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The Buffalo Bills took an axe to their roster to shift toward a younger, and cap-compliant team. In the span of a few hours on March 6, the Bills released several longtime veterans.
While saying goodbye to Tre’Davious White and Jordan Poyer was painful for Bills Mafia, Mitch Morse‘s release left fans and analysts stunned. Morse still had one season left on his $19.5 million contract. After Buffalo traded Ryan Bates, who played backup center all season, Morse’s role appeared set.
The Bills team captain has anchored the offensive line for quarterback Josh Allen since 2019. Last season, the Morse-led o-line allowed the fewest sacks (24) of Allen’s carer. At age 31, he showed no signs of slowing down, appearing in all 18 games.
Following his release, the veteran shared an emotional goodbye on social media. “Thank you for everything,” Morse posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. On Instagram, the starting center shared a more heartfelt message to Bills Mafia.
“These last 5 years have been such a blessing,” Morse wrote. “Thank you to the Pegula family, along with the whole @buffalobills organization for helping make Western New York home for me and my family. There are plenty of things that I will miss, but nothing will compare to sadness of no longer being a part of that locker room. It was a special place full of special dudes. Much love!”
Fans and Morse’s now-former teammates filled the post with best wishes. Bills linebacker Tyrel Dodson commented, “Love you bro. Thank you for helping me ♥️.” Terrel Bernard wrote, “Love you brother!” On X, a fan responded, “The one release that I can’t understand and can’t get behind. You were my favorite Bill.”
Morse’s cap hit for the 2024 season of $11.47 million, which was the ninth largest on the team. Cutting Morse saves the team $8.47 million with a $3 million cap hit.
Mitch Morse was ‘Looking Forward’ to the 2024 Season With the Bills
GettyCenter Mitch Morse and Bills quarterback Josh Allen at Soldier Field on August 26, 2023.
When asked about his future after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs, Morse was taken aback.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that question,” Morse said, The Buffalo News reported. “Yeah, I mean, I’m under contract for another year. If they have me back, I’ll be back. So that’s the plan, and looking forward to that.”
However, the second-round pick from the 2015 NFL draft, who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Chiefs, seemed to know big changes were coming.
“You understand that this is a business, and you understand that business decisions just have to be made,” Morse continued. “That’s why after this game (against Kansas City) was so crushing because… there’s so many decisions looming that this was the last time that this team is going to be together. And that’s really only where my mind’s at. Anything else is out of my control.
“Thank God I’m not the decision-maker in that department, and however it rolls out, I’m just privileged to be a part of this past team and privileged to just to see how that group went. And we’ll see what 2024 brings for the Buffalo Bills.”
After Morse’s cut was announced, WROC TV’s Thad Brown posted, “This one is an absolute stunner. Morse said he wanted to be back. Has taken less to stay in Buffalo before. He was still one of the #Bills top two OL last year. I won’t dismiss possibility he comes back anyway, but a straight release like this seems to indicate otherwise.”
The Bills chose not to negotiate a pay cut with Morse as the team did with Von Miller.
The Bills are Taking a Risk Moving Connor McGovern to Center
Without Bates and Morse, the Bills will look internally for a new starting center. Buffalo plans to move Connor McGovern to center, while David Edwards competes at left guard, per The Athletic’s Tim Graham.
McGovern was one of the Bills’ biggest free agent signings last offseason. Buffalo inked the 27-year-old to a three-year, $27 million contract. The Bills restructured McGovern’s contract at the end of February, which cleared approximately $3.7 million in cap space for 2024.
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia wrote, “In our season-long film review, McGovern was solid but also the lowest-graded starter of the bunch. He also has little experience at center in the NFL, having only 100 snaps there in five total seasons. McGovern did play a lot of center at Penn State, but that was at the college level and a long time ago. He might be able to do the job well, but it is a legitimate risk.
“Releasing Morse, the glue of their offensive line, could mean a drop-off in production along the entire starting five. A young center prospect in the draft could be an option at some point in the draft for the Bills.”
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Bills $19.5 Million Veteran Posts Message After Unexpected Cut