Bills' Seventh-Round Rookie Tommy Doman Puts Veteran Incumbent on Hot Seat

The Buffalo Bills have valued internal competition over the past decade, and that's unlikely to change under first-year head coach Joe Brady.

“We want guys that are going to compete," said Brady after the Bills made 10 selections in the NFL Draft. "I want to go out to practice in OTAs and training camp, and it's guys fighting for jobs, and it's only going to make our team better."

To that end, Bills' brass ensured that 34-year-old Mitch Wishnowsky will have to earn his status as the team's punter.

Buffalo drafted Florida punter Tommy Doman at No. 239 overall. Earlier this offseason, we wrote about the possibility of the Bills using draft capital to create competition at the position.

"It was just at that point in the draft, it made sense. We wanted to go to camp with two punters. That's our plan, two punters, two kickers," said Bills' general manager Brandon Beane.

Bills' expectations for Tommy Doman

Rather than competing against other teams in the undrafted free agent pool, Beane said the Bills chose to take a seventh-round flier on Doman.

“Tommy was a guy that we had on our draft board, and as Joe just said, we're looking for depth and competition everywhere. It doesn't matter if it's a kicker, a punter, a long snapper, quarterback, whatever it is, where can we add that?" said Beane.

While he'll have to unseat a grizzled veteran incumbent, Doman's credentials make him a serious contender for the job.

East West Shrjne Bowl director Eric Galko called it a "smart" move by the Bills to add Doman.

Nov 29, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators kicker Tommy Doman (19) punts against the Florida State Seminoles during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

"For many teams he was the draft’s top punter, in part because of an elite leg - he had the highest hang time of any punter at the P5 level by .12 seconds!" said Galko in a X post.

After 31 appearances as Michigan's punter, including all 15 games during the 2023 National Championship run, Doman transferred to Florida for the 2025 campaign. He averaged 44.0 yards per punt and pinned the opposition inside its own 20 on 17 of 50 kicks.

The 6-foot-4 specialist also possesses a versatility that made him more attractive to the Bills. In addition to punting duties, Doman handled kickoffs for Michigan and kicked a couple extra points, too.

Mitch Wishnowsky's status

Wishnowsky stabilized what was a a problem spot for the Bills in 2025. After going through two punters in four weeks, Buffalo installed the veteran for the remainder of the season. The BIlls re-signed him to a one-year contract earlier this offseason.

Mitch is a proven guy here. This is by no means going to be a job, like any of these other guys drafted, handed to them. You're only going to keep one punter," said Beane.

Although the Aussie-born Wishnowsky performed adequately for Buffalo, it was not good enough to lift the team out of the bottom half of the NFL in net punting average (41.0). He netted 41.8 yards per punt.

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