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<\/p>\nPHOENIX \u2013 The Buffalo Bills have picked up tight end Dalton Kincaid\u2019s fifth-year option, but their continued investment doesn\u2019t necessarily reflect the soundness of his troublesome knee.<\/p>\n
After a fine rookie campaign, Kincaid\u2019s availability and production dwindled in the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
Three months into the offseason, Bills general manager Brandon Beane can\u2019t say for certain whether Kincaid will require load management to get through training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s too early to tell,\u201d Beane said Monday while attending the NFL owners meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful and optimistic that he won\u2019t, but we\u2019ll just see how that goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these guys, in my experience, you can get them through the offseason, but training camp is training camp. So we\u2019ll see how that\u2019s going in training camp. Is he having to go two days on and one a little less or off? We\u2019ve just got to make sure it\u2019s smart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kincaid tore his left PCL in November 2024. He declined to have surgery, and it lingered through last season. He also dealt with hamstring and oblique injuries.<\/p>\n
He missed five games last season and started only five, including the playoffs. He caught 39 passes for 571 yards and a personal-best five touchdowns. As a rookie in 2023, the 25th overall draft pick finished second to Stefon Diggs with 73 receptions for 673 yards and two TDs.<\/p>\n
Even when healthy enough to dress last year, Beane conceded Kincaid\u2019s snaps were limited to preserve the knee and maximize effectiveness. Kincaid played a career-low 38 percent of his available offensive snaps. That led to him being deployed almost exclusively in passing situations, adding to the predictability of Joe Brady\u2019s play calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just hope you have no setbacks,\u201d Beane said. \u201cUnfortunately, that thing flared up and it was just tough to calm down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kincaid again declined to have surgery on the torn PCL after consulting with multiple doctors. Beane revealed Kincaid is not rehabbing at One Bills Drive, but added the Bills\u2019 medical staff has been in contact with Kincaid about his training program.<\/p>\n
Despite Kincaid\u2019s injury history, Beane lauded him for working on durability \u2014 a criticism the organization had about Kincaid after the 2024 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cDalton did get stronger,\u201d Beane said. \u201cI think, his whole body, he did hold up better. I think just the knee was bothersome.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens is you\u2019re fighting that battle of rest and not playing and getting out of rhythm versus keeping him going. When you\u2019re in season, you can\u2019t just shut him down. So we tried to manage that. His reps came, when he was on the field, was a passing situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like it to be where he\u2019s able to play more.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Wide receiver Brandin Cooks could return to the Bills next season. (Melina Myers \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Bills still looking to improve at WR<\/p>\n
Beane has been in contact with Brandin Cooks about a possible return and added that trading the Bills\u2019 second-round pick for D.J. Moore and a fifth-rounder wouldn\u2019t preclude them from drafting another receiver in the first round.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely still open to that,\u201d Beane said.<\/p>\n
The Bills\u2019 receiver depth chart currently consists of Moore, Khalil Shakir, Joshua Palmer, Keon Coleman, Tyrell Shavers, Mecole Hardman and Trent Sherfield in addition to previous practice squad members Stephen Gosnell and Jalen Virgil.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll those guys have different skill sets,\u201d Beane said. \u201cSome are kind of one position. Some are outside. Some are inside. What\u2019s another piece? If there\u2019s a guy we think that\u2019s another piece \u2026 Also, does he do anything extra other than receiver? Is he a gunner? Is he a punt returner? How does he get to game day? How does he help us? Is he getting a jersey?<\/p>\n
\u201cThose would be the conversations, but, yes, if there\u2019s a dynamic player that can help us \u2014 starter or not \u2014 at receiver, we would take him at 26.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooks, entering his 13th NFL season, caught 10 passes for 192 yards and no touchdowns in seven Bills games, although his presence added a downfield threat they didn\u2019t otherwise have.<\/p>\n
Beane explained that he and Cooks are holding off until they see how the draft shakes out. Both parties want to know whether the draft will impact where he fits before committing.<\/p>\n
A similar wait-and-see situation is influencing how Beane has approached free-agent linebackers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do need to continue to add more,\u201d Beane said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had conversations through free agency with linebackers, other positions. We have not chosen to add one at this point. But there\u2019s also guys that are, like, \u2018You know what? I didn\u2019t get maybe the money I was looking for, and I kind of want to wait until after the draft to see where guys go. I don\u2019t want to sign and then have (my team) take somebody in the first round.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Beane discusses moving back into the second round<\/p>\n
Bills scouts will converge on One Bills Drive this week to refine their final draft board, and if there is better value among second-round prospects, then Beane said he wouldn\u2019t hesitate to slide back from their assigned 26th overall slot and accumulate extra capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll start Thursday of this week,\u201d said Beane, \u201cand kind of go through what\u2019s happened since Indy, pro days and private (workouts) and start cleaning this thing out and seeing where depth is at positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if we feel there\u2019s a lot of players (with second-round grades), then I need to find a way, whether that\u2019s, \u2018Hey, you know what? We see more value there. Let\u2019s trade back and see if we can get a player there plus another fourth or third.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Bills-Browns agree to join practice<\/p>\n
While unofficial until the NFL approves the proposal, the Bills and Cleveland Browns will hold a one-day joint practice in Ohio between the first and second preseason games.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, a lot of people are doing the joint practice thing and not playing guys definitely in that third preseason game,\u201d Beane said. \u201cThat third preseason game really has become those guys fighting for the last spot, young players that need reps more than the guys that we all know are going to be on the 53.\u201d<\/p>\n
Offensive line Rubik\u2019s Cube<\/p>\n
Beane somewhat clarified the forecast for the Bills\u2019 new interior offensive linemen.<\/p>\n
Lloyd Cushenberry, who started 80 games at center for the Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos, is targeted to be Connor McGovern\u2019s primary backup, while former Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Rams and Browns center\/guard Austin Corbett will compete with Alec Anderson for the left guard opening. Corbett has started 84 games, including at right guard in the Rams\u2019 Super Bowl victory four years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a proven starter, well-regarded, brings leadership and intelligence to the room,\u201d Beane said of Corbett. \u201cHe\u2019ll be in the mix \u2014 probably the shortest path to being a starter \u2014 to win the left guard (opening), but he can play center for us as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the battle, Beane said: \u201cI think there\u2019s going to be a good competition at left guard. I wouldn\u2019t want to give that to (Anderson) or anyone else. I would say because Alec\u2019s been here, if we played a game right now, he knows the system and probably\u2019d be out there first. But between now and when we get the pads on, I think it\u2019ll be a wide-open competition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2013 The Buffalo Bills have picked up tight end Dalton Kincaid\u2019s fifth-year option, but their continued investment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[619,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-180755","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-buffalo-bills","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-news","12":"tag-new-york-state","13":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}