Following their playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills’ general manager Brandon Beane issued a warning about the upcoming offseason. Similar to last year, Beane cautioned that the team would not have the cap space to make significant moves, instead opting for strategic additions of low-cost players. Beane stated, “We’re going to be shopping at some of the same stores we were shopping at last year. We’re not going to Main Street in New York City or wherever those high-end stores are,” according to SI.com. However, an insider suggests that the Bills can create breathing space around their tight salary cap with a $22-million move involving quarterback Josh Allen. The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia proposed a series of potential contract restructures, cuts, and trades that the Bills can make to alleviate their cap crunch. While most of the moves are optional, Allen’s contract restructure will be “involuntary” as the team needs the big chunk of savings his contract would bring. Buscaglia wrote, “The Bills can convert all but the veteran minimum of his $23.5 million base salary, along with his $6 million roster bonus into a prorated signing bonus and nearly chop the cap deficit in half.”
According to Buscaglia, the Bills could potentially save over $22 million with a single move this offseason, which would be their largest savings yet. While they have restructured other contracts in the past, many speculate that quarterback Josh Allen’s contract will be the next to be restructured. However, Buscaglia believes that the Bills will likely avoid restructuring the contracts of underperforming stars Von Miller and Stefon Diggs, as it could limit their flexibility in the future. While restructuring Miller’s deal could save them nearly $12 million in cap space this year, it would also mean taking on a massive cap hit for a player in his age-36 season in 2025, with little production this past season. Miller is expected to remain on the roster in 2024 due to his large cap hit and the lack of defensive end options, but the Bills could potentially save $8.5 million in 2025 if they keep his contract as is.
