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After spending two seasons with the Buffalo Bills in 2019 and 2020, Tyler Kroft is on to his third different stop in the AFC East.
The veteran tight end’s agent, Mike McCartney, took to Twitter to announce that Kroft was signing with the Miami Dolphins. Kroft moved to the New York Jets for one season after his departure from the Bills, then spent the 2022 season with the San Francisco 49ers.
Former Bills Tight End Could Fill Important Role in Miami
Kroft entered the league in 2015, a third-round draft pick from the Cincinnati Bengals. After two light seasons — making a total of 21 receptions for 221 yards and one touchdown — Kroft had a breakout in 2017. He made 42 catches for 404 yards and seven touchdowns, though failed to replicate his success the next season as he was limited to just five games after suffering a foot injury that led to him being placed on injured reserve.
Kroft moved to the Bills the next season, but made just 18 catches for 190 yards and four touchdowns.
As Mike Masala of USA Today’s Dolphins Wire noted, Kroft has the chance to make an impact in the running game in Miami.
“Where Kroft has excelled is as an in-line blocker. Last season, he was a run-blocker on 165 of his 238 snaps,” Masala wrote. “If he had qualified for Pro Football Focus’ league leaders, his 71.2 run-block grade would’ve ranked third among all tight ends behind only the Baltimore Ravens’ Isaiah Likely and the Minnesota Vikings’ Josh Oliver.”
Masala added that blocking is an important aspect of coach Mike McDaniel’s offense, which made tight end Mike Gesicki a difficult fit and played a major role in his departure in free agency.
“Kroft may not be the sexiest pickup, but he could certainly fill a role in Miami in 2023,” Masala concluded.
Bills Make Their Own Upgrades at Tight End
The Bills made a significant investment into their tight end position this offseason, making a trade up the board in the first round of the NFL Draft to land tight end Dalton Kincaid. Bills tight end Dawson Knox said he’s excited to play alongside the Utah tight end and believes the opportunity to run two-tight end sets will add a new element to the Bills’ offense and force defenses into some difficult decisions.
“’12’ personnel is going to open up a lot of doors for the offense. . . . We want them in nickel if we want to run and if we bring in two tight ends, sometimes they will have to bring in a base linebacker,” Knox said, via Ryan O’Halloran of the Buffalo News. “That will start to expose some mismatches. It’s going to be really fun.”
The Bills had made some moves to bring on another tight end alongside Knox, but they mostly failed to work out. The team signed veteran O.J. Howard last offseason, but he was released at final cuts.
The Bills did not get much production from their tight end room beside Knox, with Quintin Morris and Tommy Sweeney combining to make just nine catches for 91 yards and one touchdown.
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