The Bills didn’t just keep Dawson Knox around - they found a way to make it work financially, and that matters. After a renegotiated three-year deal this offseason worth $20 million total, Knox’s 2026 cap hit dropped to $8,551,333, a far easier number to live with than the $17.1 million he was set to count against the cap on his old deal. Releasing him would have left Buffalo with a dead cap charge of $17.404 million.
That’s the backdrop for a player who has quietly become one of the most dependable parts of Buffalo’s offense. Knox, now in his eighth season after the Bills took him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Ole Miss, is listed at 6’4” and 254 pounds. He’ll be 29 until 11/14/2026, and he’s back in the mix as one of five tight ends on the roster.
Last season was a strong one for Knox, especially with Dalton Kincaid sidelined. He played all 17 regular-season games and both postseason games, giving Buffalo a full slate for the first time in his NFL career.
In the regular season, he caught 36 of 49 targets for 417 yards and four touchdowns, all of which were his best marks since his Pro Bowl 2022 season. He also continued to show better hands, dropping only two passes.
One of those was a touchdown chance against the Cleveland Browns that would have pushed Buffalo ahead 29-20 in the fourth quarter of a game the Bills ended up winning 23-20.
Knox stayed involved in January, too, catching six of eight targets for 62 yards in the postseason. Among Bills receivers in the regular season, he was tied for third in targets, tied for second in touchdown catches, third in receiving yards, and fourth in receptions.
The Bills’ tight end room looks familiar again. Knox is set to resume his role as the primary backup to Kincaid, with Jackson Hawes, Shane Zylstra, and Keleki Latu also on the roster. Knox was healthy this offseason and took part in summer work.
There was some surprise that Buffalo kept him, especially with Hawes in the building and the cap number attached to Knox’s old contract. But the move makes sense.
He’s Josh Allen’s longest-tenured pass-catcher and has built real chemistry with the quarterback. Knox also owns the franchise record for receiving touchdowns by a tight end, passing Pete Metzelaars last season when he caught his 27th career touchdown.
He could climb even higher on Buffalo’s all-time receiving touchdowns list with a modest start. If Knox scores three times this season, he would move past Gabe Davis, Stevie Johnson, and Bob Chandler and into seventh place in franchise history.
What Knox gives the Bills is balance. He’s not the same blocker as Hawes, and he’s not the seam threat Kincaid is, but he can hold up in-line against linebackers and defensive linemen and still turn short catches into meaningful gains. He’s also become a respected voice in the locker room, the kind of player who influences a team without needing the captain’s “C”.
He’s not going to be an All Pro, and he’s not a fantasy football target. But Dawson Knox remains exactly the kind of steady, useful piece good teams keep finding room for. He’s a roster lock this fall.
In Other News...
Josh Allen Has Never Had A Better MVP Setup In Buffalo
Training camp always brings the same annual MVP chatter, but this year the conversation around Josh Allen feels a little different in Buffalo. The Bills have spent the offseason trying to make life easier on their quarterback, and the arrival of DJ Moore gives Allen a proven target who can help steady an offense that has leaned heavily on his arm and legs for too long. Add in the new coaching direction and the sense is clear: Allen is walking into a setup built to maximize both production and visibility, which is exactly the kind of backdrop that tends to matter when voters start sorting out the leagues best player.
The challenge, of course, is that Allen is hardly alone in that race. Lamar Jackson is adjusting to a new offensive structure in Baltimore, while Joe Burrow is coming back into a Cincinnati situation that looks as complete as it has in years. Still, Buffalos case is the one that stands out because it pairs a quarterback already in the MVP mix with the kind of roster and sideline changes that can turn a strong season into a signature one. The only question now is whether the Bills have finally put enough around Allen to make the award chase feel less like a one-man carry job and more like a true contenders run. [Read more 🡒]
Doug Flutie Still Divides Bills Fans In One All-Time Debate
Doug Fluties place in Bills history has always been a little more complicated than a simple ranking exercise. He belongs in the same conversation with Jim Kelly, Josh Allen and Joe Ferguson as one of the franchises most memorable quarterbacks, and his path to Buffalo was unlike anyone elses, built on a long professional career that stretched across multiple leagues and included major success in Canada before he ever became a familiar name in Western New York.
Fluties legacy in Buffalo still carries a split-screen feel because of what he brought to the team in the late 1990s and what his arrival represented to fans who watched every snap. He helped push the Bills back into the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, but his time there also left behind one of the defining debates of that era, a reminder that even a quarterback with a strong rsum can leave a franchise with admiration, frustration and a few unanswered questions all at once. [Read more 🡒]
James Cooks Market Value Will Frustrate Bills Fans
Running back value around the NFL has been a tricky conversation for years, and James Cook is the latest reminder of how quickly the market can flatten out even for a productive player. ESPNs Bill Barnwell recently ran through theoretical trade values for a handful of Bills, and Cook landed in a tier that reflects the positions diminished standing leaguewide and the contract realities that come with it.
For Buffalo fans, the frustrating part is what that says about the return in any hypothetical deal. Cooks value is being dragged down by the same forces that have made running backs harder to move for premium picks, and Barnwells exercise put him alongside players who are more likely to be viewed as useful pieces than headline-grabbing assets. It is all academic for now, though, because the Bills are not shopping Cook and plan to keep him in the fold. [Read more 🡒]