Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - My 2024 "State of the Bills" positional series continues with a look at the tight ends:
Under contract:
- Dalton Kincaid
- Dawson Knox
- Zach Davidson
- Tre’ McKitty
Pending free agents:
- Quintin Morris (ERFA)
State of the position:
While the wide receiver position certainly has plenty of question marks, the tight end group is exactly the opposite. The Bills appear to be pretty set heading into 2024.
Last year’s first-round pick, Kincaid, had a historic rookie season in Buffalo.
Kincaid's 73 receptions:
- Broke the 30-year-old franchise record for catches by a tight end in a season, set by Pete Metzalaars in 1993;
- Broke the franchise record for caches by any rookie at any position, set by Sammy Watkins in 2014;
- Were the fourth-most ever for a rookie tight end in NFL history.
Through the first seven games of the season, only once did Kincaid see more offensive snaps than Knox. Then Knox was placed on Injured Reserve. When he returned, over the final five games, Kincaid out-snapped him in all but one contest.
Kincaid had no problems handling the primary tight end role, which most likely continues going forward, and that’s a great scenario for the Bills since he’s under contract for three more seasons. The team would also have a fifth-year option they can exercise after that.
Knox had his least productive year as a pass-catcher in 2023, grabbing only 22 passes for just 186 yards. Part of that was due to Kincaid’s emergence, but part of it was also due to injuries he battled through. This included a wrist issue that forced him to have surgery and miss five games.
Knox has a significant $14.3 million salary cap hit for 2024. Some fans have wondered about a release or trade, considering the emergence of Kincaid, and Knox’s evolving role. Either of those won’t really be an option, based on the dead cap number it would cost the team versus a minimal cap savings.
However, they can lower his cap number by a few million by converting his base salary and roster bonus into a signing bonus, pushing some money due down the road.
That is probably something general manager Brandon Beane will look into doing.
All that said, Knox just turned 27-years-old. He’s a good football player and under contract for three more years, even if the numbers on the deal may need to be adjusted at some point.
Morris has been a valuable role player for the Bills since making the team as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He only played 16% of the team’s offensive snaps last season, catching two passes (including one for a touchdown), but he was fifth on the team playing over 72% of special teams snaps.
He’s an Exclusive Rights Free Agent, which means all the Bills have to do is offer him a contract worth $985,000, the minimum salary for a player going into his third year, to retain his rights. That’s something they almost certainly will do, bringing him back in 2024.
The season ended far too early for Davidson when he suffered a knee injury in June and was placed on Injured Reserve. He’s never played a snap in an NFL game, spending a year on both the Minnesota Vikings' and Bills' practice squads before the injury.
He will hopefully be fully recovered and healthy enough to join the team for training camp in 2024.
McKitty was a third-round pick of the Los Angeles Chargers just three years ago. Over his first two seasons, he started 12 games, catching 16 passes for 117 yards.
He was waived during the middle of last season and signed to the Bills' practice squad. He then signed a Reserve/Future deal after the season.
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