If the Buffalo Bills move on from Andre Roberts this offseason, they will need to add players to the mix. They don’t have much in the way of experience.
Reserve/futures signing Tanner Gentry had a handful of returns at Wyoming in college, averaging ten yards on seven punt returns in 2015. He had two kickoff returns that year for 15 total yards.
League-leading receiver Stefon Diggs hasn’t returned kicks in several years since his first and second seasons in the NFL, and Buffalo wouldn’t want to expose him to injury risk on those plays. Tre’Davious White had a great career returning punts at LSU, but Buffalo wouldn’t want him back there, either.
Starting safety Micah Hyde’s return numbers are a bit skewed by his work on the hands team recovering onside kicks. He’s had three kickoff returns over the last two seasons—and one of them was a touchdown—but only 45 yards. He returned punts in his first three seasons for the Green Bay Packers, but hasn’t been a full-time returner since leaving the Packers. He’s only been a designated punt catcher for the Bills, returning just four punts in the last two years and 15 in his four seasons with the Bills. In 2020, he netted zero yards on his lone punt return.
With Andre Roberts and Isaiah McKenzie both heading into free agency this offseason, it’s tough to imagine Buffalo sticking with the players who are currently under contract for 2021.
Next read
- Analysis: What does Andre Roberts bring to the roster?
- Contract projection for free-agent returner Andre Roberts
- Bills have very limited roster experience returning kickoffs, punts
- Free-agent returners the Bills could target this offseason
- Returners are available in the 2021 NFL Draft
- Opinion: Bills should find a way to re-sign Andre Roberts