When it comes to the NFL’s salary cap, teams can always backload trades, use creative accounting, and kick future possibilities, but sooner or later everyone There will be no way.
that was the reality buffalo bills What Wednesday faced was a series of late-afternoon cuts that turned a sleepy afternoon of football into their own version of Black Wednesday. A total of six players were cut and two more had their contracts restructured. These weren’t just short-term rotation players, they included three big-name starters as part of the release.
Buffalo was forced into this position as the payroll has ballooned significantly and many team-friendly long-term deals are now starting to escalate. Josh Allen expects his base salary to increase significantly in 2024, from $1.08 million to $23.5 million, and Stefon Diggs also expects an even larger increase from $1.16 million to $18.5 million.By Wednesday, the team was expected to have $40 million in funding. that’s all The 2024 salary cap includes the significant cap increase announced earlier this year. These six cuts, along with the restructuring of Rasul Douglas and Von Miller, collectively shaved $47.6 million off the 2024 cap and brought the team closer to being in the black. However, the organization currently has no room to improve the team in free agency this season.
Why has the cap situation gotten so bad? Well, there’s not really one contract to blame, but Von Miller has gotten a lot of attention by being at the center of the problem.
The team signed Miller to a six-year, $120 million contract in 2022 with $51.4 million guaranteed, which is frankly ridiculous, even though the pass rusher was 32 years old at the time. This was an incredibly hopeful deal, made with the belief that Miller could continue to be an elite pass rusher well into his mid-30s. Miller had eight sacks in his first season in Buffalo and initially appeared to be OK, but tearing his ACL in November sent his wheels off. In 2023, he played in 12 games, but didn’t start a single game and didn’t make any impact, finishing the season with just three tackles and zero sacks.
This wouldn’t have been a big issue if Miller had been signed to a short-team contract, but the guaranteed money nature of his contract makes him the highest-paid player on the team besides Josh Allen, making Buffalo I got virtually nothing in return. . Miller restructured his contract and took a pay cut as part of this round of reductions, but still carries the fourth-largest cap hit on the team, with more than $15.1 million in 2024. are doing.
There is a silver lining to Buffalo’s cap situation. Miller’s contract includes an out clause that allows him to be released before the 2025 season. But as it stands, there’s still a lot of work to be done for Buffalo’s future. OverTheCap currently projects the Bills to have $29 million in cap space in 2025, but they only have 30 players currently under contract. The math doesn’t add up at this point, and Bills GM Brandon Beane may have to make a tougher decision.
The Bills’ move on Wednesday raises some interesting questions for free agents. Tre’Davious White is one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks when healthy, but major injuries in two of the last three seasons have made him dangerous. Jordan Poyer is also a great option for a team in need of safety help, while Mitch Morse is still a great center for a team (Eagles?) in need of midfield help.
It was definitely a tough day for Buffalo on Wednesday, but the majority of these players should start up with new teams on March 13th when free agency begins.
