Bills add Super Bowl champion with 108 games of NFL experience

The Buffalo Bills added a lot of experience to their defensive line before their second preseason game.

Buffalo signed veteran defensive tackle Greg Gaines to a one-year contract, adding an eight-year NFL veteran who has played in 108 regular-season games.

Gaines, 30, spent the past three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after beginning his career with the Los Angeles Rams. The 6-foot-1, 312-pound defensive tackle has 186 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 35 quarterback hits and 16 tackles for loss in his career.

He also brings a Super Bowl ring.

Gaines played four seasons with the Rams after Los Angeles selected him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He appeared in all 21 regular-season and playoff games during the Rams' Super Bowl championship season in 2021, starting 16 times during the regular season.

That was also Gaines' best statistical season. He recorded a career-high 4.5 sacks along with 55 tackles and 13 quarterback hits.

Gaines spent the past three seasons in Tampa Bay. He appeared in all 17 games last season with four starts, recording 17 tackles, one sack, four quarterback hits and two tackles for loss.

Gaines has only missed four games over the last six seasons.

The signing also reunites Gaines with Bills outside linebacker Michael Hoecht. The two were teammates with the Rams from 2021-22.

The move gives Buffalo another proven veteran on the interior behind a group that includes Ed Oliver and first or second year players Deone Walker, T.J. Sanders and Zane Durant.

Buffalo released defensive tackle Tommy Akingbesote to make room for Gaines.

Akingbesote had been with the Bills since joining their practice squad in October and signed a reserve/futures contract after last season.

The 2025 seventh-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys appeared in Buffalo's preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, playing 12 defensive snaps and two special teams snaps.

Akingbesote did not record a tackle in the Bills' 29-14 victory.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills add Super Bowl champion with 108 games of NFL experience