90 Buffalo Bills players in 90 days: G Nick Broeker

The Buffalo Bills love versatile offensive linemen, especially among their reserve ranks. In theory, this makes plenty of sense, since versatile backup offensive linemen mean that the team can carry fewer of them on the active roster for games, thereby allowing the team to keep extra players at other positions. It also allows the team to shuffle its deck up front in the event of an injury, picking the best five players rather than shoehorning an average player in thanks to positional need.

It should come as no surprise, then, that when the Bills had a chance to draft a versatile offensive lineman in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft this year, they jumped at the opportunity. Even though they had already selected a big, bruising guard earlier in the draft, general manager Brandon Beane has never shied away from double-dipping at positions in the draft if the value makes sense.

In today’s edition of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile an offensive lineman who should be able to endear himself to Bills Mafia pretty quickly this summer.

Name: Nick Broeker

Number: 67

Position: G

Height/Weight: 6’4”, 305 pounds

Age: 22 (23 on 10/7/2023)

Experience/Draft: R; selected by Buffalo in the seventh round (No. 230 overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft

College: Ole Miss

Acquired: Seventh-round draft choice

Financial situation (per Spotrac): Broeker’s four-year rookie contract is worth a total of $3,942,100 overall. Of that total, $102,100 is guaranteed. If Broker makes the roster this year, he carries a cap hit of $775,525.

2022 Recap: Broeker moved to a new position, left guard, after spending his previous three college seasons at left tackle. All he did in his new role was win the Kent Hull Trophy, an award given annually to the best collegiate offensive lineman in the state of Mississippi. He didn’t allow a sack, was named Second-Team All-American, and was named First-Team All-SEC by Phil Steele.

Positional outlook: Broeker is one of quite a few interior offensive linemen fighting for space, as the Bills overhauled the positional group tremendously this offseason. Ike Boettger, David Edwards, O’Cyrus Torrence, Connor McGovern, and Ryan Bates are all specifically listed at guard by the team, with Kevin Jarvis and Greg Mancz listed at “OL” even though they primarily play guard. David Quessenberry is listed as a “T/G” given his versatility, and while Tommy Doyle is still listed as a tackle, he played plenty of guard last offseason before suffering an ACL tear in Week 3.

2023 Offseason: Broeker is healthy and he has attended offseason activities to date.

2023 Season outlook: Broeker certainly faces an uphill climb to the roster, as Bates, McGovern, Torrence, and Edwards all feel like pretty good bets to make the team come September. There’s something about this kid, though, that makes it feel as if he’s supposed to be on the Bills roster — I mean, not only did he win the Kent Hull trophy in college, but he’s also wearing Hull’s number in Buffalo as a rookie. Brandon Beane loves to roster his draft picks, and if Broeker shows that he can hold his own at multiple positions this summer, he has a fighting chance at forcing his way on the roster. It’s a long shot for sure, but he strikes me as someone that the Bills will want to keep around in some capacity.