The Buffalo Bills have built a nucleus through the draft during the Sean McDermott era, and a veteran tight end has been an important foundational piece since 2019.

Due to his large salary cap cost in 2025, estimated at $14.6 million by Spotrac, Dawson Knox will naturally provide fodder as a cut candidate for NFL talking heads during the dead of the offseason, but anyone who has followed the Bills closely in recent year will tell you that Knox isn’t going anywhere.

Is his Bills’ offseason preview, Yahoo! senior writer Frankie Schwab identified three “notable potential cuts.” He listed Knox alongside edge rusher Von Miller and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones.

“Miller suffered a torn ACL in the first year of his huge deal with the Bills and while he bounced back this past season with six sacks, he will be 36 next season and very unlikely to return unless he takes a massive pay cut. Knox became a lesser part of the offense when the Bills drafted Dalton Kincaid, and Jones is an aging veteran,” said Schwab.

While Miller will likely restructure if he sticks around, and the Bills still suffer a $7.6 million dead cap hit if they release Jones, Knox seems like a roster lock for 2025 and beyond.

Although his receiving numbers were down, Knox has remained a key part of the offense since Buffalo drafted Kincaid, much to the contrary of Schwab’s erroneous statement. Knox, a 2019 third-round draft pick, led all Bills’ tight ends in offensive snaps counts in 2024.

“Dawson served on our leadership council, was a huge component to our success this season. A, from his play, and B, from his leadership,” said Bills’ head coach Sean McDermott in late January.

The veteran, who is part of the organizational fabric, played 61 percent of offensive reps as opposed to Kincaid’s 57 percent. In the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Knox out-snapped Kincaid by a 44-33 margin.

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Although it wasn’t heavily exercised this past season, Knox possesses both pass-catching ability and quarterback’s Josh Allen’s trust. He accounted for 1,107 receiving yards and 15 touchdown receptions over a 30-game span in 2021 and 2022.

“Just a real steady type of person, and a guy that Josh has a huge amount of trust in,” said McDermott. “I would say he flies under the radar.”

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