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Bills tight ends

Clay axed; Croom time?

The Bills cut Charles Clay yesterday, which was unsurprising, with him set to count $9 million against the salary cap and coming off a terrible season. The question now is if they'll fill the void with someone new, or look in-house at the spot.

Whatever the case, Clay won't be missed. He caught only 21 passes last year, of the 36 sent his way. That catch rate of just 58% was one of the worst in the league, among tight ends with at least 20 targets.

TIGHT END CATCH RATES, 2018
PlayerTeamTgtRecPctYdsTD
Levine ToiloloDET242187.5%2631
Geoff SwaimDAL322681.3%2421
Austin HooperATL887180.7%6604
Jack DoyleIND332678.8%2452
Kyle RudolphMIN826478.0%6344
Jesse JamesPIT393076.9%4232
Ben WatsonNOR463576.1%4002
Lance KendricksGNB251976.0%1701
Dallas GoedertPHI443375.0%3344
Blake JarwinDAL362775.0%3073
Zach ErtzPHI15611674.4%11638
Jordan ThomasHOU272074.1%2154
Ian ThomasCAR493673.5%3332
Rhett EllisonNYG342573.5%2721
Luke StockerTEN211571.4%1652
Trey BurtonCHI765471.1%5696
Greg OlsenCAR382771.1%2914
O.J. HowardTAM483470.8%5655
Tyler HigbeeLAR342470.6%2922
Virgil GreenLAC271970.4%2101
Evan EngramNYG644570.3%5773
Chris HerndonNYJ563969.6%5024
Vance McDonaldPIT725069.4%6104
Vernon DavisWAS362569.4%3672
Mike GesickiMIA322268.8%2020
Travis KelceKAN15010368.7%133610
Mark AndrewsBAL503468.0%5523
Jordan AkinsHOU251768.0%2250
Nick VannettSEA432967.4%2693
Jared CookOAK1016867.3%8966
C.J. UzomahCIN644367.2%4393
Jonnu SmithTEN302066.7%2583
Josh HillNOR241666.7%1851
Rob GronkowskiNWE724765.3%6823
Matt LaCosseDEN372464.9%2501
George KittleSFO1368864.7%13775
Jeff HeuermanDEN483164.6%2812
Jordan ReedWAS845464.3%5582
David NjokuCLE885663.6%6394
James O'ShaughnessyJAX382463.2%2140
Jason CroomBUF352262.9%2591
Antonio GatesLAC452862.2%3332
Nick BoyleBAL372362.2%2130
Jimmy GrahamGNB895561.8%6362
Cameron BrateTAM493061.2%2896
Eric EbronIND1106660.0%75013
Charles ClayBUF362158.3%1840
Jordan LeggettNYJ241458.3%1141
Ryan GriffinHOU432455.8%3050
Ricky Seals-JonesARI693449.3%3431
Demetrius HarrisKAN251248.0%1643
Michael RobertsDET20945.0%1003

Clay worked most of the year with a rookie passer, of course, so that might be part of the issue. I notice a couple of other guys at the bottom of the list (Leggett, Seals-Jones) were also working with rookie passers.

But Jason Croom was working with the same quarterback, and he caught 22 of 35 (63 percent). His last two games, he caught 6 passes for 87 yards. Croom was undrafted out of Tennessee two years ago, and doubtless the Bills will look to add to that position. But those of us in deeper leagues with a TE premium can at least think about opening up a roster spot for him.

As for Clay, he turned 30 two days ago (nice of the Bills not to cut him on his birthday). He won't get much guaranteed money if and when he signs somewhere.

--Andy Richardson

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