The Bills’ kicking game is suddenly one of the more interesting little battlegrounds at St. John Fisher University, and it starts with Tyler Bass trying to get back to being Tyler Bass.
Bass has already been through the strange offseason wrinkle of surrendering No. 2, first to wide receiver DJ Moore and then, almost immediately, watching edge rusher Bradley Chubb arrive and ask about the same number. Chubb ended up with No. 9 instead, joking, “Oh no, I’m already out of the running,” and explaining, “I got No. 9 so I’m good. That was my college number, I feel like it’s my ninth year and it’s all coming full circle.”
Bass, now wearing No. 16, has bigger things to worry about than jersey math. He missed all of 2025 after hip and groin injuries that eventually required surgery, and the Bills need him to look like the kicker who had been steady for them since 2020.
The injury problems started in training camp, when Bass tried to push through the pain and even handled the preseason finale at Tampa Bay. He went 3 of 4 on field goals and hit both extra points, but the discomfort came back afterward. With the opener against Baltimore getting close and no real improvement, Buffalo put him on injured reserve and brought in 41-year-old Matt Prater.
That move could have gone badly. Bass had made 84.5% of his field goals over his first five seasons, a mark that ranks 29th in NFL history, and he was at 96.4% on extra points, good for 13th among active kickers before the league moved the try back to 33 yards.
Instead, Prater delivered exactly what the Bills needed. He nailed the game-winner at the buzzer against the Ravens, finished 18 of 20 on field goals and 46 of 49 on extra points, then went perfect on all 11 kicks in the postseason, including a tying 50-yarder with five seconds left against Denver to force overtime.
“Just grateful for the experience,” Prater said on the day the Bills cleaned out their lockers after the Broncos loss, knowing his run was probably finished. “Got to come out here, short notice, be a part of this team, this organization that is, in my opinion, the best place I’ve ever been - top to bottom. Enjoyed every bit of it, and I’m sad it’s over.”
Prater still hasn’t signed elsewhere, and he hasn’t said he’s retiring, either. Brandon Beane said in February that he expects Bass to come back healthy and remain the Bills’ kicker at least through the end of his contract in 2027, and maybe longer. Still, he has Prater saved in his iPhone contacts just in case.
The kicking picture doesn’t stop there. Buffalo also has a punting battle to sort out between veteran Mitch Wishnowsky and rookie seventh-round pick Tommy Doman.
Wishnowsky was another midseason fix last year, stepping in after the Bills cycled through Brad Robbins and Cameron Johnston in the first month. He signed before the Week 5 Patriots game and steadied the spot the rest of the way. His numbers were ordinary, but the Bills got what they needed.
Buffalo brought him back for 2026, but the draft made it clear they wanted another leg in camp too. That’s where Doman comes in. He started at Michigan before transferring to Florida for his final two seasons, and last year he averaged 44 yards per punt, had six touchbacks, forced 17 fair catches and downed 17 punts inside the 20.
“Tommy was a guy that we had on our draft board, and as Joe (has) said, we're looking for depth and competition everywhere,” Beane said after the draft. “Mitch is a proven guy here. We wanted to go to camp with two punters, that's our plan.”
Sean McDermott made the kicking game a priority, and new head coach Joe Brady has to keep that focus in place. First comes Bass. Then comes the punter decision.
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