Bills Trade C Russell Bodine to Patriots in Rare In-Division Swap

For the third time in recent days, the New England Patriots have acquired an offensive lineman, this time from within the division.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the Patriots acquired center Russell Bodine from the Buffalo Bills. In exchange, the Bills received a sixth-round pick.

The #Patriots are trading a 6th round pick to the #Bills for C Russell Bodine, source said. Buffalo’s center Mitch Morse getting healthy, combined with David Andrews likely heading to IR with a blood clot necessitated this.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2019

Of the three offensive lineman the Pats have brought aboard via trade, including Korey Cunningham and Jermaine Eluemunor, Bodine is the best of the bunch (historically) and fills a real need, as New England center David Andrews could miss most, if not all, of the season with blood clots in his lungs.

The Patriots are trading for Bills C Russell Bodine, per @AdamSchefter. Huge move. He's started 74 games since entering the league in 2014. That's the third trade for an OL in the past few days. And this one is by far the most significant.
— Kevin Duffy (@KevinRDuffy) August 30, 2019

Buffalo signed Bodine to a two-year deal last year as a backup center, but he ended up starting quite a bit, as he took over for Ryan Groy in Week 3 and started the next 10 games before being placed on injured reserve with a broken fibula in Week 13.

Bodine was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals back in 2014 in the fourth round.