The Buffalo Bills did not wait long to add another name to a training camp battle that already had a clear special teams theme. On Day 2 of camp, they signed Dante Pettis after working out several players, a move that points directly to the competition for the punt return job.
That is the real story here. The Bills are trying to identify a starting punt returner while also moving Khalil Shakir to offense only, so every addition has to answer a very specific question: can this player help on special teams right away? Pettis has that case. His most recent work with the New Orleans Saints was mainly on special teams, which gives Buffalo a reason to think he can fit into the mix without needing a long adjustment period.
Pettis also arrives with plenty of experience. He is a seven-year veteran who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Since then, his path has taken him through San Francisco, the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints. He did not play in a game in 2023, but his résumé still includes meaningful return production and enough NFL time to understand the demands of a roster fight in late July.
The numbers help explain why Buffalo took a look. Pettis has returned 20 punts and 18 kickoffs in his career, averaging 6.1 yards per punt return and 23.4 yards per kick return in 2025. That does not make him a finished answer, but it does suggest a player with a defined special teams role rather than a pure camp body. In a competition that already includes Keon Coleman, Mecole Hardman, Mac Dalena and Max Tomczak on Day 1, that kind of clarity matters.
There is still a long way to go before the Bills settle on the full return picture, and a training camp signing rarely guarantees anything. But Pettis gives them another experienced option at exactly the position they are trying to solve. In a roster battle this specific, that can be enough to keep a player in the conversation.
