How much were the teams in the conference championship games willing to spend on their offensive lines?
The Chicago Bears struggles’ on the offensive line are well-documented, and they clearly contributed to the problems the team has faced through at least two general managers and a number of offensive coordinators not worth counting. However, with new head coach Ben Johnson supposedly seeking “alignment” with Ryan Poles over the importance of the unit, that might change. So, what does it take to build a championship-caliber offensive line? It’s worth looking first at the Bears and Lions as a frame of reference and then comparing these units to the four teams that made the conference championship games.
BACKGROUND
Chicago Bears (5-12): The Chicago Bears spent another season watching the Super Bowl instead of playing in it, and regardless of whatever else might be true, they struggled on their offensive line. They allowed more sacks than any other team in football and their rushing attack was weak, at best. They also had the cheapest offensive line in football, per Spotrac, with less than $16mil AAV going to winning the line of scrimmage on offense. It showed.
- FBI Rank*: 23rd
- Quarterback sacked rate: 10.73% (32nd)
- Yards per rush: 4.0 (25th)
- HIghest-drafted interior lineman: Teven Jenkins (#39 overall)
- HIghest-paid interior lineman: Ryan Bates ($4.5mil AAV)
Detroit Lions (15-2): By contrast, In 2024, the Lions had just under $82mil AAV invested in their offensive line, and after all of the maneuvering, it represented just over 20% of their annual cap last year. Chicago’s new head coach benefitted from an offensive line that was expensive, even with Penei Sewell on his rookie contract. On that note, Detroit actually drafted three of their starters in the first round, so their line represents a consistent investment in terms of draft capital as well as cap space.
- FBI Rank: 1st
- Quarterback sacked rate: 5.56% (8th)
- Yards per rush: 4.8 (5th)
- Highest-drafted interior lineman: Ragnow (#20 overall)
- HIghest-paid interior lineman: Ragnow ($13.5mil AAV)
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS
What about the teams that made the conference championship games, though? Can any lessons be learned from how they invested (or didn’t) in winning at the line of scrimmage on offense? Here are the teams in question in ascending orders of investment.
Washington Commanders (12-5): The Commanders tied up 13% of their 2024 cap in their offensive line, and they spent around $50mil in AAV. The line was a mixture of lighter veteran contracts and rookie deals at the tackles with two major investments on the inside of the line, but the line was still in the middle of the league in terms of cost, and three times as much in AAV as the Bears spent, and three times .
- FBI Rank: 5th
- Quarterback sacked rate: 7.78% (22nd)
- Yards per rush: 4.8 (5th)
- Highest-paid interior lineman: Samuel Cosmi ($18.5mil AAV), but Tyler Biadasz ($9.8mil AAV) also deserves a mention.
- HIghest-drafted interior lineman: Cosmi (#51 overall)
Buffalo Bills (13-4): The Bills are the next cheapest group on this list, with $56mil AAV and barely 11% of their 2024 cap invested in the offensive line. They also have two second-round picks and a third-round pick on their line, but no first-rounders. Of note, they also have the fifth-lowest pocket time (2.3 seconds) and only the 11th-best yards before contact (2.5) in the league. In other words, the offense is performing well, but it’s possible that it’s not because of the line. Still, they represent a successful offensive line for less.
- FBI Rank: 2nd
- Quarterback sacked rate: 3.06% (1st)
- Yards per rush: 4.5 (11th)
- Highest-drafted interior lineman: Torrence (#59 overall)
- Highest-paid interior lineman: McGovern ($7.4mil AAV)
Kansas City Chiefs (15-2): The Chiefs had 27% of their cap for 2024 tied up in the offensive line, but only around $60mil AAV. Both measures make it one of the more expensive lines in the league (4th and 9th, respectively). This contributed to a team that significantly favors the offense to the defense in terms of cap space (65% to 26%).
- FBI Rank: 17th
- Quarterback sacked rate: 7.07% (19th)
- Yards per rush: 4.0 (31st)
- Highest-drafted interior lineman: Creed Humphrey (#63 overall)
- HIghest-paid interior lineman: Creed Humphrey ($18mil AAV)
Philadelphia Eagles (14-3): You get what you pay for? The brotherly shove is pricey. The Eagles had the highest AAV in the NFL for an offensive line in 2024 ($76mil), even if they fit it into only 18% of their cap. Three of their six most expensive contracts on a per-year basis belonged to the offensive line (and all of those six were on offense).
- FBI Rank: 3rd
- Quarterback sacked rate: 9.77% (31st)
- Yards per rush: 5.1 (4th)
- Highest-drafted interior lineman: Dickerson (#37 overall)
- Highest-paid interior lineman: Dickerson ($21mil AAV)
CONCLUSIONS
There is no smoking gun that spending big on the offensive line was essential to victory, but it is worth noting that Philadelphia dominated both sides of the line, and that all of the top teams were at least in the top half in terms of money spent on the offensive line. It’s also noteworthy that three of the four teams had at least one highly-paid interior lineman. The Bills seem to have been able to Hopefully, Poles uses all of his resources to get set up the 2025 Bears for success.
Whatever else is true, the Bears’ going cheap absolutely had consequences.