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The Buffalo Bills on Wednesday released veteran guard Quinton Spain. It’d behoove the 49ers to at least kick tires on the 29-year-old interior lineman.
San Francisco’s offensive line needs don’t seem so dire after their strong outing against the Rams, but an injury to center Ben Garland stretches an already thin interior line even thinner. Hroniss Grasu will take over at center, leaving Tom Compton as the only additional interior lineman on the roster. Compton was active Week 1, but a healthy scratch in each of the last five games.
Spain brings with him a wealth of experience after the Titans in 2015 signed him as an undrafted rookie. He’s played in 70 games with 66 starts across six NFL seasons. Spain spent four years with the Titans before moving on to Buffalo the last two years.
He looked to be on his way to stardom in 2016 when he turned in an excellent year for the Titans. While he hasn’t recaptured the dominance of his 2016 campaign that earned him an 84.2 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, he’s still a capable pass blocker who helped pave the way for some very good rushing performances in Tennessee. Spain over the last three seasons has allowed just one sack in 1,264 pass blocking snaps.
The chances are slim that Spain ever regains the form he found in his second year in the league. However, he’s a very good depth piece who can play both guard spots and provides an upgrade over Compton.
Perhaps San Francisco likes what they have on the offensive line, but an upgrade would be valuable given their injury situation, and Spain would provide that.