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The Buffalo Bills found an unexpected late-season gem in Ryan Bates, a guard who was pressed into starting duty after injuries and illness and ended up holding onto the position through the playoffs.
Now, the team is at serious risk of losing the 25-year-old restricted free agent after the Chicago Bears made an offer that Buffalo may be forced to refuse. Bates had made several visits with interested teams since free agency started and was seen as one of the best young linemen on the market, and now the cash-strapped Bills could lose him.
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Chicago Aims to Land Bates
As ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg and Courtney Cronin reported, the Bills had offered an original-round tender of $2.4 million on Bates, but he gained significant interest including visits with the Bears, Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots. Buffalo has the right to match any contract offer for Bates, but Chicago’s offer may be too high for the Bills.
Bates was mostly a backup through his last three seasons in Buffalo after coming as an undrafted free agent in 2019, but he started the final three games of the regular season due to injuries to guards Jon Feliciano and Ike Boettger. As ESPN’s Getzenberg and Cronin noted, Bates seized his opportunity.
“While injuries led to him taking the field, Bates maintained the starting job for the end of the season and playoff run due to his performance alongside left tackle Dion Dawkins,” they wrote. “For the season, Bates had a 93% pass block win rate at guard, which hovers around league average, and a 59% run block win rate, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.”
If the Bills end up deciding not to match Chicago’s offer, they will get nothing in return for losing Bates. The Bills tendered the lineman at the lowest level, meaning Chicago will not have to send a draft pick to Buffalo if he ends up signing there.
Bills Expected to Decline Offer Sheet
As Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported, the Bills could be hard-pressed to match the Bears’ offer for Bates. As Biggs noted, the offer from Chicago could be a bit of a stretch given the light resume for Bates and the Bears’ need for upgrades to the offensive line. A front-loaded deal would also be very difficult for the Bills to match, as they are currently tight against the salary cap.
“It’s a projection by the Bears as Bates has only four career regular-season and two postseason starts,” Biggs wrote. “They were not the only team to see potential in the former undrafted free agent out of Penn State, who also had visits with the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots. The Bills tendered Bates at the low level of $2.433 million, which gives them only the right of first refusal.”
The Bills have already made some offensive line upgrades of their own, landing veteran guard Rodger Saffold in free agency. Saffold had spent the last three seasons with the Tennessee Titans, and has a history with Bills offensive line coach Aaron Kromer as the two were both with the Los Angeles Rams from 2017 to 2018. The team has made some subtractions as well, cutting Feliciano and Daryl Williams.
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