Buffalo Bills cut veteran tight end Charles Clay

charles-clay

Buffalo Bills tight end Charles Clay (85). (Adrian Kraus/AP)

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills have released underperforming and high-priced veteran tight end Charles Clay.

The move was announced Friday, and did not come as a surprise after Clay’s playing time diminished behind Jason Croom and Logan Thomas over the final six weeks of last season. Clay had one season left on a five-year contract, and was due to make a $4.5 million base salary.

Clay’s production dropped off considerably last year. In 13 games, the eighth-year player finished with 21 catches for 184 yards and no touchdowns, which were all lows during his four seasons in Buffalo. Overall, Clay had 339 catches for 1,822 yards and nine touchdowns in 54 games with the Bills.

That’s not the type of production the team was expecting in luring Clay away from the Miami Dolphins by getting him to agree to sign a five-year, $38 million offer sheet.

Though he missed only 10 games in Buffalo, nagging knee injuries limited Clay’s production and ability to practice.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.