Bills sign intriguing FB, may have found their Gilliam replacement

Did someone say fullback competition!?

If you blinked, you may have missed it yesterday evening, but around 5 p.m. ET the Buffalo Bills announced that the team had signed fullback Ben VanSumeren to a one-year deal just days after the completion of the 2026 NFL Draft.

And, Bills Mafia . . . boy, is his story compelling.

If you’ve followed along at the FAMbase blog this spring, then you may have noticed that we’ve kept tabs on possible fullback additions this offseason after longtime veteran Reggie Gilliam jumped ship to join the division rival New England Patriots via free agency last month.

Fans shouldn’t blame Gilliam, though — the former undrafted fan favorite earned every penny of his three-year, $12 million deal with New England — but it still stings for the Buffalo faithful nonetheless.

Gilliam had been a fixture in Western New York on both offense and special teams since coming out of the University of Toledo in 2020 when he won a spot on the 53-man roster out of training camp as a rookie, beating out former veteran captain Patrick DiMarco, who was released at the beginning of that September with an injury settlement.

The former Toledo Rocket earned a spot on the roster then, and eventually earned a spot in the hearts of Bills fans the rest of the way.

But, alas, all good things must come to an end, and Buffalo was forced to part ways with the athletic fullback in March due to financial restraints.

Don’t fret, though . . . the Bills may have just snagged your next favorite lane-paver for recent college graduate, James Cook. (Congrats on both accounts, James!)

Enter VanSumeren, who figures to be in a competition with recent undrafted free-agent signing, Jackson Acker, who came out in the draft this spring after finishing his five seasons at the University of Wisconsin with 691 all-purposes yards (415 rushing, 276 receiving) and six total touchdowns (3 rushing, 3 receiving).

Acker, who was a short-yardage specialist in both the receiving game and the running game for the Badgers, appeared in 50 games during his time on the Madison, Wisconsin, campus, which he parlayed into this upcoming opportunity with Buffalo.

If his $17,000 signing bonus is any indication, however, Acker will need to buckle up for this impending bout with VanSumeren, who figures to be the leading man in the competition at this point in time.

So, with that said, back to Buffalo’s newest fullback — Ben VanSumeren — who is also a former undrafted free agent like Acker.

A do-it-all player (QB, WR, DL, LB, RB) while starring at Garber High School in Essexville, Michigan, the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder — who was the 15th-ranked prospect in the state of Michigan in 2018 — was originally recruited to be a fullback at the University of Michigan after he tallied 3,941 total yards (2,888 receiving and 1,053 rushing) and 46 total touchdowns (29 receiving and 17 rushing) in his high school career, while also grabbing 79 tackles, four interceptions, and two sacks on the defensive side of the ball.

Once in college, however, VanSumeren didn’t stay on offense for long as he appeared in just nine games — at fullback and running back — across his first two seasons with the Wolverines before the Michigan native made the move to the defensive side of the ball at linebacker for his junior season where he appeared in six games, making seven total tackles while playing mostly on special teams.

The former do-it-all player decided to make another move after that season, however, as he bounced from the Ann Arbor campus to the East Lansing campus of Michigan State University in 2021.

Once he was settled in an hour northwest of his original collegiate stomping grounds, VanSumeren made the transition to linebacker full-time for the final two seasons of his college career.

And, in 2023 — his final year at Michigan State — the former Garber High graduate exploded for 81 total tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, and two pass breakups in 11 games before forgoing his last year of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

He went unselected, though, despite being projected to hear his name called somewhere on Day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft, and he ultimately wound up signing a UDFA contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, which included $130,000 in guaranteed money at the time of signing — see the difference from Acker’s contract with Buffalo this year?

Anyway, after staying on defense for his rookie season, which included seeing the field in nine games with one start, the one-time Spartan standout began the transition back to the offensive side of the ball — yet again — in 2024 for the Eagles, as he played 22 snaps at fullback throughout the year, while also registering 213 snaps on special teams.

Unfortunately, though, VanSumeren suffered a season-ending ACL injury during a Friday practice at the end of November that year, and he was forced to miss Philadelphia’s run to Super Bowl glory.

The Eagles thought highly enough of VanSumeren, though, to bring the former undrafted linebacker back into the fold for the 2025 season on a one-year, $1.03 million deal last spring. 

He battled back from his previous injury to earn the starting fullback position out of training camp again last year, but on the opening kickoff of the season against the Dallas Cowboys . . . VanSumeren suffered yet another season-ending injury — this time it was a patellar tendon tear.

It was certainly a devastating moment for the once promising undrafted player, but brighter days are now ahead in Western New York . . . hopefully.

With an opening roster spot up for grabs at the fullback position in Buffalo, VanSumeren has the chance to lock in the job this spring and summer if he’s able to stay healthy . . . because there’s no questioning the potential that he possesses.

At the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, the jack-of-all trades proved to be one of the best athletes coming out of college that year, as he posted a 40-yard dash time of 4.45 seconds at 232 pounds, along with a 10-yard split of 1.52 seconds, a 42.5” vertical jump, a 10’-11” broad jump, and a bench press session that included 29 reps of 225 pounds.

Simply put — when healthy — VanSumeren is, without a shadow of a doubt, pound-for-pound one of the best athletes on the field at any given time, which is just incredible to think about given his background.

So, with that said, Buffalo’s newest fullback has all of the tools you look for from a bottom-of-the-roster player and special-teams contributor.

It’s seemingly just been a matter of health for the former Eagles fan favorite since entering the league.

If — and that’s a big IF — VanSumeren can manage to stay on the field, then the Bills might’ve just landed themselves one of the bigger steals of the offseason  . . . and that’s not being hyperbolic, folks, especially considering how important Gilliam was to the team over the past six seasons.

While it’s true that he wouldn’t come in and light up the stat sheet, VanSumeren would likely play a critical role in Buffalo’s rushing offense, as well as on special teams, if he were to crack the final 53-man roster in the fall.

That’s valuable, and it shouldn’t be scoffed at.

Let’s keep an eye on this hidden gem, folks . . . if all goes according to plan, then who knows?

VanSumeren just might be shining brightly in the midst of a ground-and-pound snow game in the new Highmark Stadium next winter.

That’d be fun, wouldn’t it?

Stay tuned.

Writer’s note: Bills Mafia, I truly hope you’re enjoying my work so far this offseason, especially the recent NFL Draft articles. If you do, please consider giving me a follow over on X (formerly Twitter). My handle on that platform is @JGreen_PRsports. I’m really trying to get my work out there, so to anyone who reads and shares — THANK YOU. It is greatly appreciated.