One week before NFL free agency begins, the Buffalo Bills’ best available player believes he has played his last game for them.
Offensive lineman Connor McGovern told The Athletic he and his agent haven’t heard from Bills football boss Brandon Beane since postseason exit interviews in Orchard Park, N.Y.
“They haven’t contacted me once,” McGovern said by phone from his offseason home in Florida. “In my gut, that says it’s over and done.”
Buffalo faces difficult decisions to become salary-cap compliant, and McGovern is a precious commodity. Seemingly, half the league needs a center, and McGovern is considered the second-best free agent at the position after Baltimore Ravens anchor Tyler Linderbaum. Their value increased a little more on Tuesday, when 27-year-old Chicago Bears center Drew Dalman abruptly retired.
McGovern, 28, also can play guard and said he is willing to switch back — if a team forks over guard money. The Dallas Cowboys used him there from 2020 to 2022. He stayed at left guard for one more season upon signing with the Bills for three years and $22.35 million, then switched to center when captain Mitch Morse left in 2024.
Bills left guard David Edwards also is a pending free agent. At practical best, McGovern figured, the Bills can afford to bring only one of them back. Sports contract database Spotrac estimates McGovern’s average annual market value at $16.3 million and Edwards’ at $19.9 million.
“It is a business,” McGovern said. “I’m never going to take it personally. I want to be back in Buffalo, and I know they want me back. But sometimes you’ve got to look in the mirror and be realistic.
“Could we sacrifice money at one spot or maybe draft somebody younger to save some money? The reality is they’re up against the cap.”
McGovern added there’s still time to keep him off the open market. When he left Dallas three years ago, he was committed to learning how much the NFL valued him. He said that’s not the case now. He has earned about $28 million over his career and loves Western New York.
“Do I need all the money in the world? No, but there’s a respect factor involved, too,” McGovern said. “There’s a certain number in my head that I would have no problem accepting, and then I don’t need to go to free agency. If they come to the number that me and my wife are comfortable with, I would gladly say yes and not talk to anybody else.”
Buffalo hasn’t rung McGovern, but he hasn’t missed the call over the past three years. The only two games he didn’t start were the past two regular-season finales, with the Bills resting for the playoffs.
McGovern revealed that in the Week 5 loss to the New England Patriots, he mangled his right hand, which he snaps with.
“I tore a couple ligaments and broke my knuckle,” McGovern said. “Always fun. No bad snaps, though! So no one knew.
“We tried taping it for a few weeks, but it didn’t really do anything. I just had to deal with it. My physical therapist was every day putting needles in it to help with the swelling, different laser treatments, manual therapy, extra work on it.”
He also tore his left triceps in the offensive line’s clutch Week 13 performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A week earlier, the Houston Texans sacked Josh Allen eight times and hit him four more times while passing. Left tackle Dion Dawkins and right tackle Spencer Brown also suffered injuries that sidelined them in Pittsburgh, but the patchwork line surrendered zero sacks in a 26-7 laugher.
“I was only on the injury report with a minor ankle sprain (in Weeks 11 and 12) because I didn’t do the walkthroughs,” McGovern said. “But our training staff really doesn’t put me on the report because I’m not going to miss practice, and I’m always going to play through it.”
Throughout McGovern’s time in Buffalo, the five starting offensive linemen combined to miss five games to injury, helping Allen win the 2024 MVP and James Cook claim the 2025 NFL rushing title.
In addition to potentially losing McGovern and Edwards, the blockers will experience a transition. Before the Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott, beloved veteran O-line coach Aaron Kromer retired.
McGovern and Kromer are close, personally and geographically. Urged by Kromer to visit, McGovern eventually bought a home 10 doors down from him in Rosemary Beach, Fla. Kromer’s daughter, Brooke, was the real estate agent.
McGovern said he was “surprised by the timing” of the decision to fire McDermott, but the leadership changes wouldn’t deter him from returning if the Bills ever call. New head coach Joe Brady replaced Kromer with Steelers offensive line coach and Kromer acolyte Pat Meyer. The Bills also retained assistant O-line coach Austin Gund.
“It’s a big shakeup, but a lot of the pieces are in place,” McGovern said. “Even if they don’t have Aaron Kromer anymore, his presence is still there. It’s very hard to replace him, but that O-line is going to be in a great spot no matter what.”
He doesn’t expect to be a part of it, though. And he understands.
“The first thing Aaron Kromer said to me when I got to the Bills was, ‘My job is to make you the best player so that when your contract is up here, that the Buffalo Bills can’t afford you.’ That’s what he tells everyone. That’s his goal,” McGovern said.
“He was true to his word.”
