Bills kicker gets nice payday with long-term extension

The Bills will avoid playing kicker Tyler Bass on a contract year in 2024 after reportedly reaching an agreement on a four-year extension worth up to $21M, according to Peter Schrager of Fox Sports. Bass was three years into his rookie contract after getting drafted in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Bass took over for Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo after Koo graduated from Georgia Southern to the NFL in 2017. After making 54 of 68 field-goal attempts and converting 108 of 109 extra-point attempts in three years, Bass was selected by the Bills in 2020 to compete with incumbent kicker Stephen Hauschka, who had missed six field goals in each of the previous two seasons and two extra points in 2019. Bass beat out the veteran for kicking duties in training camp.

Since taking over the kicking job for the Bills, Bass has converted 85.6 percent of his field-goal attempts, making 83 out of 97 tries. He’s shown he has the big-leg ability that’s required to get paid as a kicker in the NFL these days. He’s also missed only four extra-point attempts for a high-powered offense that has forced him to attempt 160.

If the $21M reported by Rapoport is the face value of the contract, then Bass’s new deal poses him as the fourth-highest paid kicker in the NFL (per year), just under Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, Colts kicker Matt Gay, and Seahawks kicker Jason Myers. The “up to” included in Schrager's report implies that incentives may be involved, which may rank him slightly lower, but the reported $12.3M guaranteed is the second-highest guaranteed amount for a current kicker, trailing only Tucker.

It’s a good deal for both sides as Bass gets his payday and the Bills lock down a reliable, young kicker through the 2027 season. It’s rare to find dependability in a kicker, and the Bills have paid up in order to secure theirs for years to come.