The Buffalo Bills might be looking to make a drastic change on special teams, as they have spent the week working out kickers to potentially replace Tyler Bass. This likely comes as no surprise to Bills fans, as Bass has already missed several kicks in this young season, converting only 75% of his field goals and 90% of extra points, to the dismay of many in the Mafia. After Bass turned in two more gaffes on Monday Night Football against the New York Jets, a botched extra point, and a critical 47-yard shank, General Manager Brandon Beane may have seen enough.
Thursday, it was reported that the Bills have signed journeyman kicker Lucas Havrisik to their practice squad as a contingency plan. Havrisik played collegiately for the University of Arizona and ventured undrafted into the NFL, signing to the practice squads of the Colts in 2022 and the Browns in 2023, before finding time as a starter for the Los Angeles Rams last year. Havrisik finished the season 15/20 on field goals over nine games, which doesn’t exactly suggest that he will be a decided improvement over Bass. Bass also has some financial security, as his $4.42 million dollar cap hit this year would render significant dead cap repercussions down the road if he were to be cut.
Tyler Bass’ Recent Decline in Buffalo
The woes of Bass are a relatively new phenomenon in the Nickel City, but undeniably highlighted, or lowlighted, depending on your perspective, by a crucial miss against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of last season that would have tied the game late in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs of course went on to win the Super Bowl at the end of their playoff run while the Bills found themselves again relegated to their couches by their conference rivals for the third time in four years.
Bass’ field goal percentage has steadily decreased since his breakout sophomore year in 2021 when he boasted an impressive 87.5%. In 2022, the drop was minimal, as he ended the season at 87.1%, but in 2023, his percentage dipped to 82.8%, his lowest since his 82.4% rookie campaign. Perhaps most concerning was Bass’ playoff performance last season, in which he converted only 2/5 field goals for 40%, including choking away that season-ending heartbreaker.
Due to Bass’ history of success with the team, albeit two seasons ago now, plus his unmanageable contract, his position going forward in Buffalo is still very much up in the air. As is often the fickle fate of kickers, Bass’ future very well may be determined by how he performs in the next few games, as goodwill goes out the window quickly in the NFL.
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