The Buffalo Bills used their tight ends to great success last season. Only The Los Angeles Rams were better than the Bills in “13” personnel (one running back, three tight ends), and while they were better by a tremendous margin, the fact remains that Buffalo was No. 2 in the NFL in expected points added (EPA) with three tight ends on the field.
With 2025 offensive coordinator Joe Brady set to become 2026 head coach Joe Brady, it’s fair to assume that most of Buffalo’s personnel preferences will remain
this season. It’s fair to assume, then, that Buffalo will want to play their tight ends together, and play the people who were on the field when they were so successful last season once real games begin in 2026.
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss a player who saw some field time last season after a run of injuries forced the team’s hand.
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Name: Keleki Latu
Number: 83
Position: TE
Height/Weight: 6’6″ 249 lbs.
Age: 23 (24 on 8/13/2026)
Experience/Draft: 1; signed with Buffalo following the 2025 NFL Draft
College: Washington
Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Latu is set to enter the second year of a three-year contract he signed last season worth $2.965 million overall. For the 2026 season, Latu’s cap hit is $1.005 million if he makes the 53-man roster. Buffalo will not carry a dead cap charge if they release him, as there are no guarantees on the deal.
2025 Recap: Latu signed with the Bills after the 2025 NFL Draft, and he spent the off-season with the team. He played in all three of Buffalo’s preseason games, catching two of his three targets for 38 yards. He was waived at the end of the preseason, but he signed with Buffalo’s practice squad prior to Week One. He remained on the practice squad until Week Eleven, when he was elevated to play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He caught his first career pass, a four-yard target from Josh Allen, in that 44-32 victory, and he also made his first career tackle on special teams. He was elevated for two more games–a Week Twelve loss to the Houston Texans and a Week Thirteen win over the New York Jets–before he was signed to the active roster ahead of Buffalo’s Week Seventeen matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played in that game without making a catch, and he also played a significant amount of the time the following week in Buffalo’s season-ending win over the New York Jets. He caught three passes for 35 yards in the regular-season finale. During both of Buffalo’s playoff contests, Latu was a healthy scratch although he remained on the 53-man roster.
Positional outlook: Latu is one of five tight ends on the current roster. Last year’s top three–Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, and Jackson Hawes–all return, with veteran Shane Zylstra the only newcomer to the room.
2026 Offseason: Latu is healthy and he has participated in all off-season work to date.
2026 Season outlook: Full disclosure: I thought that Dawson Knox was as good as gone thanks to his contract, and I was perfectly fine with Latu making the roster as the team’s TE3 after watching him in a limited role last season. Latu is a willing blocker and a sneaky-good athlete, and he fit right in last year when tasked with playing in place of an injured Kincaid.
However, with Knox agreeing to a reworked deal during the winter, there is almost no chance that the tight end room changes heading into the season. Unless someone is hurt–and with Kincaid’s injury history, that is unfortunately a likely issue–Latu isn’t going to break camp with the team. The Bills likely want to keep him in the fold, though, as he fit in with offensive coordinator Joe Brady last season, so I can’t see a scenario where head coach Joe Brady will want him off the team.
As far as project tight ends go, the Bills could do a lot worse than Keleki Latu. He’s someone the team will likely try to keep on the practice squad in the same role he had last year, though it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s signed by another team after final cuts at the end of August.
