A Buffalo Payments helmet sits on a yard marker throughout stretching earlier than the Return of the Blue & Pink observe at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Aug.1, 2025. © Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Photos.
5 years in the past, the Minnesota Vikings employed a promising younger tight finish named Shane Zylstra, who later departed the franchise for the Detroit Lions, the place he stayed for 5 seasons, consider it or not. Now, Zylstra is on his solution to Buffalo.
Detroit grew to become the touchdown spot the place Zylstra lastly caught round for a number of seasons.
The Payments added some TE depth this week, and his identify is Zylstra.
Buffalo Provides One other Cross-Catching Possibility for Camp
Zylstra goes from a contender to … a contender
The BUF Transfer
Buffalo Rumblings‘ Chris Trapasso detailed the transaction on Tuesday: “The Buffalo Bills have made another post-draft signing, this time it’s on offense — former Lions tight end Shane Zylstra has been added on a one-year contract.”
“Zylstra started his carer with the Vikings but was cut at the end of his August before being signed by the Lions. He spent the 2021 – 2025 seasons in Detroit as one of the depth tight ends on the roster. All four of his touchdowns came in 2022.”
It’s a contemporary begin for the 29-year-old.
The Profession Manufacturing
Zylstra actually isn’t a quantity pass-catching tight finish, however the Lions liked him. These are his numbers via 5 seasons:
2025: 3 Rec | 20 Yds | 0 TDs
2024: 1 Rec | 22 Yds | 0 TDs
2023: DNP
2022: 11 Rec | 60 Yds | 4 TDs
2021: 3 Rec | 34 Yds | 0 TDs
And the Professional Soccer Focus monitor report:
2025: 44.0
2024: 49.6
2023: DNP
2022: 59.2
2021: 53.5
The best means to think about Zylstra is a quintessential TE3. When a group wants a depth tight finish after two predominant guys, flip to Zylstra.
Satisfaction of Detroit‘s Brandon Knapp on Zylstra’s 2025 marketing campaign: “As the third-string option, the expectations weren’t very high for Zylstra in 2025. The year before he played in 12 games and only caught one pass for a yard. He wasn’t used often on offense and only saw his role increase if LaPorta or Wright were out with an injury. He was more of a receiver-styled tight end that did block particularly well. With the team loving tight ends that can do both, he was limited in what the team saw in him.”
“For a majority of the year, Zylstra was on the injured reserved list. After suffering the ankle injury against the Chicago Bears in Week 2, Zylstra didn’t return until Week 15. Zylstra got all of his receiving stats for the year against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16. While he had more offensive snaps than special teams, that was because before he suffered the injury, he had 13 special teams snaps to his six offensive and the tight ends above him were healthy. Once he returned, the others weren’t there and he was forced to play more offense than special teams.”
Payments’ New TE Room
With Zylstra in the home for Josh Allen’s group, right here’s the lay of the land at tight finish:
Dalton Kincaid
Dawson Knox
Jackson Hawes
Keleki Latua
Shane Zylstra
Zylstra actually received’t supplant Kincaid or Knox, however he has an opportunity to overhaul Hawes or pray the Payments hold 4 tight ends as an alternative of three.
Payments’ New Faces in 2026
The Payments had been fairly busy this offseason — busier than the Vikings throughout free company — including these newcomers:
Dee Alford, CB (ATL → BUF)
Kyle Allen, QB (DET → BUF)
Austin Corbett, C (CAR → BUF)
Bradley Chubb, EDGE (MIA → BUF)
Lloyd Cushenberry, C (TEN → BUF)
Michael Danna, EDGE (KC → BUF)
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, S (CHI → BUF)
Trent Sherfield, WR (MIN → BUF)
Geno Stone, S (CIN → BUF)
Ben VanSumeren, FB (PHI → BUF)
Shane Zylstra, TE (DET → BUF)
And from the draft, basic supervisor Brandon Beane welcomed these rookies:
Spherical 2: T.J. Parker (EDGE, Clemson)
Spherical 2: Davison Igbinosun (CB, Ohio State)
Spherical 4: Jude Bowry (OT, Boston School)
Spherical 4: Skyler Bell (WR, Connecticut)
Spherical 4: Kaleb Elarms-Orr (LB, TCU)
Spherical 5: Jalon Kilgore (CB, South Carolina)
Spherical 5: Zane Durant (DT, Penn State)
Spherical 7: Toriano Satisfaction Jr. (CB, Missouri)
Spherical 7: Tommy Doman (P, Florida)
Spherical 7: Ar’maj Reed-Adams (G, Texas A&M)
Zylstra will flip 30 in November and is from Spicer, Minnesota. He attended Minnesota State College — Adam Thielen’s alma mater.
Mockingly, Zylstra already is aware of when he’ll face his former group in 2026, as MLive’s Kory Woods wrote Tuesday, “Despite moving on from Detroit, Zylstra will see his former teammates later in the year. Earlier this week, Amazon Prime Video announced that the Lions will play the Bills in Week 2 this season, starting the streaming platform’s Thursday Night Football coverage on Sept. 17.”
Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … Extra about Dustin Baker
.jpg?1406215314%0D%0A&w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1 "ASN: 5 Key Prospects Who May Debut in Europe This Yr")
