Trey Teague could be playing out his final days with the Buffalo Bills.

The former University of Tennessee offensive lineman is in the final year of his contract. He admits that the possibility of becoming a free agent has crossed his mind a time or two.

"I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about it," Teague told The Buffalo News. "But it's not here yet and there's nothing I can do about it except go out, prepare and try to play as well as I can. I'll have plenty of time to think about that between the end of the year and when that (free agency) stuff starts."

When the Bills took highly regarded center Duke Preston in last April's draft, it fueled speculation that Teague's days in Buffalo were numbered. While Preston's playing time this season has been at guard, it is still believed that he'll replace Teague as soon as next year.

Bills president and general manager Tom Donahoe said the team still values Teague and has expressed an interest in retaining the player's services. But Donahoe isn't making any promises.

"We would like him to stay here. How those things transpire you never know," Donahoe said. "We'll address it at the end of the year. But he's played good football for us. He's really taken a step forward the last two years. Because of his ability, experience and intelligence, you don't want to have to replace that."

Because of injuries and free agency, Teague has never played with the same group of linemen in any of his four seasons in Buffalo. He's seen so many changes he has gotten used to it.

"That's all I've known as a center," he said. "It's a challenge regardless, but most of the lines you see in the league that are successful you see a lot of the same names back year after year. So much of it is working together and understanding each other and knowing the system so well because a lot of times defenses do things you've never seen. As a lineman, it may take you a couple of years to be comfortable."

Despite the lack of continuity, Teague has tried to be a stabilizing presence. The 6-foot-5, 300-pounder is not a physically dominant blocker, but he's smart, athletic, tough and technically sound.

Teague was a 20-game starter at left tackle for the Denver Broncos in four seasons, and was signed by the Bills to play that position. But the Bills moved him to center, his college position, because they weren't comfortable with having an inexperienced Jonas Jennings anchoring the line.

Initially, Teague was not thrilled with the idea of playing center again. But he's grown to embrace the switch. To the Bills, he's playing the position better than ever.

"To his credit he's gotten better each year, particularly the last two years with (offensive line) coach (Jim) McNally," Donahoe said. "He's a very athletic and smart guy. Makes all the calls, he rarely makes a mental mistakes and he's helped our line produce four 1,000-yard rushers. That's pretty good. People don't give our line credit for that, but there are not a lot of teams in the league that have had four 1,000-yard rushers in a row. Trey has been a big part of that."

Playing center is a demanding job. Teague said it's like being a traffic cop because he has to look at the defense and make the presnap calls and adjustments for his fellow linemen so they know what to do on each play.

"It's obviously a mental game," he said. "With all the stuff we have in, it's challenging because it's one thing to look at it on paper. But when it's live bullets, you just have a split second to make a decision and try to get five guys on the right page. There's a lot to that.

"It's amazing how (much) more comfortable I am now than I was before. It's different than playing tackle, that's for sure. But I feel good about my play. I feel like I've progressed every year."

Teague, who turned 31 this week, has no idea what's ahead for him. However, he believes he still has a lot of football left in him.

But with one game left, Teague is too concerned about the present to start planning his future.

"Right now you try to focus on the task at hand, and that's really what I'm trying to do," he said. "When guys get wrapped up in thinking about that, it usually has a negative impact on your performance. I don't want to fall into that trap."