{"id":850581,"date":"2026-04-03T03:22:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/850581\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T03:22:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:22:26","slug":"four-free-agent-losses-that-will-prove-toughest-for-buffalo-bills-to-overcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/850581\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Free Agent Losses That Will Prove Toughest for Buffalo Bills to Overcome"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter how many accounting tricks that the front office managed to pull off, the Buffalo Bills<\/a> were always going to face serious salary cap constraints<\/a> in free agency. <\/p>\n

Even if they wanted to, the Bills could not feasibly retain all of their free agents from a financial standpoint. As a result, it’s no surprise that Buffalo lost a few valuable contributors<\/a> to other teams this offseason. <\/p>\n

While Buffalo remains strong in a number of important areas, there is plenty of depth to replenish, and the NFL Draft won’t provide all of the answers. <\/p>\n

Here are the four free agent losses that the Bills will miss the most in 2026. <\/p>\n

LG David Edwards <\/p>\n

After serving as a sixth offensive lineman in 2023, Edwards provided the Bills with back-to-back quality seasons as the starting left guard. The former Los Angeles Rams’ starter was so effective, he earned a four-year, $61 million from the New Orleans Saints in free agency. <\/p>\n

Due to his departure, Buffalo will have a different starting offensive line combination for the first time in three years. While either Alec Anderson or recently-added Austin Corbett<\/a> may provide the Bills with a sufficient replacement for Edwards, the unit will lose the rare luxury of continuity. <\/p>\n

While the Bills lost Edwards, it could have been worse<\/a>. Fortunately, Buffalo was able to retain Pro Bowl center Connor McGovern on a new three-year contract<\/a>. <\/p>\n

“Would have loved to have retained them both, but knew the economics, with the cap, that was going to be a long shot. So I was hoping to get one and, I’m glad to get McGovern,” said general manager Brandon Beane during a Centered on Buffalo Podcast appearance.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

Dec 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) at the line of scrimmage with guard David Edwards (76) | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

QB Mitch Trubisky <\/p>\n

With a 31-26 career record as a starter, Trubisky is one of the more accomplished backups on the circuit. <\/p>\n

The Bills simply couldn’t afford to fit him in under the salary cap, allowing him to join former Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll<\/a> on a two-year, $10.5 million contract from the Tennessee Titans.<\/p>\n

While no substitute is capable of maintaining Josh Allen’s level of production, Trubisky did an adequate job with his limited relief opportunities. In the 2025 regular season finale<\/a>, the former No. 2 overall draft pick went 22-of-29 passing for 259 yards and four touchdowns against the New York Jets. <\/p>\n

In terms of an insurance policy, Kyle Allen is a clear downgrade from Trubisky on paper.<\/p>\n

\"Mitch<\/p>\n

Jan 4, 2026; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Mitchell Trubisky (11) passes the ball under pressure from New York Jets defensive tackle Jowon Briggs (91) | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

OT Ryan Van Demark <\/p>\n

The starter-quality backup tackle ultimately became too expensive<\/a> for the salary cap-strapped Bills, going to the Minnesota Vikings for more than $4.2 million. <\/p>\n

Van Demark, who made 31 appearances (six starts) for Buffalo over the past two years, was a restricted free agent, receiving the right of first refusal tender valued at $3.5 million.<\/p>\n

“The $3.5 million was even a tough number for us to do,” said Beane. “You’re proud of Vandy. You don’t want to lose him, but that number was already a hard number for us. We were stretching to kind of make it work.”<\/p>\n

While 2024 sixth-round pick Tylan Grable has shown ability as a viable backup, the Bills’ depth undoubtedly takes a hit<\/a> with the battle-tested Van Demark’s departure. <\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

Jan 21, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark (74) against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 AFC divisional round game | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

FB Reggie Gilliam <\/p>\n

The fan favorite fullback, who added another dimension to the Bills’ offense<\/a>, defected to the division rival New England Patriots for a three-year, $10.8 million contract. <\/p>\n

Gilliam played a career-high 235 offensive snaps for Buffalo, which was one of the few NFL teams to incorporate a fullback. Rather than directly replace him on offense, the Bills may choose to use tight end Jackson Hawes more frequently. <\/p>\n

The loss of Gilliam may prove to be even more noticeable on special teams as he participated in approximately 80 percent of all snaps over the past five seasons. <\/p>\n

\"Reggie<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills fullback Reggie Gilliam (41) puts a big hit on New York Jets wide receiver Xavier Gipson (82) who fumbles the opening kickoff. | Jamie Germano\/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No matter how many accounting tricks that the front office managed to pull off, the Buffalo Bills were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":850582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2048],"tags":[215,214,53,2086,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-850581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-buffalo-bills","8":"tag-bills","9":"tag-buffalo","10":"tag-buffalo-bills","11":"tag-buffalobills","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116338635153458706","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}