Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid has dealt with a PCL injury to his left knee for the last two seasons, but he did not have surgery to address the tear this offseason.
Kincaid said this week that doctors “advised against it” and prescribed “setting a good foundation for strength around the knee to support it” instead of having an operation. The result of going that route has been positive for Kincaid thus far.
“I’d say it’s probably the best I’ve felt in my career at this point in the year,” Kincaid said, via Tim Graham of TheAthletic.com. “Just not having those thoughts of the knee, especially last year. At this point, I feel really good. I’m not even thinking about it out there.”
Kincaid had 73 catches while appearing in every game as a rookie, but the 2023 first-rounder has only added 83 catches while missing nine games over the last two seasons.
The Bills showed faith in what the future holds for Kincaid when they exercised their option on his contract for the 2027 season. If Kincaid can stay on the field, there’s a good chance that will look like a wise decision.
Bills Clips
Bills head coach Joe Brady said he was pleased with the attendance at the start of Organized Team Activities. But one high-profile Bills player wasn’t there: James Cook.
Cook, who led the NFL with 1,621 rushing yards, was not present for the start of OTAs. It’s unclear whether Cook plans to attend voluntary practices for the rest of the offseason, and there’s been no reason given for his absence. Missing OTAs will cost Cook his $250,000 workout bonus.
Often when star players aren’t at OTAs, that’s a sign that they’re not happy with their contracts. Cook just signed a four-year, $46 million contract nine months ago, so it would be awfully early for him to become unhappy. But last week Dolphins running back De’Von Achane signed a four-year, $64 million contract, which could have changed Cook’s assessment of whether he’s being properly paid as the NFL’s leading rusher.
With Cook not on the practice field, third-year running back Frank Gore Jr. got a lot of work at the start of OTAs. Matt Parrino of Syracuse.com reports that Gore looked explosive and decisive during the non-contact practice.
Not long ago, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was a special young NFL talent. He’s now a special not-so-young NFL talent.
Allen turns 30 today.
He has accomplished much in his first eight NFL seasons. He’s second behind Patrick Mahomes in wins before the age of 30. Mahomes has 89; Allen has 88. (Lamar Jackson, who is tied for third at 80 with Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning, has a chance to pass both of them.)
Allen is also fourth in career touchdown passes by 30, with 220. Patrick Mahomes leads with 247. Dan Marino is second at 245, and Peyton Manning has 244.
Obviously, Allen lacks the thing he wants most: A Super Bowl win. Which first requires a Super Bowl appearance.
From Allen’s perspective, he has done everything he can to get there. Many regard him as the single best player in the league. And he’s still in his prime.
After eight years, Allen is approaching the point where his experience will dovetail with his skills. That will make him even more dangerous.
Still, there’s a shelf life. How many more prime years will Allen have? How many more chances will he have to get to the top of the mountain?
Seven? Eight? Nine? The years go quickly. The Bills have yet to put enough of a supporting cast around him to get to where he can take them.
In January, owner Terry Pegula resolved the talent vs. coaching debate by firing coach Sean McDermott and promoting G.M. Brandon Beane to president of football operations. Muddying that move was the promotion of offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach.
Regardless, the pressure keeps building. One season at a time. Allen is good enough to win Super Bowls. Is the rest of the organization doing well enough to get him there?
So far, the answer is in the results.
Receiver Keon Coleman unwittingly became a lightning rod for Bills coverage when team owner Terry Pegula mentioned him during the press conference after firing former head coach Sean McDermott in January.
Coleman himself has said that 2026 is effectively a “make or break” year for him, as he’s heading into his third season.
Fortunately for the wideout, his new head coach, Joe Brady, says he’s still a believer.
“I made sure once I got the job to let him know, he’s going to be here, he’s going to be a part of our offense,” Brady said during a press conference this week, via Maddy Glab of the team’s website. “I’m excited about him progressing in this offense and getting with Josh [Allen] and doing those things.
“I love the work ethic, love how he’s kind of been doing it right now.”
As both Brady and General Manager Brandon Beane have tried to put the proverbial toothpaste back into the tube when it comes to Coleman, the head coach just wants Coleman to focus on being his best self.
“All he can control is what he’s doing moving forward and not putting any more pressure on himself,” Brady said. “Just go out there, run the routes, do your job, block in the run game, make the touchdown blocks, do the things that he’s capable of doing. And just upholding that standard every single day, and I believe he’ll be able to do that.”
Organized Team Activities are voluntary for NFL players, and new Bills head coach Joe Brady was pleased with how many players volunteered to show up to work for the first day on Tuesday.
Brady thinks the Bills have assembled the kind of team that is made up of players who want to work and enjoy working together, and that showed when the players gathered for the first day of OTAs.
“We have a great locker room, we have a great group of guys that want to be here in Buffalo, want to be around the guys,” Brady said. “I think the guys enjoy being around here. I think it helps that we have some of the new schemes, but I’m really pleased with our attendance.”
Bills quarterback Josh Allen said the players have celebrated weddings and becoming fathers together, and view each other as part of an extended family.
“It’s no mistake why this team is so close. In this locker room, it really is a family-like atmosphere,” Allen said. “I come in here with a smile on my face every single day, and I feel like that’s infectious, and that’s the joy I bring. If there’s two things they can say about me, it’s that I work hard and I have a lot of fun at my job.”
Bills head coach Joe Brady, quarterback Josh Allen and others in Buffalo have been steadfast in their support of wide receiver Keon Coleman since team owner Terry Pegula’s comments about him after the team’s playoff loss, but Coleman knows that there’s a point where that support will come to an end.
Coleman was a second-round pick in 2024, but has underwhelmed on the field and landed on the bench more than once for disciplinary reasons over his first two seasons. On Tuesday, Coleman said he knows that this is a “make or break” season for him in Buffalo and that he could be off the team if he doesn’t produce at a higher level.
“I know what I’m capable of, so if I fall anything short of that I’m doing myself a disservice,” Coleman said, via Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com.
Coleman has 67 catches for 960 yards and eight touchdowns in 26 games with the Bills. DJ Moore and Khalil Shakir are likely to be the top two wideouts this season, which will leave him to compete with players like Josh Palmer and fourth-round pick Skyler Bell for a chance to show that he can live up to early expectations.
After consecutive years of leading the Bears in receiving, DJ Moore’s production dipped in 2025.
But now Moore is back with a coach who helped him get to one of his most productive seasons, as the Bills traded for him in March — reuniting him with his former offensive coordinator, Joe Brady.
As it turns out, he’s reuniting with quarterback Josh Allen, too, though not necessarily in the traditional way.
“We go, actually, way back,” Allen said in his Tuesday press conference. “We sat next to each other at the rookie premiere, signing Panini cards and autograph cards next to each other. … So, [we were] getting some good conversations back then.
“It’s pretty cool to have him here now.”
Moore hasn’t been on the field with Allen for long, but the two are establishing chemistry. Allen noted that he can already tell Moore is a great teammate.
“He’s really one of the guys,” Allen said. “Obviously, it’s a really natural relationship that we have. Fits in this locker room extremely well, very talkative with the guys. And just very excited to work with him.”
Plus, unlike last year, Allen won’t have to establish chemistry with a key receiver on the fly.
“[Y]ou’re able to do more [in OTAs], to see what works and what doesn’t,” Allen said. “Obviously, again, we go out there, we make mistakes — which is going to happen. Chalk it up to the first couple days of OTAs and be like, hey, we like this, we don’t like this.
“And, again, just continue to work on it and find ways that we can learn how to complement each other and just build that chemistry and camaraderie.”
Moore caught 50 passes for 682 yards with six touchdowns for the Bears last season. In 2020 — his one full season with Brady as his play-caller for the Panthers — Moore finished with 66 receptions for 1,193 yards with four TDs.
Josh Allen said after last season that he would return in time for organized team activities despite offseason foot surgery. He was true to his word.
Allen is participating in the Bills’ offseason program.
“You guys know Josh,” head coach Joe Brady said, via Sal Capaccio of WGR 550. “He’s good to go.”
Allen underwent surgery at the end of January to remove a loose bone chip from his right foot, which he injured in a Week 16 game against the Browns.
Allen’s presence will give him plenty of time to get to know new wide receiver DJ Moore. The Bills traded a second-round pick to the Bears for Moore, who is Buffalo’s new No. 1 receiver.
On September 17, the legendary Al Michaels will call the first game at yet another stadium, when the Bills christen their new home against the Lions. It will be the tenth time Michaels has cut the ribbon on a new venue.
“This was a game Amazon really pushed for because it would be so cool to open a stadium, and it’s also another Zelig moment for me,” Michaels told Richard Deitsch of Sports Business Journal. “In my career at NBC and at Disney, I did the regular season opener in Foxboro [Gillette Stadium]. It was John Madden and I and that was our first game together. We opened up the Linc in Philadelphia. We did the first game in Dallas at Jerry World. I did the first game when they refurbished Soldier Field in Chicago. I did the first regular season game at Levi’s Stadium. And Chris Collinsworth and I opened up SoFi Stadium in 2020, the pandemic year. It was Dallas at the Rams with no fans.”
There will be plenty of fans in the building for the first true Thursday night game of 2026. (Unless hantavirus becomes a thing. Or Ebola.)
“We know how passionate that fan base is in Buffalo and they’ve been able to weather through, in a manner of speaking, all of those years at what used to be Rich Stadium,” Michaels said. “There’s going to be a tremendous buzz going on in that community. I mean, the renderings look beautiful. So that is going to be a fantastic night in Buffalo.”
Michaels also worked the first games at the current stadiums in Atlanta, Minnesota, and Indianapolis.
After finishing the last season of his three-year contract with Prime Video, Michaels and Amazon decided to keep it going for 2025 and, now, for 2026.
“It’s tough to walk away,” Michaels said. “But I do know one thing: If I walk away, I’m going to do it the way John Madden did it and just say, ‘It’s time.’ I don’t need any sort of tour or whatever.”
Frankly, it doesn’t feel like football season has started until I hear Al’s voice. And football season will never feel the same, for me and many others, once Al decides to walk away.
Steve Tasker, a seven-time Pro Bowl special-teamer with the Bills, will be back with the team in 2026.
Via Sam Neumann of Awful Announcing, Tasker will become the sideline reporter for the radio broadcasts of the team’s games.
The change comes as the games move from WGR 550 to WGRF-FM, which was the flagship station from 1998 through 2011. Tasker replaces Sal Capaccio of WGR, who had the assignment for 12 years.
Chris Brown will continue as the play-by-play announcer, with former Bills center Eric Wood providing analysis.
A ninth-round pick of the Houston Oilers in 1985, the 64-year-old Tasker was released by Houston during the 1986 season. The Bills claimed him on waivers; he played in Buffalo through 1997.
Tasker promptly landed at CBS, where he worked from 1998 through 2018. He’s now working directly for the team with which he served as a key contributor during four straight runs to the Super Bowl.
