Bills TE Dalton Kincaid "has a torn PCL he was playing through," according to teammate Dawson Knox. Buffalo's other starting TE revealed that on the podcast of former Bills C Mitch Morse. Just how long he played through it is less clear, but there's a chance this injury affects his start to 2026.
Kincaid initially injured the left knee in Week 10 of 2024. It was apparently also Knox who broke the news on that being a PCL tear at the end of last season.
Dawson Knox said that TE Dalton Kincaid was playing on a torn PCL in one knee and with an aggravated other knee — “It’s insane what he’s played through”
— katherine fitzgerald (@kfitz134) January 27, 2025
Kincaid never had surgery. He started training camp on time but reportedly "tweaked" the knee before the end of July.
Kincaid started the regular season on time but saw limited snap counts all year. No knee injury appeared on the weekly injury reports for him, though, until Week 14. Kincaid apparently aggravated that same knee at some point during his preparation to return from a hamstring injury.
Kyle Trimble (Dr. of PT) of Banged Up Bills: "Considering how long the injury has been an issue, a reconstruction would be the most effective to rebuild the structural integrity ... There's a high likelihood that this is a Grade 3 PCL tear, which means it's fully torn."
Ryan Talbot of Syracuse.com: "After playing with the injury for the second consecutive season, surgery may be in play for Kincaid. If Kincaid opts for surgery this offseason, the recovery time is estimated to be between six to nine months."
That return timeline has been echoed in other places. And the Bills have some experience with this situation.
WR Gabe Davis suffered a similar PCL injury late in the 2023 season, didn't have surgery, and then fully tore the ligament (as well as his meniscus) in 2024.
A 6-9 month recovery would at least challenge the start of Kincaid's training camp. The longer end would push into the regular season.
We'll see about his surgery decision and what news follows that potential procedure.
We knew injuries were factoring into Kincaid's 2025 playing time. But it's nice to connect the specific details given how drastic his snap decline was.
Kincaid went from 63.4% of Bills offensive snaps in his 16 games as a 2023 rookie, to 56.7% over 13 games in 2024, and then just 37.6% across 12 games last year.
Even though it would come with an extended recovery, that full repair of Kincaid's left PCL would sure seem to be the best option for his long-term outlook.
If Kincaid does get surgery, we'll have to track his return in relation to his 2026 projections.
If he passes on surgery again, the TE would likely carry plenty of risk into the coming season.
Buffalo also has to decide this spring whether to exercise the fifth-year option on Kincaid's rookie contract.
This might actually be a good time to look into buying Kincaid in dynasty.
His fantasy managers got better per-game production from Kincaid this year than in either of the previous two. But he has also sat out nine games over the past two years.
Many will combine that with this news of the PCL tear and just consider Kincaid a durability headache to shed.
The knee certainly hasn't been his only issue, so maybe Kincaid will remain injury prone. But there's also the chance that he rebounds stronger over the next two years off a PCL repair.
And I'd bet on Buffalo exercising that option. It's only projected to cost the Bills $8.7 million. And despite the injuries, Kincaid has ranked top 3 among Bills in targets each of his three seasons.
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