The upcoming 2025 season was supposed to be a breakout year for the Buffalo Bills’ 2023 first-round draft pick, tight end Dalton Kincaid. Taken with the 25th overall pick out of Utah where he caught 70 passes for 890 yards in 2022, Kincaid put together an impressive rookie campaign in Buffalo.
But after 73 receptions in 91 targets for 673 yards and two touchdowns in 2023, Kincaid took a significant step backward in 2024 when he connected with Bills MVP quarterback Josh Allen just 44 times for 448 yards.
Announcement Raises Doubts About Kincaid in 2025
An announcement by Bills head coach Sean McDermott on Monday, however, raised serious doubts that 2025 would become the breakout year Kincaid, and his team, are counting on.
To make his second year worse for Kincaid, he capped off his disappointing 2024 season with a catastrophic drop of an Allen pass on the Bills’ final play of the AFC Championship game.
It would have been a difficult, diving catch. But Kincaid dove, the ball hit him in the hands and he simply failed to hold on, ending the Bills’ season, and their best chance to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1993.
Twin Knee Injuries Hampered Kincaid in 2024
Much of Kincaid’s sophomore slump could be blamed on injuries. The 25-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada, suffered maladies in both knees. In his right one, Kincaid dealt with a sprain to his Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL).
The PCL “runs along the back of your knee and connects your thighbone to the top of your lower leg bone,” according to information from The Cleveland Clinic. “This ligament keeps your bones in place and helps your knee move smoothly.”
A PCL sprain alone would be enough to hamper any NFL player’s season. But in his left knee, Kincaid experienced a Morel-Lavallee Lesion. That injury was more unusual and not often seen in football players.
Actually the MLL injury more often associated with car crash victims because they are “soft tissue injuries seen in high-velocity trauma,” according to a National Library of Medicine article published in 2023.
‘Knee Soreness’ Recurring for Former 1st-Round Pick
Kincaid was believed, or at least hoped, to have moved past both knee problems â but that evidently is not the case. Monday was the first day of full-pads practice for the Bills and according to McDermott’s announcement, Kincaid would not be taking part due to “knee soreness.”
McDermottt did not specify which knee was sore, or if the injury affected both of Kincaid’s knees.
At the team’s OTA practices in May, however, Kincaid was seen wearing a full compression sleeve on his left leg, perhaps indicating that soreness from his PCL injury was still a factor.
“This is not something that you want to see within the first week of training camp because Kincaid has a big year coming up and if he doesnât produce big numbers, his future in Buffalo could be limited,” wrote Fansided Bills correspondent Brandon Ray on Monday.
Third Season Crucial For Any 1st-Rounder
Kincaid will be playing on the third year of his four-year, $13.4 million rookie contract. The third year is crucial for first-round draft picks because under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, it is after year three that teams must decide whether to exercise their fifth-year option, or allow the player to leave as a free agent after his contract expires.
If Kincaid has another down year for the Bills, 2026 could be his last in a Buffalo uniform.
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