge) is obviously an option, for sure. He’s done it before. He did it in OTAs, didn’t think that he was a fish out of water. And then all of the reps that he’s logged this year, just all the rookie snaps.

"He may have played the most snaps out of any rookie offensive linemen this year. So, whether he continues at guard or center, we know that he’s an option," Holmes added. "We’re definitely going to have to continue to look for one, whether it be free agency, or the draft, or a trade.”