Bills Sign Super Bowl Champion Defensive Tackle

The Buffalo Bills have added a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer defensive lineman to their roster. It's just not the defensive lineman (DL) fans may have been hoping for.

On Tuesday evening, the team announced that it had signed veteran DL Greg Gaines to a one-year contract.

To make room for Gaines, the team released DL Tommy Akingbesote. 

The 6-1, 312-pound Gaines comes to Buffalo having spent the last three seasons in Tampa Bay. Over that time, he played in 49 of a possible 51 games. While he only started nine of them, Gaines managed 64 tackles, five tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits, and four sacks.

Before joining Tampa Bay in 2023, Gaines spent his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams after being drafted in the fourth round in 2019. With Los Angeles, Gaines played in 59 games, starting 25 of them. 

In his seven seasons, he has 186 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 35 QB hits, and 14.5 sacks. His best year came during the Rams' 2021 Super Bowl season. Gaines started 17 games that year, and played in all 21 regular season and playoff games. He finished the year with 55 tackles and 4.5 sacks. 

With the Bills, Gaines isn't expected to come in and fight for a starting role on the defensive line. However, it is a position where depth is a concern. Backup defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis is set to miss the first three games of the regular season due to suspension. Behind him, DeWayne Carter is still battling back from injury, and his place on the roster is anything but assured. 

Gaines is expected to join the Bills when they travel to Cleveland for their joint practice with the Browns later this week. If things go well, he should be in uniform for the team's preseason game in Cleveland on Saturday afternoon.