Getty Head coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills stands with general manager Brandon Beane on the field before a game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on September 8, 2019.
The Buffalo Bills made quick work to replace a reserve tight end lost to a season-ending injury, landing another player with an unconventional path from Division III college to the NFL.
Just a day after they placed Zach Davidson on injured reserve, the Bills announced on June 15 that they had signed veteran tight end Nick Guggemos to a one-year deal. The 27-year-old has spent time on a number of practice squads, including a stint with the Green Bay Packers last season.
Guggemos caught the eye of scouts after a relatively uneventful college career that included a long break from football.
Nick Guggemos Waited Years for NFL Chance
After playing college football at Division III St. Thomas (Minnesota), Guggemos had short stints with a number of teams but never made an active roster. He signed with Green Bay Packers in Novembe and spent the remainder of the season on the practice squad, earning a reserve/futures contract in January. He was released again in May, and had a tryout with the Bills earlier this week before being signed on Thursday.
As Bill Huber of SI.com’s Packer Central noted, Guggemos had an unconventional ascension from little-known college player to NFL prospect. He was a receiver on the Division III powerhouse St. Thomas team but had little impact on the field, making just one reception for 8 yards and one rush for minus-4 yards in his collegiate career.
Guggemos also spent several years away from football while training and hoping to jump onto the NFL radar.
“His college career ended in 2018. While putting his engineering degree to work, he trained in hopes of getting a shot in 2020,” Huber wrote. “Instead, COVID struck and shut the door on any opportunities. He continued to train at an ETS Performance opened by Vikings receiver Adam Thielen.”
Guggemos earned an invite to the University of Minnesota’s pro day in 2021 and turned in some impressive performances, with a 4.49-second time in the 40-yard dash and one of the best broad jumps of all time for a tight end.
Guggemos earned a look from Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider, himself a St. Thomas alum. He was signed as an undrafted free agent with the Seahawks.
“He did a nice job in a couple workouts that our scouts had seen,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told reporters at the time, via SI.com. “Then when we brought him in here for a workout, he really did well and so, we thought he deserved a chance to be part of this.”
But Guggemos lasted only a month with the Seahawks before being released.
Buffalo Bills Beefing Up at Tight End
The Bills have made another big to their tight end room this offseason, trading up in the first round of the NFL Drafy to snag Utah’s Dalton Kincaid.
Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey said the team will find plenty of ways to get the 6-foot-4, 234-pound tight end involved in the offense next year, even if the exact plan isn’t yet clear.
“We’re nowhere close to knowing exactly ‘Hey, this is what the big picture is going to be’ because we have to learn him and he is going to learn us in a lot of ways,” Dorsey said, via New York Upstate.
