Dawson Knox will not play out a contract year in 2022. The Bills are extending their top tight end, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
The former third-round pick is signing a four-year deal to stay with the team that drafted him. Knox expressed his desire for a second Bills contract earlier this offseason. He will now be tied long-term with Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, the latter having also signed an extension this year. Knox’s deal is worth $53.6MM and includes $31MM guaranteed, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
This works out to a $13.4MM-per-year deal. That places Knox near the top of the tight end market but outside the top five. It checks in sixth at the position, coming in behind David Njoku‘s $13.7MM-AAV contract and Hunter Henry‘s 2020 Patriots agreement. Knox, 25, could have potentially positioned himself for a better deal as a 2023 free agent, but he made it clear earlier this year that was not a route he wanted to go.
“First and foremost, I want to be here. I mean, I bought a house here a few months ago, not because I want to be gone in a year,” Knox said this summer. The fourth-year pass catcher had approached the Bills about a new deal. It is not known how long negotiations have transpired, but the Bills have their breakthrough tight end signed for five more seasons now.
Diggs helped key Allen’s rise into one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks in 2020; last season, Knox aided the climb as well. The Ole Miss alum caught 49 passes for 587 yards and nine touchdowns to help the Bills to a second straight AFC East title. Knox tallied two more touchdown grabs in the playoffs.
Although Knox did not top 400 yards in either of his first two seasons, Wednesday morning’s extension indicates the Bills believe the 6-foot-4 target will be able to sustain his 2021 level of play for a while. Knox becomes the latest Ole Miss pass catcher from the 2019 draft class to sign an extension this offseason. A.J. Brown and D.K. Metcalf did so as well.
It certainly did not hurt Knox’s cause that he and Allen are close, and the MVP candidate’s top three targets are now each locked up beyond 2022. Gabe Davis‘ rookie deal runs through the 2023 season. The Bills also re-signed slot/gadget player Isaiah McKenzie this offseason. Jamison Crowder, a free agency pickup, remains in the mix as well.
Knox’s breakout being an indicator a promising career is ahead would check off a key box for a Bills franchise that has not seen too much from the tight end position throughout its modern history. Even going back throughout the team’s 62-season annals, the Bills have never seen a tight end produce an 800-yard year. Only one (Paul Costa in 1967) has surpassed 700. Efforts to establish long-term connections — such as the five-year, $38MM Charles Clay deal in 2015 — have not worked out. The Bills were mentioned as a Zach Ertz trade partner last year, but the team stuck with Knox, who will be locked in as Buffalo’s top tight end for the foreseeable future.
ESPN is reporting it will be a top 5 TE deal.
Seems a bit much for Knox, but it ain’t my money.
Okay, so top 6. But still…
In the not too distant future, Hockenson and Waller will pass him by. Schultz and Gesicki probably will next year. If Kmet has a big year, he could too. If Knox falls at the back end of the top ten or just past it, that’d about right. The league ain’t exactly overrun with great tight ends right now.
Darren Waller must be thrilled right now. He’ll get more than $31 million guaranteed.
I like Knox. I think he can outplay this contract.