Getty Ike Boettger celebrates a touchdown with Buffalo Bills teammates.
The Buffalo Bills are expected to make some changes on offense for next season, but brought a measure of continuity this week by re-signing a key member of the offensive line.
The Bills announced on March 3 that veteran guard Ike Boettger was returning to the team on a new contract. Though he struggled with injuries in 2022 and appeared in just one game, Boettger has been a versatile reserve since joining the team in 2018 and even started long stretches in 2020 and 2021.
Josh Allen Praised Ike Boettger as a ‘King’
The Bills announced on Friday that Boettger was coming back on a one-year deal, bringing him back into the fold after an abbreviated 2022 season. Boettger suffered a torn Achilles late in the 2021 season and was not activated from the reserve/PUP list until the team’s Week 16 game against the Chicago Bears last season.
Boettger played six snaps that game, his only appearance of the season. Despite the light workload, coaches and fellow players have spoken highly of Boettger, including quarterback Josh Allen.
“He’s a king. I freaking love Ike,” Allen said during the 2022 season. “I don’t think you can find one guy in the world that has a bad thing to say about Ike. The ultimate, ultimate team guy.”
G Ike Boettger has been resigned to a one-year contract.
Boettger has played a more significant role for the Bills in the past, starting seven games in the 2020 season and a career-high 10 games the next year.
He is seen as a well-respected member of the locker room as well. In 2020, Bills center Mitch Morse said Boettger was a “calming presence” for the offense and added that he acted as another center, helping to make calls on offense.
“Ike does a great job of doing his job and then some,” Morse said said at the time, via The Athletic. “He’s just a fun guy to be around. He has a lot of moxie, grit and toughness. There’s football Ike, who is really intense in a good way. And then there’s off-the-field Ike, who is just kind of a jubilant, fun, young kid. When he’s in that football mode, he’s the best version of himself. We are really lucky to have a guy like that.”
Bills Face Other Important Decisions on Offense
The Bills will need to make decisions on a number of veteran players on offense who are headed to free agency. The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia believes the Bills will make some significant changes to the wide receiving corps, parting ways with their crop of free agents. That includes three veterans who had short roles with the team — Cole Beasley and John Brown, who were added late in the season, and Jake Kumerow, who saw his season cut short by an ankle injury.
“As part of the refresh, it’s time for the Bills part ways with the names from their recent history,” he wrote. “Although Beasley, Brown and Kumerow provided a good role in the past, they can do better than Beasley and Brown on offense and they survived on special teams without Kumerow last year.”
The Bills will also need to make a decision on running back Devin Singletary, who is set to hit free agency later this month.