One Bills Drive has a new resident this spring.
OK, that might be a bit of a stretch. But when it comes to where tight end Dalton Kincaid has spent most of his time, that’s how it’s felt to Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
“I feel like he lived here this offseason,” Brady said. “You see him out at practice – he looks just like Dalton Kincaid, so credit to him just living in the weight room.”
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Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid has put in long hours on his way back from two separate knee injuries in 2024. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
It’s well known by now that last season was an especially trying one for Kincaid, whom the Bills traded up to select with the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
In a phone conversation last month with The Buffalo News, Kincaid revealed he played through not one but two knee injuries last season. He tore the PCL in his left knee. That was known. But he was also dealing with a Morel-Lavallee lesion in his right knee – a form of bursitis in which fluid filled up underneath the knee.
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When one knee was feeling good, Kincaid said, the other was hurting. That weekly game of pingpong was as trying mentally as it was physically.
Kincaid didn't need surgery, but the recovery process wasn't exactly fun. It first included rest, then progressed to long hours in the Bills’ weight room under the supervision of Will Greenberg, the team’s new head strength and conditioning coach.
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“That's obviously a point where I want to get better,” Kincaid said. “That comes with staying healthier throughout the season, as well. The stronger you are going into the year, the better you're going to feel toward the end.”
Bills coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane challenged Kincaid at the end of last season to get stronger for his all-important third professional year.
A lot is at stake for Kincaid, individually and as a key member of a Bills offense that expects to do big things in 2025.
With a strong season, Kincaid will not only help the Bills run down their dream of reaching the Super Bowl; he can give the Bills a reason to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. Otherwise, he could go into his fourth NFL season in 2026 with a more uncertain future.
Due in part to the knee injuries, Kincaid's numbers took a big step back from his rookie year in 2023, when he had 73 catches for 673 yards and two touchdowns. Because the Bills said goodbye to Stefon Diggs that offseason, Kincaid was a prime candidate to be the team leader in receptions and yards. Instead, his totals fell to 44 catches for 448 yards and two touchdowns in 2023.
Last season, Kincaid played 208 pass snaps out of the slot, 99 as an inline tight end and just 58 out wide. He had four drops, including one each in the divisional round and the AFC championship game.
That step back in production has produced a fair amount of outside criticism.
Simply put, Kincaid did not prove to be the consistent difference-maker he was drafted to be. Injuries played a part – but even when healthy, he has not produced to the level expected of him.
“At least personally, it's reflecting a lot,” he said. “You come in Year 1 and everything is so fast and there is so much going on. Then Year 2 comes and you think you've got everything figured out, and I mean, you realize you don't. I've reflected a lot and become more grateful for the job and the opportunity and everything. With that, it's motivation and discipline to really perform at a high level.”
Kincaid said it took longer than he thought it would to start feeling good again. He’s happy with the progress he’s made to this point, though, and appears to be practicing without any kind of pitch count.
“I've loved everything I've seen from him,” Brady said. “He's playing with confidence again, so it's been fun to see.”
A big point of emphasis this offseason for Kincaid, beyond extra hours in the weight room, has been leaning on veteran teammates who have made it through the grind of an NFL season for multiple years in a row.
“That’s another thing you look on and reflect on: Was it worth it to play? Was it the right decision? I'd do it all 100% again,” Kincaid said. “You test how far you can really push the body and what the body can really withstand.”
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Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid runs after a catch against the Kansas City Chiefs during the AFC championship game in January. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Along the way, Kincaid earned the admiration and respect of his teammates who had a more complete understanding of what he was pushing through. At this time of year, when players are heading home at 1 or 2 in the afternoon, Kincaid is leaving the facility briefly to pick up his dog, then returning for extra treatments.
On Wednesday, he even canceled a round of golf – which couldn’t have been easy – for more treatment in the training room, fellow tight end Dawson Knox said.
“I've got to respect that a lot about him,” Knox said of Kincaid. “He really is a pro. You can tell he's been doing absolutely everything he can to be on the practice field.”
Knox and Kincaid have grown close over the past couple of years, despite competing for snaps at the same position. Knox has dealt with injuries of his own in his six NFL seasons, so he knows they’re inevitable.
“His mental resiliency is something I wish I had at his age,” Knox said of Kincaid, who turns 26 in October. Being a first-rounder, a lot of pressure comes with that. You're immediately expected to perform. He's taken that and done really well with it. … His mental strength, being able to bounce back, it's something no one in this building is concerned about, because he's already shown he's resilient to handle just about anything. I can tell you this entire building – everybody in that locker room, all the coaches – have complete trust in him. It's going to be really fun watching what he does this year.”
The Bills have invested significant resources in recent years in their weight room and training facility. Just about every method of rehabilitation is available to players at the team facility. Because of that, Kincaid said, he plans to remain in Buffalo for most of the break between mandatory minicamp and the start of training camp in July at St. John Fisher University in Pittsford.
Throughout his first two years in the NFL, Kincaid has been rather reserved with the media. He has been far more open in recent conversations, especially given that the subjects of injuries and uneven performance are rarely topics players love diving into. McDermott and Beane's public declaration that he needs to get stronger? No big deal. Kincaid knows that. He heard it privately before the coach and GM said it to the masses.
“I really don't feel like I have anything to prove to other people, rather than the people in the building and the people who believed in me inside those doors,” he said. “It's really just kind of proving those guys right. Those are the people who really believed in me and got me here, so I think, if anything, anxiousness would be a correct word to use, because you're a little bit nervous, but you're also very excited at the same time, going into Year 3.”
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