Heading into the offseason, it felt like the special teams positions were locked up for the foreseeable future. If anything, kicker Tyler Bass has been the one with a rocky tenure, lowlighted by some big misses in key situations.

Punter Sam Martin, who has been a consistent mainstay for Buffalo over the last three years, felt like a lock to return. Apparently, the Bills thought differently, electing to release him prior to the new league season.

The move seems to be purely financial. The two sides apparently tried to find a way to make a deal come together, but with a roster bonus of $500k due after the new league year, the Bills have elected to move on.

In moving on from Martin, the Bills save nearly $1.9 million against the 2025 salary cap, but they now find themselves in need of a new punter heading into free agency.

Martin’s 46.7 yards per punt last year ranked 20th in the NFL, and his 25 punts downed inside the 20-yard line ranked 16th. Being attached to one of the best offenses in the NFL is certainly an ideal place for punters to be.

Brandon Beane and the Bills will now look for their next starting punter. They currently have former Tampa Bay Buccaneers punter Jake Camarda on the roster, who they signed to a reserve/future deal earlier this offseason. You can expect that they will bring in several punters for workouts over the offseason to kick the cans on all available options, but Camarda likely has an inside track to earn the role during the offseason programs.

An underrated conversation that needs to happen — with Martin gone, kicker Tyler Bass, who has had his struggles but went 13/13 in the playoffs including 2/2 of 50+ yards, will now have to learn a new holder. The kicking battery will look different moving forward.