Ryan Van Demark departs Orchard Park as the Buffalo Bills decline to match his significant offer, leaving a void on their offensive line.
The Buffalo Bills have made their decision.
On Friday, it was reported by NFL insider Tom Pelissero that the team won't match the offer sheet that Ryan Van Demark signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that the 27-year-old offensive lineman had signed an offer sheet with Minnesota. The deal was for one year at $4.2 million.
At the start of the league year, Buffalo placed an "original round" tender on Van Demark worth $3.52 million. That allowed the Bills to either retain him at that price or have the right to match any offer he signed with another team.
At $4.2 million, it appears that the Bills and general manager Brandon Beane felt the $700,000 increase wasn't worth keeping him around. The team had until Monday to make a decision, but they seemingly decided to take care of things before the weekend.
Van Demark leaves Buffalo after spending the last four seasons in Orchard Park. He spent his rookie year in 2022 on the team's practice squad before making the 53-man roster out of training camp in 2023.
Over the last two seasons, Van Demark appeared in 31 games, starting six of them. As a member of the Bills, he played 558 offensive snaps in his career, playing at both left and right tackle.
With Van Demark no longer with the team, the Bills will have to figure out if they want to add another offensive lineman or two for depth, or roll with the players they currently have on the roster.
The team also won't receive any sort of draft pick compensation from his departure. Van Demark was an undrafted free agent out of UConn four years ago. Because of that, his original round designation, which rewards a team with a draft pick in the round a player was selected, doesn't offer anything but cap relief for Buffalo.
Bills Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Bills. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.