Tyler

Bass

Bass was placed on injured reserve before the start of the season and has not played a game. McDermott said Bass recently underwent surgery, which would sideline him for the remainder of the year, leaving kicking duties to Matt Prater for the rest of the way. Bass signed a four-year extension with the Bills in 2023 and should be back as the Bills’ kicker in 2026 if all goes well with his recovery.

He’ll miss at least the first four weeks of the season. Friendship ended with Tyler Bass, now Matt Prater is your best friend in fantasy leagues where you want kicker points from the Bills.

Bass was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice. Things evidently did not go well because the Bills signed free agent K Matt Prater earlier today. Bass appears to be highly unlikely to play in Week 1 against the Ravens.

Tyler Bass is dealing with a groin injury and was limited in Wednesday’s practice. Prater will be called up from the practice squad if Bass can’t suit up for Week 1. Prater went 6-of-6 on his field goal tries with the Cardinals in 2024 before missing the remainder of the season with a torn meniscus.

Fellow free agent kickers Zane Gonzalez and Greg Joseph also worked out for the Bills. Incumbent K Tyler Bass struggled last season and dealt with a pelvis injury in training camp. The Bills are likely just covering their bases, but Bass could be a risky fantasy pick at this time.

The Bills signed kicker Lucas Havrisik this week to serve as competition for Bass, who has converted on 9-of-12 field goals this season and 18-of-20 extra points. The Bills signed Bass to a four-year extension last offseason, so we wouldn’t expect them to rush to move on from him. With that said, they’re clearly open to the idea with Havrisik now in the building.

The deal is worth “up to” $21 million. That’s a meaningless number, especially for a kicker, but it does include a robust $12.3 million guaranteed. It’s a deserved extension for a 26-year-old who has converted north of 87 percent of his field goal attempts each of the past two seasons in one of the toughest weather divisions in football. Bass doesn’t have the biggest leg, but his accuracy is more than sufficient for the Super Bowl-or-bust Bills.

Strange. The Bills are still looking at kickers two weeks after waiving veteran Stephen Hauschka and seemingly giving the starting nod to rookie Tyler Bass. Buffalo tried out kickers Matthew McCrane (Kansas State), Tristan Vizcaino (Washington), and Ramiz Ahmed (Nevada). Bass, who made a meager 20 of 28 field goal tries last year at Georgia Southern, would make a decent fantasy option in Week 1. Buffalo is a 6.5-point home favorite against the Jets.

Bass beat out veteran Stephen Hauschka. If teams use a draft pick on a kicker, they are usually going to win the job, but Bass was a bit of a head-scratching pick. He enters the league out of small-school Georgia Southern having converted just 20-of-28 kicks as a redshirt senior. The Bills are obviously in love with his leg, while Bass did convert 114-of-116 college extra points. The lack of fans early in the season could help a young kicker gain confidence.

Rookie sixth-rounder Tyler Bass has won the Bills’ kicking competition. That was always going to happen as long as Bass did not face plant in camp. Hauschka’s release clears $1.55 million in cap space while leaving behind $1.5 million in dead money. 35-year-old Hauschka was sub-80 percent on field goals each of the past two seasons. Buffalo is a tough place to kick, but that will eventually earn you your walking papers as an NFL kicker. Hauschka will still undoubtedly be one of the first players teams host for a workout when they need a kicker.