After months of changes and building up the roster through free agency, trades, and the NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills are now in the process of finalizing their roster ahead of Week 1 of the regular season. The Bills have already made 13 official releasings of players yesterday, which includes WR Mecole Hardman Jr., WR Dante Pettis, and OL Bruno Fina who is the son of Bills’ fan-favorite OL John Fina.
However, before these moves were announced, Tom Pelissero gave an update that a lot of Bills fans were expecting, but it officially became official.
According to Pelissero, the Bills "informed veteran punter Mitch Wishnowsky they plan to release him". Pelissero then wrote that the rookie punter the Bills drafted this past April in Tommy Doman Jr. is set up to now be the team's starting punter moving forward.
The Bills informed veteran punter Mitch Wishnowsky they plan to release him, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 29, 2026
Rookie seventh-round pick Tommy Doman Jr. is now in line to punt for Buffalo.
Tommy Doman Jr. wins Bills' starting punter job
Wishnowsky has re-signed with the Bills in free agency on a one-year deal after being brought in last season. The Bills went through some injuries at the position, but then Wishnowsky was able to bring some stability. Then Buffalo went ahead and drafted Doman Jr. out of the University of Florida in the 7th round.
The team drafting Doman Jr. back in April put him in a great advantage because the Bills would have their kicker for the next four seasons on a very cheap rookie contract. However, the preseason proved that picking Doman Jr. over Wishnowsky was the right choice that was expected.
Throughout this preseason, Doman Jr. had the chance to punt 7 times compared to Wishnowsky’s 3 times. While they each had a punt of 59 yards which was their longest, Doman Jr. averaged 48 yards per punt and he managed to have 4 punts pinned inside the 20-yard line. Wishnowsky averaged only 42 yards per punt and had just 1 punt pinned inside the 20-yard line. In addition, Wishnowsky also had botched 19-yard punt in the final preseason game.
Bills make right call to pick Doman Jr. over Wishnowsky
Not only do the Bills not have to worry about the punter position for years to come and pay very little for it, but Doman Jr. proved to be the better player overall in the little sample size that fans got. Let’s not forget either that Doman Jr. didn’t have the chance to punt in the first preseason game against the Panthers due to the efficiency of the offense.
While the Bills’ offense can be very dynamic, they aren’t perfect. They are bound to get stalled at times, so that’s where Doman Jr. is going to have to come in big with a big punt to take pressure off of Buffalo’s defense and apply it to the opposing team’s offense.
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