Ryan Groy came out of nowhere last summer to win the job as the Buffalo Bills’ top reserve interior offensive lineman. After a season in which Groy’s play ranged from adequate to very good, he was tendered as a restricted free agent by the Bills, but it appears that he may move on to greener pastures next season.
Adam Caplan of ESPN tweeted that Groy has drawn interest from at least four teams, and Caplan feels that his versatility is part of the reason why. Since Groy can play both guard and center, his presence on a roster essentially covers three positions, which is extremely valuable when constructing a game-day roster. Groy’s success filling in for Eric Wood at center this season, combined with his work as an extra offensive lineman in the Greg Roman/Anthony Lynn offense, earned Groy a grade of 79.5 from Pro Football Focus, good for third among all free agent centers, and first among those who remain unsigned.
Groy, 26, was tendered at the lowest level, meaning that Buffalo retains right of first refusal if he is to sign an offer with another team. If the Bills choose not to match, the team would receive a 5th-round selection in this year’s draft, since that was the round in which Groy nothing, since he was originally undrafted.
(I accidentally swapped our Gillislee info with Groy...thank you to all who pointed out the error!)
Losing Groy would open a hole in the team’s interior line depth, although the signing of Vladimir Ducasse may be meant to mitigate the effects of Groy signing elsewhere. Buffalo also still has Patrick Lewis in the fold.