Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills used their tight ends effectively last season. Really, since head coach Joe Brady became the offensive coordinator on a full-time basis for the 2024 NFL season, Buffalo has extensively featured their tight ends in the passing game. Given how often Buffalo runs the football, the Bills often find themselves in multiple tight end sets, so it makes sense.
The Bills typically keep three tight ends on their 53-man roster, and this season, they have five tight ends on their offseason roster. Four of those tight ends played with the team. It seems like the positional group is probably set then…right?
There’s a reason why the team practices, and trying to find the right combination is one of them. In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss the newest addition to Buffalo’s tight end group.
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Name: Shane Zylstra
Number: 48
Position: TE
Height/Weight: 6’4” 244 lbs.
Age: 29 (30 on 11/16/2026)
Experience/Draft: 5; signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent on 5/7/2021
College: Minnesota State
Acquired: Signed with Bills on 5/12/2026
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Zylstra signed a one-year deal with Buffalo; that contract is worth $1.215 million overall. There are no guarantees on the deal, so the Bills can release him without a dead cap charge if they so choose. Thanks to the veteran’s minimum exemption, Zylstra’s cap hit is $1.075 million if he makes the 53-man roster.
2025 Recap: Zylstra had an injury-plagued season with the Lions last year, as he appeared in just six games. He suffered an ankle injury while blocking on a punt return during the second week of the season, which caused the team to place him on injured reserve. He returned to action for Detroit’s final four games, and thanks to and injury to starting tight end Sam LaPorta, Zylstra played a significant share of the snaps in those four contests. He played at least 41% of the snaps in each game, and he was well over 50% in the three games where Detroit was still in contention for a playoff berth. He started three of those final four games, as well. Despite the increased usage, he caught just three passes for 20 yards on five targets, with his entire statistical output for the season coming in Detroit’s Week Sixteen loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Positional outlook: Zylstra is one of five tight ends on the current roster. The other four—Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, Jackson Hawes, and Keleki Latu—were all with the Bills last season.
2026 Offseason: Zylstra is healthy, and he has participated in all offseason work to date.
2026 Season outlook: Barring injury to two of the top four tight ends, it’s unlikely that Zylstra is with the club to begin the 2026 NFL season. In fact, it’s unlikely that he remains with the team on the practice squad, as a fully healthy tight end group likely leaves Latu as the practice-squad tight end with Kincaid, Knox, and Hawes reprising their roles...
