Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - As first reported by Tim Graham of The Athletic shortly after the Buffalo Bills' final preseason game this past Thursday, the team is re-sodding the grass playing surface at the new Highmark Stadium, less than three weeks before the 2026 home opener against the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Sept. 17.
According to comments from Bills president of business operations Pete Guelli with The Athletic, the process of re-sodding the Kentucky bluegrass field should be completed by the end of this week.
The grass surface had been first installed at the new stadium last October.
When examining the work the Bills are putting into the grass field at the new stadium, Zach Braddell of Lakeside Sod Supply Co. in Clarence Center feels the team may be overcomplicating matters for themselves.
"We've been growing grass for thousands of years, and they want to bring in all the latest and greatest things just to try to get the grass to grow. The latest and greatest technology, and they kind of make a mountain out of a molehill there," said Braddell in an interview with WBEN.
"With all the technology that's underneath the field, they're not just growing it on the best soil they could find. They're controlling every aspect of it. They're blowing air in there, they're controlling the drainage of it. Every little bit of it is being controlled, so you wonder if maybe that has something to do with it."
John Braddell, Zach's grandfather, believes the problem the Bills face with the field isn't in the sod, but in the soil medium they're growing the grass on.
"I think it's extremely unusual, and I think the Bills are really surprised, I would think, that they're replacing the field now. It just something didn't go right with the soil medium and the sod itself," Braddell said with WBEN. "The grass when it comes in, you harvest 95% of the root system off it. So when you put it in, you've got to fertilize and make it so that the plant will send roots down, send out new roots. And the new roots - tap roots, hair roots - go into the soil, and that's what helps it hold itself in position.
"I understand that the field was moving under the players' feet a little bit, which made them feel unsafe or wasn't stable. That's only because the sod itself didn't root into the soil medium. And to be honest with you, we couldn't tell you why that happens. I think it's unusual that it didn't happened, but we don't know why it happened without knowing the particulars of what the soil medium it was planted on."
So what will this re-sodding process look like with the new playing surface at the new stadium?
"I think what they're going to do, they're going to bring in sod that's an inch-and-a-half thick. It's going to be so heavy it isn't going to go anywhere, and that's kind of the idea," Zach said. "Not necessarily that it's going to root down in time, which I think a standard roll of sod - especially this time of year - would have absolutely no trouble rooting in that time frame. But bringing it in that thick, it's going to lay there and it's not going to move."
"They'll bring it in and, more than likely, they'll aerify it, punch holes in it if they can, and top dress it with sand. The weight of the sand will help hold it in position. The weight of the sod being an inch-and-a-half thick, it'll be very heavy, it won't move. And I think the field will probably play very well," John added.
This process is not uncommon in other markets around the NFL that utilize grass playing surfaces.
"They do it quite often. Chicago, they do it all season long, they'll replace pieces or parts of the field that wear out. And I wouldn't be surprised that they take part of this field during the season coming up and replace it with sod that's and inch-and-a-half thick so the field will look pristine and look good for the cameras," John said.
Even though this process of re-sodding may be a bit complicated in some circumstances, John knows that the players want the grass playing surfaces, and he agrees there's nothing like a grass field for football.
"The players want grass simply because it's safe. Understand when you play on grass, when you cut, there is a certain give. If you play on turf, when you cut, there is no give. That's where the ligaments and everything, parts of their bodies start to wear and tear, and they'll hurt themselves. And also, maybe even seams from synthetic turf that may stick up and cause a player to trip. But as far as the playing field, we're extremely prejudiced," John said.
