Bills Acquire Offensive Tackle Ryan Bates from Eagles

On Friday, the Buffalo Bills traded DE Eli Harold to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for OT Ryan Bates. The trade was announced by both teams Friday evening. Just a day after two offensive linemen for Buffalo sustained injuries in their preseason opener versus Indianapolis.

This offseason, Ryan Bates signed as an undrafted free agent with the Eagles. He did so after playing his final season of college football with the Penn State Nittany Lions. He started 12 games in 2018.

Bates’ ability to play both left and right tackle appealed to the Bills after LaAdrian Waddle was placed on injured reserve after tearing a quadriceps muscle.

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Harold signed earlier in 2019 with Buffalo after spending three seasons playing for the 49ers and last season with the Lions. Harold was listed as the fourth-string defensive end for the Bills on its preseason depth chart. On Friday, he practiced with Buffalo and was told about being traded to the Eagles after practice had concluded, said one league source.

Harold gives the Eagles much needed depth at DE after Joe Ostman was lost for the season last week with a torn ACL.

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Waddle is Buffalo’s only injured offensive lineman placed on IR, but Bills center Mitch Morse remains in concussion protocol after suffering a concussion on July 27 during Buffalo’s first padded practice. Buffalo made Morse the NFL’s highest-paid center this past offseason with a deal of four years for $44.5 million.

Guards Jon Feliciano and Spencer Long both have missed practices in camp, although the two practiced on Friday. In the game versus the Colts, Feliciano took the injured Morse’s starting spot.

On Thursday Conor McDermott was cleared after being evaluated for a possible concussion. However, the tackle was put into concussion protocol on Friday after showing concussion-like symptoms.