2021 Worst Buffalo Bills values: No. 1—P Matt Haack

[HipKat]

One of Beane’s misses

I have to say, when I set out to compile this year’s list, I wasn’t planning on this guy being so high. Even with all the crap he got last season, I didn’t expect it would be this bad. With all that being said, punter Matt Haack comes in at number one on our list of the most overpaid Buffalo Bills in 2021.

In the past when we’ve done our listing, we used cap hit to reflect value, but with the cap shenanigans employed by general manager Brandon Beane recently and the improvement of the databases, we’ve switched to yearly cash payments as our metric.

So how can a guy making just $2.275 million be the most overvalued player on the Bills’ roster? He was the tenth-highest-paid punter in the NFL, but the 32nd-best in yards per punt. It’s not dead last because 36 punters qualified, but it’s pretty darn close, despite being in the top 25% of punter contracts for the season.

Haack’s 42.9 yards per punt was the lowest of his career. In a world where 40 net yards per punt is seen as the standard—and 19 punters including the departed Corey Bojorquez achieved that metric in 2021—Haack finished last among players with more than ten games at 37.6 net yards per punt.

More simply; he was the worst punter in the league despite being tenth on the list of NFL punters in terms of cash. Bad value.

He was the 23rd-highest paid member of the Bills, which puts him ahead of Tremaine Edmunds, Levi Wallace, Ike Boettger, Spencer Brown, Efe Obada, Isaiah McKenzie, Harrison Phillips, Dawson Knox, Devin Singletary, Ryan Bates, Gabriel Davis, and many other Bills.

He signed his big contract last offseason, but this offseason was a much different story. He agreed to a reworked deal, which amounted to a straight pay cut, then the Bills drafted a punter in the NFL Draft. Haack’s time with the team seems to be rapidly running out. If he somehow beats out Matt Araiza, his $1.135 million cash is half of what it was in 2021 thanks to the contract restructure.

Even general manager Brandon Beane admitted this offseason the only reason they didn’t move on from Haack was he was doing a great job holding on extra points and field goals. That’s saying something, I guess.