Bills host two kickers for workouts amidst Tyler Bass' struggles

The Buffalo Bills held a workout for two free-agent kickers on Tuesday, Anders Carlson and Cade York, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

This comes directly after kicker Tyler Bass went 1-for-2 in Thursday night’s win over the Dolphins, in which he connected on a 43-yarder but missed badly on a 45-yarder.

The missed kick on Thursday night was nearly the same distance as the miss in the Divisional Round against the Chiefs (44 yards).

Many people are hung up on that one miss in the playoffs that essentially ended the season, but he took a noticeable step back for the totality of the 2023 season.

After making 82.4% of his kicks as a rookie, he hovered around the 87% mark in 2021 and 2022, which is good. But, in 2023 he regressed to 82.8%, and just 4-of-6 in the 40-49 range.

In last year’s wildcard round game against the Steelers, Bass went 1-for-3, including a blocked kick and a miss from only 29 yards out. In the 2023 postseason, he went 2-for-5 in total (40%).

The Bills thinking of competition for Bass makes a lot of sense considering the fact the Bills need consistency from their field goal kicker, especially in the postseason.

The factor that makes it tricky is Bass’ current contract. According to Spotrac, Bass is only in year one of a four-year extension signed last year. He was guaranteed over $9 million at signing and would have a dead cap hit of $7.38 million if he was cut this year.

As for the two brought in for workouts, both of them have just one full season in the NFL under their belt. Anders Carlson last played for the Packers in 2023, while Cade York was with the Browns in 2022. York started as the Commanders’ kicker this year but was let go after one game where he went 0-for-2.

Carlson made just 81.8% of his kicks and just 87.2% of extra points in 2023, while York made just 75% of his kicks in 2022.