The Buffalo Bills made two clear offseason moves to help an offense that already knows how to score: they brought back center Connor McGovern and landed wide receiver DJ Moore in a trade from the Chicago Bears.
But the biggest boost might not come from either of those names.
If Dalton Kincaid can finally put together a full, healthy, productive season, the fourth-year tight end could wind up being the real difference-maker for Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense.
Kincaid sounded encouraged near the end of the offseason program in June, saying, "It’s probably the best I’ve felt in my career at this point in the year," Kincaid said near the end of the offseason program in June. "Not having those thoughts of the knee, especially last year. I feel really good and I’m not even thinking about it out there."
That’s a promising update, but spring work is still spring work. No pads.
No real punishment. The Bills are hoping that feeling carries into the 2026 season, because even a modest jump in availability would matter.
Kincaid played on just 38% of the snaps last year, and anything beyond that would be a major gain.
The Bills have plenty of reason to believe Kincaid can still be a centerpiece. Brandon Beane was already ready to exercise the fifth-year option on Kincaid’s rookie deal before that decision even came due, and he had the numbers to back it up.
In the games Kincaid played last season, Buffalo went 11-3 including the postseason and averaged 30.1 points. In the games he missed, the Bills were 2-3 and averaged 23.0 points.
“So yes, I’m turning the fifth-year option in,” Beane said.
That confidence traces back to what Kincaid has already shown. The 2023 first-round pick set a Bills record for catches by a tight end as a rookie with 73, a total that also ranked as the fourth-highest ever for an NFL rookie tight end. But his second season never really settled in the way Buffalo wanted.
He opened 2024 with 20 catches for 287 yards and three touchdowns in the first five games, including a career-high 108 yards against the Patriots. After that, the injuries started stacking up.
An oblique issue, then a hamstring problem, then a knee injury that flared late in the year. He finished with 39 receptions for 571 yards and five touchdowns, but the missed time and limited snaps took a real toll.
The knee became the biggest issue. Kincaid sprained it in Week 10 at Indianapolis, missed the next three games and also sat out the season finale. Over his final six games, including the postseason, he had just 16 catches for 160 yards and no touchdowns.
Even so, the postseason offered a glimpse of what Buffalo still believes Kincaid can be. He played two strong games against the Jaguars and Broncos. After the season, he and the Bills’ medical staff decided against surgery, choosing rest and rehab instead.
Beane said he was comfortable with that call.
“It could be one of those things, alright, you don’t do surgery this year, and let’s say it flares up or gets worse, then maybe next year the doc’s like, ‘All right, we tried non-surgery, you kind of ran into some of the same things, maybe we should try surgery now,’” Beane said. “You never want to do surgery unless you can say that’s what’s needed. Docs like to do surgery, so I respect them saying that’s not what we’re recommending here.”
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady has seen enough to know what a healthy Kincaid can mean for the whole unit.
“I just want the pads to come on and football season to start because he’s had such a good offseason,” Brady said. “I’m so excited for where he’s at and his head space. He’s a freak of an athlete and we’re a better offense when he’s out on the field and there’s no denying that.”
The Bills do have depth at tight end. Dawson Knox remains a reliable option in the passing game and a stronger run blocker than Kincaid. Jackson Hawes, Buffalo’s 2025 fifth-round pick, quickly emerged as one of the league’s best run-blocking tight ends as a rookie and showed flashes as a receiver too.
That gives Buffalo one of the league’s better three-man tight end groups. But the whole thing works best if Kincaid is on the field and playing like the player the Bills targeted when they traded up two spots in 2023 to draft him.
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