Bills DT DeWayne Carter heads into 2026 third season trying to rebound from a torn Achilles

The Buffalo Bills are entering the 2026 season with a familiar face at defensive tackle, but a different set of questions around what that position is supposed to do in the new scheme. DeWayne Carter, a third-round pick from the 2024 NFL Draft, is one of the Bills’ key holdovers on the interior after missing all of 2025 with a torn Achilles tendon suffered during practice on August 31, 2025.

For Buffalo, the stakes go beyond one player’s recovery. The franchise is in the middle of a defensive reset that begins at the top of the play-caller chain. Former head coach Sean McDermott’s nickel-base, even-front approach has been replaced by a system tied to defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, with an odd-front identity emphasized as the staff works through how its personnel will fit.

Carter’s 2026 scouting outlook is therefore tied to both medical and tactical readiness. The Bills selected Carter with the No. 95 overall pick in the third round of the 2024 draft, and his development path has been compressed by the Achilles injury that wiped out his second pro season. Before that setback, Buffalo had seen enough through his rookie work and offseason opportunities to envision him as part of the middle of the defensive line rotation, and his preseason reps in 2025 came with that expectation in mind.

On the roster, the Bills have built a crowded interior group. Yahoo Sports’ 2026 look at Carter notes there are eight defensive tackles on the current Buffalo roster, including Carter and several others. That matters because an odd-front defense can shift how the tackle corps is used, sometimes demanding different gap responsibilities or alignment work depending on front and personnel packages. In other words, Carter’s performance in camp and the early part of the regular season will be measured not only against what he can do athletically after a major tendon injury, but also against whether he can quickly understand and execute the scheme details.

Financially, Carter is also approaching a key contract moment. Per Yahoo Sports’ reporting that cites Spotrac, Carter is in the third year of his rookie deal, a four-year contract with a total value listed at $5,618,048, with $1,532,195 counted against the cap for 2026 if he makes the 53-man roster. If he were released, the Bills would carry a dead-cap hit of $441,622 for the season. Those figures frame the team’s incentive to evaluate what Carter can provide on the field now, particularly with the Bills transitioning defensively.

The personnel competition inside the trenches provides another layer to Carter’s year. While Carter’s path is tied to his own recovery and role definition, Buffalo’s broader plan appears to include other interior starters and rotation pieces, including players discussed publicly around specific techniques and alignments. Yahoo Sports’ scouting report points to the general idea that multiple defensive tackle profiles are on the roster, and that the new system could affect where each player best fits once live football starts again in September.