Getty Isaiah McKenzie celebrates a play against the Tennessee Titans.
The Buffalo Bills won’t be playing in Super Bowl 56 later this month, but fans are pushing for one wide receiver to get something of a consolation prize this offseason.
Isaiah McKenzie grew into one of the team’s more important assets on offense as the season went on, filling in for some injured wide receivers and turning into a dual threat in both the running and passing games. Fans are now taking notice of another skill for McKenzie, launching a campaign to get him onto one of the most popular reality television competitions to show it off.
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McKenzie Cuts a Rug
A fan took to Twitter on February 4 to share a video of McKenzie dressed up and dancing the salsa in a ballroom. The person who posted the video claimed that McKenzie had asked him to post it in a bid to get him onto “Dancing With the Stars,” and many Bills fans embraced the idea.
Let’s get this trending #BillsMafia @_IsaiahMcKenzie asked me to post it so we can get him on @DancingABC next season!! Maybe he will stay in Buffalo if it happens 👀
“I bet ratings would skyrocket from all of #BillsMafia watching the face of the franchise Let’s go @DancingABC!!!” one person tweeted.
McKenzie has been high on his dancing abilities in the past. In an interview shared on the team’s Twitter account in 2020, the wide receiver bragged that he was the best dancer on the team. “Dancing With the Stars” has been known to cast professional athletes, though some fans worried that the taping schedule would conflict with the upcoming season.
Others replying to the video were more concerned with getting McKenzie back to the Bills next season. He came back to the Bills on a one-year contract last offseason, and is slated to head back to free agency.
McKenzie’s Future Uncertain
Though fans may be pushing for a return, McKenzie’s status with the Bills remains up in the air. His role in the offense grew as the season went on — to the point that McKenzie was a main plank of the rushing attack through the final weeks of the season and into the playoffs — but he appeared to lose the confidence of head coach Sean McDermott as a return specialist. Following a series of return miscues, McKenzie found himself benched through the middle part of the season.
But McKenzie has been high on the Bills and shown a willingness to bend a bit when it comes to contract negotiations. He came back this year on a $1.15 million contract with $300,000 guaranteed, but said at the time that he didn’t need any amount of money to come back.
“Money is nice … But if we got paid in candy, I’d still stay in Buffalo,” he said, via ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques.
84 yards to the house!
Isaiah McKenzie’s 3rd touchdown of the day is a beauty. #BillsMafia
📺: #MIAvsBUF on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/EMdqIO97si
As Nick Fierro of SI.com’s Bills Central added, McKenzie could be the eventual slot replacement for Cole Beasley, who turns 33 later this year and would carry a hefty $7.6 million salary-cap hit for the upcoming season.
“McKenzie will turn 27 in April, is likely at the peak of his athletic career and would come much cheaper than Beasley,” Fierro wrote. “Even if they bring Beasley back, the Bills should figure out a way to hold onto McKenzie.”
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