There has been talk the Buffalo Bills had a plan with its existing roster to fill the void at center. Buffalo still added a center in free agency Friday to give itself interior line options.

The Bills announced they signed center Will Clapp to a one-year deal.

Clapp, 6-foot-5 and 311 pounds, is entering his seventh season NFL season after four with the New Orleans Saints and the last two with the Los Angeles Chargers. He has 21 career starts in 65 games.

Clapp started 11 games for the Chargers in 2023 after Pro Bowler Corey Linsley stepped away with a heart-related issue. Clapp held the starting job until he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 15. He appeared in all 17 games with Los Angeles in 2022.

Here’s what to know about the fan favorite, and why there could be Clapp No. 77 jerseys in the stands at Highmark Stadium.

Will Clapp is a popular meme on social media
Will Clapp and Sean McDermott − who will clap vigorously on the sidelines every chance he gets − are a perfect match. Clapp is known on social media for his name, which means to desire to applause. But there’s another reason Clapp has entered Generation Z meme legend. His name has become synonymous on social media with stealing someone’s girlfriend.

In 2021, Clapp played Madden against MMG, a Madden football YouTuber who has nearly 3 million subscribers and frequently wears Clapp jerseys. Clapp responded to MMG’s direct message by joking the gamer looked like Ellen DeGeneres, which led to an gaming appearance and interview. Clapp said he gets hundreds of private messages from fans joking with him about the meme.

How Will Clapp fits in Buffalo
The Bills released Mitch Morse prior to free agency, which leaves a void at center. Connor McGovern, who started all 17 games at left guard for Buffalo, could slide over to center.

Clapp is versatile with the ability to play guard or center. He also took snaps at tackle and tight end in jumbo packages in New Orleans.

If McGovern makes the switch to center, Clapp, David Edwards and Alec Anderson may battle for the left guard spot or Clapp could be the backup center. The Bills could opt to start Clapp at center and keep continuity with McGovern sticking to left tackle.

He has connections to Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady was an assistant with the Saints during Clapp’s rookie season. Brady was hired as the passing game coordinator at LSU, Clapp’s alma mater, in 2019.

Clapp knew LSU was destined for greatness.

“There we go! My guy about to bring this pass game to a new level. Joey and Slinger are a dangerous combo!” Clapp tweeted in response to Brady’s signing with LSU.

LSU won a national championship in Brady’s lone season with the Tigers. The Tigers had a record-setting offense led by Joe Burrow.

Will Clapp protected Drew Brees
Clapp was a seventh-round pick, No. 245 overall, by the Saints in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was with New Orleans from 2018-2021, moving several times from the practice squad to the active roster. Clapp saw action in 14 games in 2019, when the Saints won the NFC South division. Drew Brees took snaps from Clapp in the future Hall of Famer quarterback’s last three years until he retired after the 2000 season.

Clapp grew up in Louisiana, was a two-time All-SEC selection at Louisiana State University and jumped to the NFL with a year of eligibility remaining.

Will Clapp is the oldest of four brothers
Clapp has three younger brothers.

“It was a physical house,” Clapp told The Advocate as a redshirt freshman at LSU. “A lot of bloody noses. Twelve gallons of milk a week. My mom shopped at the Restaurant Depot.”

Clapp’s father, Tommy Clapp, joked that it didn’t take much for a door to get torn down during an argument among the boys. They Clapps replaced the front door, bedroom doors, windows and patch holes in the walls due to wrestling matches. Tommy Clapp played on the LSU defensive line in the 1980s.

He thinks he looks like Peter Griffin in Madden
The Chargers showed Clapp what his Madden NFL 24 player looked like in a video posted last year. He thought the video game designers made him a Family Guy doppelganger.

“I feel like I’m going to look terrible,” Clapp told fellow lineman Trey Pipkins III. “I look like Peter Griffin!”