As the Buffalo Bills and NFL move towards free agency and the draft, my position-by-position State of the Bills offseason series continues with a look at the specialists:
Under contract:
- Tyler Bass (K)
- Matt Haack (P)
- Reid Ferguson (LS)
Pending Free Agents:
- None
State of the position:
It sounds pretty clear, at this point, that the Bills will be looking for a new punter this offseason. General manager Brandon Beane basically said it at his end-of-season press conference.
After signing Haack to a three-year free agent deal last offseason, they did not get the returns from him they were hoping for as a punter. Haack ranked 25th amongst all qualifying punters last year with only 42.9 yards gross average, and 26th with a 37.6 net average.
Beane even said that even though Haack was inconsistent, the reason they didn't want to change up at the position throughout the year was because he is such a good holder for Bass, and the Bills kicker was having an exceptional season. The organization didn't want to mess around with that.
Now with the season over, the Bills can look to either the draft or free agency to replace Haack, saving $1.2 million on their salary cap by releasing him and absorbing a dead cap hit of $700,000.
Buffalo could also elect to bring in competition and still hold on to him into training camp to see if there's anything that can convince them to keep him on the roster again. In that case, since it would be after June 1, the team would save $1.55 million in salary cap space and spread out the dead cap hit over two years at $350,000 each year.
Doing it that way would not give the team the immediate savings they may need this offseason for other spots. So it appears they may move on from him sooner rather than later. They'll just need to find another punter who they are confident enough can be a solid holder, since it's obviously an important detail for them.
Ferguson just keeps doing his job as the long snapper and is doing it well.
The 27-year-old is currently the second-longest tenured player on the team, behind only Jerry Hughes. They’re the only two who were in the organization before head coach Sean McDermott was hired, which already speaks volumes about what they think about him.
Ferguson has been named a team captain three seasons in a row, proving that the front office and coaching staff not only trust him on the field, but off of it, as well. He signed a three-year contract extension just before last season, which kicks in this year. At a position in which players can be very productive well into their 30s, the Bills appear to be set for quite a while.
The same can be said for Tyler Bass, who finished tied for sixth in the NFL in scoring with 135 total points. He just completed his second season and is already one of the better young kickers in the game.
In the 2021 regular season, Bass made 28 out of 32 field goals and was a perfect 51-of-51 on extra points. He did officially miss two extra points in the team’s Wild Card Round win over the New England Patriots, but both were blocked, finishing the regular season and playoffs 60-for-62 overall. He did not attempt a field goal during the playoffs last year.
Bass will be going into the third year of his four-year rookie contract.
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