NFL analyst suggests Bills should trade former Pro Bowl TE

The Buffalo Bills completed a frenzy of roster moves throughout the 2024 NFL offseason, allowing Micah Hyde and Gabriel Davis to walk as free agents and cutting Jordan Poyer, Mitch Morse, and Tre’Davious White before trading four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans. The bevy of omissions appears to be over, but Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport has other ideas.

In a recent article identifying one veteran each NFL team should look to trade before the start of the 2024 NFL season, the writer suggested that Buffalo should move sixth-year tight end Dawson Knox, pointing to the pass catcher’s contract and the emergence of Dalton Kincaid as potential motivations for the maneuver.

“In both 2021 and 2022, Knox flirted with 50 catches and topped 500 receiving yards,” Davenport wrote. “He had 15 receiving touchdowns over that span. But with Dalton Kincaid's emergence at tight end last season, Knox's numbers plummeted—his snap count dropped by 20 percent, and he caught just 22 passes for 186 yards and two scores in 12 games.”

Knox’s snap count did drop a bit in the 2023 season, tallying career lows in receptions, targets, and receiving yards (22, 36, and 186). The presence and late-breakout of Kincaid certainly factor into Knox’s decreased role, but perhaps not as heavily as his ailment; the tight end was limited to just 12 regular season games last season with a wrist injury.

Knox also has a demonstrated rapport with quarterback Josh Allen, notching 266 targets and 22 receiving touchdowns over his professional career. This chemistry may be one that Allen leans on to start the 2024 season, as the team heavily revamped its aerial attack throughout the spring; with Diggs and Davis replaced with the likes of free agent signee Curtis Samuel and rookie Keon Coleman, one could reasonably anticipate Allen leaning on pre-established rapports with players like Knox, Kincaid, and third-year contributor Khalil Shakir as the new season commences.

Davenport points this out, but still concludes that trading Knox could ultimately behoove Buffalo.

“Now, given the losses the Bills suffered at wide receiver this season, dealing a proven pass-catcher may seem unwise,” Davenport wrote. “But it's clear that Knox has given way to Kincaid as the team's No. 1 tight end. Knox's injury last year played a part, but when Joe Brady took over as offensive coordinator in Buffalo, the team ran fewer "12" personnel (two tight end) sets.

“Knox may be second-fiddle now in Western New York, but he would be the best tight end on more than a few NFL teams, including some with postseason aspirations in 2024. After re-working his contract, Knox has a reasonable cap hit of just $7.7 million in 2024, but it balloons to over $14 million in 2025—a signal that this could be his final season with the team.”

It’s not an egregious suggestion, but it’s difficult to imagine the Bills trading Knox this offseason barring a major shift in circumstances; Buffalo would only free up roughly $2.7 million in salary cap space by trading the tight end, and his presence is likely more beneficial to the team than a marginal increase in financial flexibility. Besides, general manager Brandon Beane has already suggested that Knox will play a prominent role in the team’s offense in his first full season off of injury; during a recent appearance on The Athletic Football Show, the executive spoke about the team’s tight ends, implying that it has high aspirations for both Knox and Kincaid.

“The other thing people are just looking at is the people that line up in the wide receiver room, but our tight ends, they can catch the ball too," Beane said. "Those guys are heavily involved in the passing game with Dawson [Knox] and Dalton Kincaid. Don’t forget those guys. I would say if you look at the Chiefs run, they’ve done a good job, I would say that thing is built around—it’s obviously built around [Patrick] Mahomes—but the receiving corps, it starts with [Travis Kelce].”