The Buffalo Bills‘ two biggest offseason moves were something of a lightning rod to analysts like Bill Barnwell.
The ESPN NFL writer raved about Buffalo’s deal for center Connor McGovern while taking issue with GM Brandon Beane’s decision to trade for D.J. Moore.
McGovern re-signed with the Bills on a four-year contract that ended up being way below market value, especially after Tyler Linderbaum’s market-setting deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Analyst Calls Connor McGovern Deal Buffalo’s Best of Offseason
Barnwell believes the Bills struck gold with the four-year, $52 million deal, which includes only $26 million in guaranteed money, especially since they locked him in before Linderbaum signed a three-year, $81 million deal with the Raiders.
“Solid centers will have their contracts rise accordingly in the years to come, and so it was good work by Brandon Beane and the Bills to get McGovern’s deal done before free agency began,” Barnwell wrote for ESPN.com Thursday. “McGovern’s $13 million average salary is less than half of what Linderbaum will make, and though the Bills had to practically guarantee about 43% of McGovern’s third-year compensation to keep their starting center from free agency, that figure doesn’t seem burdensome in light of what Linderbaum is making.”
McGovern is still six months shy of his 29th birthday, which means he is still in his prime, and helped the Bills finish fourth in the NFL in rushing last year.
“Even if the Bills decide to move on after two years, they’ll pay McGovern only $32.6 million for those prime seasons, or just over $16 million per year,” Barnwell wrote. “That’s going to be good value for a player who made the Pro Bowl in 2024 and whose mobility helps define one of the league’s more impactful rushing attacks.”
Bill Barnwell Bashes D.J. Moore Trade
Barnwell lauded the McGovern deal. But he didn’t hold back while admonishing Beane for trading a second-round pick to the Chicago Bears for Moore.
“Though Beane anticipated the market and found real value in re-signing McGovern, every step of the Moore process felt like a franchise acting out of desperation,” Barnwell wrote. “It’s clear that the Bills were frustrated by their wide receivers in 2025 … [and] under that lens, making a significant move for a receiver made sense. I’m just not sure this was the right one.
“Moore is coming off what was comfortably his worst season as a pro, one in which he seemingly fell out of favor with Ben Johnson in the Chicago offense.”
Moore still had 50 catches for 682 yards and five touchdowns last season, which would make him Buffalo’s second-most productive receiver behind only Khalil Shakir. Yet, Barnwell’s gripe was with Beane caving despite Chicago’s lack of leverage.
“The Bills sent a second-round pick to the Bears for Moore. That was already a curious choice by Beane,” Barnwell wrote. “Even more inexplicably, the Bills ate all of the salary that was already owed to Moore and then guaranteed their new wideout $13.5 million in 2028, committing money three years down the line to a player who had no leverage as part of this trade.”
In Moore, the Bills now have a receiver that has been a WR1 in the past. But whether he will be again, especially at his contract, is a huge question mark.
“The Bills are spending $59.5 million in cash on wide receivers this year, the seventh-highest total in the league. That ranking will rise to fifth once A.J. Brown and Brandon Aiyuk move on later this offseason,” Barnwell wrote. “The Bills are committing plenty of cash to finding Josh Allen playmakers, but I still don’t think they have a player whom Allen can rely upon in a key spot — and they haven’t since Stefon Diggs left town.”
NFL Analyst Praises Bills $52 Million Offseason Decision but Blasts DJ Moore Trade