Sledge is still a special teams stud
The Buffalo Bills carry one fullback on their roster. He can play in the backfield, he can play as a tight end, and he’s even lined up as an outside receiver at times. However, his biggest place of contribution is on special teams.
While the Bills have moved on from a few of their notable special teams-only players in linebacker Tyler Matakevich and defensive back Siran Neal, they haven’t moved on from the man they call Sledge. Having a utility player who can serve a few roles on offense certainly doesn’t hurt, especially as offensive coordinator Joe Brady seems poised to implement a personnel schematic that involves more heavy groupings this season.
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we’ll discuss Buffalo’s fullback.
Name: Reggie Gilliam
Number: 41
Position: FB
Height/Weight: 6’, 244 pounds
Age: 26 (27 on 8/20/2024)
Experience/Draft: 5; signed with Bills as UDFA following the 2020 NFL Draft
College: Toledo
Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Gilliam enters the final year of the two-year contract extension he signed prior to last season. That deal was worth a total of $4.6 million. For this year, he’ll count $2,232,344 against the salary cap. Buffalo will carry a dead-cap charge of $433,334 if they release him.
2023 Recap: Gilliam played in all 17 of the Bills’ games, but he took just 99 snaps on offense. That was his lowest snap total since his rookie season in 2020. On those snaps, he saw just one target, which he caught for a three-yard gain in Buffalo’s Week 2 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. He made three tackles on special teams, two of which came in Buffalo’s win at home over the New York Jets. He also forced a fumble during the opening kickoff of that game — which earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. Interestingly, the player who fumbled was wide receiver Xavier Gipson, who previously played Jets hero in Week 1 by taking a punt to the house for a walk-off win against the Bills in Week 1. It would appear that Gilliam remembered well their first meeting. In Buffalo’s late-season win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Gilliam recovered a fumble.
Positional outlook: Gilliam is the team’s only fullback.
2024 Offseason: Gilliam is healthy and he has participated in OTAs to date.
2024 Season outlook: Unless Buffalo really needs the $2 million — and they think they can scoot by without a fullback on the roster at all — Gilliam will be on the team this season. The only way I could see it going another way is if one of the team’s unheralded tight ends plays extremely well this summer. But I don’t see the Bills moving on from Gilliam to make room for Tre’ McKitty or Zach Davidson.
I think it’s more likely that the Bills extend Gilliam’s contract and kick some of his cap number down the road than it is that they release him. I’d feel pretty confident writing Gilliam’s name on the 53-man roster in pen.