The New England Patriots 90-man roster already featured a pair of fullbacks in Jack Westover and 2025 UDFA Brock Lampe. That did not stop them from adding another in free agency as one of their first signings: Reggie Gilliam.
Signing a three-year, $10.8 million contract, Gilliam slotted in atop the fullback depth chart and projects as a contributing piece in Josh McDaniels’ offense.
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Hard facts
Name: Reggie Gilliam
Position: Fullback
Jersey number: 44
Opening day age: 29 (8/20/1997)
Measurements: 6’0 5/8”, 255 lbs, 9 1/4” hand size, 34” arm length, N/A Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: Buffalo Bills (2020-25), New England Patriots (2026-) | College: Toledo (2016-19)
Coming out of Westland High School in Galloway, OH, Gilliam was a walk-on at Toledo in 2016. He went on to appear in 40 games over four years for the Rockets playing both tight end and fullback. He also took on a key special teams role and ended his collegiate career with 18 receptions for 153 yards and three touchdowns as well as six blocked kicks — including four his junior season when he was named second-team All-Mid-American-Conference.
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Gilliam was signed by the Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and made the team’s 53-man roster out of training camp. That is where he has gone on to play his entire NFL career to date, earning a two-year, $5.2 million contract extension in 2022 before re-signing in 2025 on a one-year, $2 million contract.
When Gilliam left Buffalo after the 2025 season, he did so with 94 regular season games and 14 playoff contests on his résumé. He also has caught 19 combined passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns, and gained 14 yards on eight career carries.
Scouting report
Strengths: Despite earning the nickname “Sledge” during his time in Buffalo, Gilliam is not the traditional downhill thumper that Josh McDaniels has typically employed at fullback. While Gilliam is certainly no stranger to contact and prides himself on the physicality he plays with, he is at his best as a movement piece and in motion — shinning in Buffalo’s outside zone run scheme — where he can often get to the second level.
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The Bills were very successful running out of their two back groupings with Gilliam last season, averaging 4.9 yards per rush. New England, however, averaged just 3.1 yards and a negative EPA/rush. That hurt their play-action success out of those groups, while Buffalo averaged nearly 9.0 yards per pass with Gilliam on the field. He also played a key role in the Bills’ tush push as he served as the “pusher” behind Josh Allen. Buffalo was one of the top team’s in the league on QB sneaks while the Patriots finished near the middle of the pack.
Lastly, Gilliam is a strong special teams player across multiple units. He played a key role as a blocker on Buffalo’s successful kickoff return unit and recorded a career-high 13 special teams tackles last season.
Weaknesses: As a versatile fullback, Gilliam does not have many warts in his game and likely should have been named a Pro Bowler last season. Perhaps one area of improvement could be as a short-yardage rusher as Gilliam’s eight career carries have gone for just 14 yards and two first downs with a 25% success rate.
2025 review
Stats: 19 games (3 starts) | 259 offensive snaps (20.3%), 373 special teams snaps (76.0%) | 2 carries, 4 yards (2.0/carry) | 2 targets, 2 catches (100%), 24 yards (12.0/catch) | 13 special teams tackles, 4 missed tackles (23.5%) | 0 penalties
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Season recap: Gilliam was scheduled to enter unrestricted free agency in March 2025, but the Bills opted to keep him in the fold or another year. To do so, they gave him $2 million on a one-year pact. He repaid them by being available for all 19 games, playing an important role on offense and being one of their most heavily-featured special teams players.
All in all, 2025 was a career year for Gilliam, at least in terms of playing time. With the Bills forced to lean on their run game more than in recent seasons, he logged a career-high 259 offensive snaps between his 19 regular season and playoff games.
The unit was successful with Gilliam on the field. He ranked 10th in run-blocking grade among non-offensive lineman while Buffalo ended the year with the league’s No. 1 rushing attack. James Cook, who benefitted most directly from his fullback’s contributions, gained a league-leading 1,621 yards in the regular season and found the end zone 12 times; he also added 163 yards in two playoff games.
Gilliam was not entirely responsible for Cook’s output, but his presence played a part in the numbers becoming possible in the first place. The same was not true for Gilliam’s own production. While a steady presence as a lead blocker, he touched the ball only four times all season, gained 28 yards in the process.
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He was more active in the kicking game. Gilliam took his spot across numerous special teams units and shined as a blocker on the kick return squad, helping Ray Davis rank near the top of the league averaging over 30 yards per return. In addition, he was a steady player on kick coverage, finishing the season ranked third among Buffalo’ special teamers with 13 combined tackles.
2026 preview
Position: Fullback | Ability: High-quality starter/Quality special teamer | Contract: Signed through 2028 (2029 UFA)
What will be his role? Combining Josh McDaniels’ last season in New England (2021) and first as a head coach in Las Vegas (2022), no team used two-back formations more than his own (roughly 28%). With no traditional fullback on the roster last season, that number dipped to 22%, which still ranked among the highest rates in the league. Adding Gilliam to the fold, however, could push that number closer to 30% leading to perhaps another career year in terms of playing time for the fullback. Gilliam will also have a key role on special teams as his blocking will be a needed boost on kickoff return, something Eliot Wolf highlighted as an area of upgrade earlier this offseason: “Our blocking needs to kick up a notch.”
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What is his growth potential? The Patriots need the 29-year-old Gilliam to be the player he has been throughout his career to boost their run game. However, the former tight end has shown an ability to make plays in the passing game near the line of scrimmage in his career — highlighted by the 2022 season in which he caught eight receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown. McDaniels getting him involved in the screen game would not be a surprise.
Does he have positional versatility? McDaniels has never been shy of moving his fullbacks around the formation in order to create mismatches elsewhere. That will not stop with Gilliam whose versatility was highlighted by his usage last season in Buffalo: 167 backfield snaps, 45 inline snaps, 27 slot snaps, 20 snaps out wide. And as mentioned, he will be a key special teams player across multiple units.
What is his salary cap situation? As part of his three-year contract with the Patriots, Gilliam is carrying a $2.8 million cap figure this season. The number consists of a base salary ($1.3) and signing bonus proration ($800k) that are both fully guaranteed, as well as roster ($595k) and workout ($105k) bonuses that are both classified as likely to be earned. In addition, the pact also features $400,000 in not likely to be earned incentives.
How safe is his roster spot? Even with internal competition on the roster, the investment early in free agency locks Gilliam onto the roster for this coming season. Sophomore fullback Brock Lampe and tight end/fullback hybrid Jack Westover seriously challenging him this year is not expected to happen.
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Summary: While slightly on the older side, Gilliam remains one of the best fullbacks in the NFL and should prove himself an upgrade over Jack Westover in 2025. If so, the Patriots’ run game as a whole stands to benefit: more creativity and especially production out of two-back sets could go a long way toward improving a ground attack that finished 2025 ranked 25th in run game EPA (-0.089).
What do you think about Reggie Gilliam heading into the 2026 season? Will he help the Patriots fullback position return to its glory days? Will he contribute in any other way? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.
