Adding offensive line depth, the Buffalo Bills signed C Lloyd Cusheberry to a one-year deal on Thursday.
Cushenberry comes to Buffalo after four years in Denver and two years in Tennessee where at one point, he was one of the highest paid centers in the league. However, injuries began to pile up over the last two years culminating in his release from the Titans this offseason with a failed physical designation.
Read below for a full injury breakdown and analysis.
Injury History
2020 Denver Broncos
No publicly reported injuries.
2021 Broncos
Covid, Week 16, missed 1 game.
Cushenberry was placed on the COVID/Reserve list ahead of Week 16 and missed his first game.
2022 Broncos
Groin, Week 8, on IR, missed 9 games.
While playing over in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cushenberry suffered a groin strain that had him placed on injured reserve. Cushenberry states he was able to return later that month but the Broncos elected to use the IR to return designations on other players.
2023 Broncos
Illness, Week 4, missed 0 games.
Quadriceps, Week 4, missed 0 games.
Cushenberry suffered a quadriceps strain in the Week 4 win over the Chicago Bears and did not miss an offensive snap during this time. He was on the injury report for three weeks.
2024 Tennessee Titans
Left Achilles tear, Week 9, on IR, missed 9 games.
Cushenberry suffered what looked to be a left Achilles tear with 6:12 left in the third quarter against the New England Patriots. Looking at the video below (#79), this occurred when he was pushed backwards and his shin was pushed up over his foot, causing his ankle to be in end-range dorsiflexion under tension, causing the left Achilles to rupture. He started the 2025 training camp on PUP until he was activated in early August.
2025 Titans
Ankle, Week 11, missed 0 games.
He popped up on the injury report with an ankle designation during Thursday practice, able to practice in full that day and Friday with no designation.
Foot, Week 12, missed 2 games.
He suffered a foot injury sometime late in Week 12 that saw him unable to practice the following week and then miss most of the next week before getting a limited practice on that Friday, missing his second straight game. He was questionable heading into Week 15 but played every snap.
Shoulder surgery, offseason.
Cushenberry was released with a failed physical designation following offseason shoulder surgery. It’s not clear the procedure or even side as he did not have visible bracing or tape on either shoulder as recently as Week 18. There are also no photos or videos available showing rehab or what type of procedure he underwent.
Buffalo Bills Injury Analysis
Cushenberry has missed 21 games in his NFL career since entering the league in 2020. One game due to COVID, two games due to his foot injury, and then nine games each time due to his groin and Achilles injuries, respectively. He also had his shoulder surgery recently for which he was not on the injury report for at all this past season.
Despite missing nine games due to his groin in 2022, Cushenberry had stated he was healthy enough to return but that the Broncos elected to use the IR Designated to Return slot on other players indicating roster management issues more than health. There were not any reports of a core muscle injury or surgery which means this isn’t an injury that should be worrisome moving forward. Additionally, he hasn’t been on the injury report for a groin designation since then.
I would like to know more about his foot and ankle injuries from this past season, but other than media and injury reports acknowledging the injury, there aren’t any specifics on the issue.
His shoulder surgery also has no information and if it wasn’t for NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, there would have been nothing making the public aware that he underwent surgery. Right now, my assumption is that this was a routine clean out due to fraying of the rotator cuff or shaving down the acromion to reduce pain. It’s also possible that he had his labrum repaired as this is a very common injury in NFL lineman, but we didn’t see any bracing on either shoulder or any prior reports that he was dealing with injury at that location.
Finally, his Achilles tear was highly unfortunate but he appeared to beat the odds and return to play in 2025. The average return to play percentage for offensive lineman off an Achilles tear is 61.5 percent, second worst among position players and only better than running backs at 45.5 percent.
Statistically, there aren’t many ways to see how offensive line play is affected by an Achilles tear, but the average games played after an Achilles for a lineman is 12.8 +/- 2.5 games compared to the controls of 12.3 +/- 2.5 games, Cushenberry played in 15 games. Despite the second worst return to play rates by position, offensive lineman have the second longest career length following the injury besides quarterback at 3.4 +/- 1.0 years. This is especially noteworthy as offensive lineman also are the third oldest position on average to tear their Achilles, barely behind punter and quarterback.
Finally, the risk to re-tear an Achilles is 15 percent in the NFL which is rather low when you look at other injury risks comparatively. This would require a similar mechanism of injury versus not being fully ready to go or not having the ability to train to return to play.
Cushenberry will turn 29 this season so not only did he beat the return to play percentages, but he also is expected to continue to play for several more years coming off the Achilles. The Bills have him signed for one year at likely veteran minimum which minimizes virtually all the risk of this signing.
Final Thoughts
I’d like to know more about his foot and shoulder injuries, but this is why the Bills brought him in first to check him out before announcing that he was even visiting. The fact that he passed the physical indicates the Bills are comfortable with all the medicals and even with his Achilles tear, he is a season removed from the injury and would have played every game if not for his separate foot injury. He isn’t without risk at all, but his known injury history doesn’t suggest that there’s any immediate concerns or lingering issues.
The hope is that Cushenberry is line depth and never needs to see the field with Connor McGovern in front of him. You don’t get paid as one of the top centers in the league and then fall off skill wise that quickly. This a value signing with the idea that Cushenberry has started a lot of games in this league, he has familiarity with Joe Brady at LSU, and can still perform at a high level as he resets his market.
He’s on a one-year deal, there is absolutely no downside to this signing due to skill or injury, 100 percent upside.
I’d like to welcome Lloyd Cushenberry to Buffalo and to remain healthy this season.
Top Photo Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
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