Former Bills Protector of Josh Allen Signs With Top Division Rival

The Buffalo Bills could see a familiar face line up against them twice this season.

The New England Patriots announced this week that they signed veteran offensive lineman Greg Van Roten, who spent time with the Bills across his long NFL career. The Patriots held a workout with Van Roten earlier in the month, then snagged him after their first preseason game.

The Patriots announced Van Roten’s signing on Tuesday, noting that they cut ties with tight end Mitch Van Vooren to make room on the 90-man roster. The team noted that the 36-year-old Van Roten has plenty of experience across his NFL career.

“Van Roten, 36, has played for the Green Bay Packers (2012-13), Carolina Panthers (2017-19), New York Jets (2020-21), Buffalo Bills (2022), Las Vegas Raiders (2023) and New York Giants (2024-25),” the team noted. “He also had short offseason stints with the Seattle Seahawks (2014) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2017) and spent two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts (2015-16) of the Canadian Football League.”

Van Roten came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 2012 and has appeared in 144 games with 105 starts across his career. He was a 17-game starter for the Giants last season.

Van Roten spent the 2022 season with the Bills, appearing in all 16 games with four starts. He also appeared in both of Buffalo’s playoff games that year.

The Bills are expected to face more tough competition from the Patriots, who last year broke Buffalo’s five-year streak of division titles and made a surprise run to the Super Bowl. The Bills made some sweeping changes to their offense after their playoff loss last season, elevating offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach after Sean McDermott’s firing and hiring Pete Carmichael Jr. to fill Brady’s former post.

The Bills have a deep offensive line this season, with The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia noting that the team will have a difficult time whittling down for the final roster cuts at the end of this month. Buscaglia pointed out that the team’s reserve linemen all performed well in Saturday’s 29-14 win over the Carolina Panthers.

“The Bills have a blend of veterans and young players picked in the last three drafts, all vying for roster spots,” Buscaglia wrote. “At this point, both veterans Austin Corbett and Lloyd Cushenberry III appear likely to make the 53-man roster, which could force the Bills to make some tough calls on cutting or trading players they drafted. Rookie tackle Jude Bowry, a fourth-round pick, is a roster lock due to his draft status.”

Buscaglia noted that the Bills would likely have four of their recent draft picks — Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (a 2024 fifth-rounder), Grable (2024 sixth-rounder), Chase Lundt (2025 sixth-rounder) and Ar’maj Reed-Adams (2026 seventh-rounder) — competing for just one or two roster spots. He noted that all of those linemen have shown promise this preseason, which could make it difficult for them to sneak them through to the practice squad.

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