Getty Donald Parham celebrates after catching a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Buffalo Bills could be looking at making a very big addition to their tight end room.
After a relatively slow start to free agency that included mostly re-signings and few splashy moves, the Bills are considering adding 6-foot-8 pass-catcher Donald Parham. As Syracuse.com’s Ryan Talbot reported, the Bills have touched base with Parham, but said there is not yet “serious” interest from Buffalo.
The Bills have struggled to find production from their tight ends outside of Dawson Knox, and adding the former Los Angeles Chargers tight end could give a new red-zone target for quarterback Josh Allen.
Donald Parham Getting ‘Significant Interest’ From Another Team
The Bills are not the only team taking a look at Parham in free agency. Brad Stainbrook of The OBR reported that the Cleveland Browns are showing “significant interest” in the tight end as a new target for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Source: #Browns are expected to have significant interest in former Chargers TE Donald Parham.
A potential red zone target for QB Deshaun Watson, Parham has 479 career receiving yards and 7 touchdowns.
The 25-year-old Parham joined the Chargers in 2020 and has made 40 catches for 479 yards with seven touchdowns through his three seasons. As ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported, Parham was a restricted free agent but hit the open market when he and the Chargers could not come to terms on a deal.
Bills Struggled With Tight End Depth
The Bills looked like they had a budding star in Knox, who had a breakout season in 2021 with 49 receptions for 587 yards and nine touchdowns. But he failed to match the level of success last season, when he made 48 receptions for 517 yards and six touchdowns.
The Bills are also thin behind Knox, with the team’s other tight ends — Quintin Morris and Tommy Sweeney — combining for just nine receptions for 91 yards and one touchdown.
Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News predicted that the Bills could look to the upcoming NFL Draft to add another tight end. The Bills met with Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer at the NFL combine, and afterward Mayer shared some praise for the organization.
“The Bills are a great organization,” Mayer said. “Obviously they’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the league right now in Josh Allen. … Really it’s just trying to be myself, trying to show these coaches what type of person I am and does it fit their culture? Does it fit their team? And so that’s what I’ve been trying to do. I think it went very well.”
As Gaughan noted, Mayer is projected to be one of the first tight ends taken, so the Bills may have to trade up higher than their current first-round pick at No. 27.
ND tight end Michael Mayer said he met with the Bills and it went really well.
***proceeds to drop “culture” a few times.
There could be other options if the Bills are willing to wait. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah told the Buffalo News that this year’s draft class of tight ends is unusually deep, giving the Bills to find another option without having to use their first-round pick.
“I think the tight end group is the best I’ve seen in the last 10 years; it’s outstanding,” Jeremiah said. “I have 11 tight ends that I have top-three-round grades on, which is a ridiculous number. It is just a really, really, good group.”