Buffalo Bills roster analysis: Tight ends
The Buffalo Bills had an excellent 2020 season as a team, but position-by-position is a different story. Some were certainly better than others and as the offseason is now in full swing, Bills Wire will give a quick analysis of the team’s current roster by reflecting on the season that was and looking ahead to 2021.
First up, here is our breakdown on the team’s tight end unit:
Contract statuses
Bills tight end Tyler Kroft. Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Signed for 2021:
Dawson Knox: $1.09M cap hit ($411.1K dead cap)
Lee Smith: $2.25M cap hit (zero dead cap)
Reggie Gilliam: $786.7K cap hit ($13.3K dead cap)
Nate Becker: $780K (reserve/ futures contract)
Tommy Sweeney: $874K cap hit ($48.1K dead cap)
Pending free agents:
Tyler Kroft: $5.4M cap hit
Player-by-player 2020 review
Bills tight end Dawson Knox. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Player (age):
Knox (24): There's one word that describes Knox in the NFL so far: Inconsistent. It's also inconsistently a different issue. Sometimes it's the hands, his blocking, getting open, staying healthy and even getting looks from quarterback Josh Allen. Some had hopes that Knox would start to round into the first modern-day, athletic, playmaking tight end the Bills have ever had this season... and that was anything but what happened. Stats: 24 catches, 288 yards, 3 TDs Smith (33): Primarily Buffalo's extra blocker, Smith earned positive grades from Pro Football Focus in both pass protection (72.0) and run blocking (66.6). While nearly never featuring as a playmaker, this made him a kind of trick-play expert. He hauled in a few touchdowns and they happened because the defense didn't think he'd do anything but block on the play (shoutout Brian Daboll). Stats: 4 catches, 35 yards, 2 TDs Gilliam (23): After scoring in the Bills' season opener, Gilliam essentially never featured in the team's offense again. He was a special teams contributor mostly. Stats: 2 catches, 16 yards, TD, 2 tackles, forced fumble Kroft (28): While one word described Knox's season, one status can describe most of Kroft's season: Healthy scratch. In the second half of the year, he had one catch (Week 9)... but things didn't start terribly considering he had a two-touchdown outing and the game-winner vs. the Rams in Week 3. Would be nice to be a fly on the wall to find out why he never really featured. Issues with the COVID designation certainly didn't help. Stats: 12 catches, 119 yards, 3 TDs Sweeney (25): Sweeney spent the year on the PUP list and then was diagnosed with myocarditis, a heart condition linked to COVID-19. He did not play in 2020. Stats: N/A Becker (24): Becker spent most of the year on and off of Buffalo's practice squad. He made a quick appearance in Week 17 and failed to record any numbers. Stats: N/A
2021 outlook
Bills tight end Dawson Knox (Gannett photo)
The Bills tight end room is not a highlighted position group for observers of the team as the offseason approaches because they made so little of an impact this past season. But considering that, expect some changes in an effort to improve. Knox will be back, but aside from that, everyone should be up in the air... and even in discussing Knox, he could be pushed down the depth chart depending on how aggressive the front office gets in looking for additions to this area. Knox's best game of the year was probably the AFC title game, but even then, he had only six catches for 42 yards with a touchdown. The bar was essentially that low. What also doesn't help any of these guys is that Buffalo played against guys like Travis Kelce and Darren Waller in 2020, a couple of the league's best. In terms of departures, Smith already said he is pondering retirement. With Kroft's lack of involvement, it's unlike he's back, either and it remains to be seen if Sweeney can suit up. That's quite a serious health concern. Gilliam? We'll see.
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