Getty Bills quarterback Josh Allen at Gillette Stadium on October 22, 2023.
Days after the Buffalo Bills saw their season end with a playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, general manager Brandon Beane offered a warning about the offseason ahead.
Just as he had last season, Beane cautioned that the team would not have the cap space to make any significant moves, instead working around the edges to make strategic additions of low-cost players.
“We’re going to be shopping at some of the same stores we were shopping at last year,” Beane said, via SI.com. “We’re not going to Main Street in New York City or wherever those high-end stores are.”
But there are some moves the Bills can make to create breathing space around their tight salary cap, and one insider believes that must start with a $22-million move around quarterback Josh Allen.
Bills Have ‘No Choice’ on Josh Allen Restructure
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia broke down a series of potential contract restructures, cuts and trades that the Bills can make in order to dig out from their cap crunch. While he noted that the Bills will have a choice whether to make most of the moves, Allen’s contract restructure will be “involuntary” as the team needs the big chunk of savings his contract would bring.
“Allen has a $47.1 million cap hit, is signed for the next five seasons and the Bills likely are intent on having him a part of their organization through the life of the contract,” Buscaglia wrote. “There are no thoughts of moving on from him anytime soon, which makes it a contract to target for a restructure. 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.”
Buscaglia wrote that the Bills would save more than $22 million with the move, the largest potential savings they can find with a single move this offseason. The Bills have restructured other contracts over the last two years, with many predicting Allen would be coming soon.
Bills Not Expected to Make Moves on Underperforming Stars
Buscaglia added that there are two potential moves that could bring big cap savings, but ones the Bills are likely to avoid. He noted that edge rusher Von Miller and wide receiver Stefon Diggs could both have their contracts restructured, but suggested the Bills would keep their flexibility to deal with Diggs in 2025.
Caught up with Pro Bowl WR Stefon Diggs 1-on-1 today about abrupt end to Bills season including plays he wants back, his decrease in usage, relationship with Josh Allen + whether he believes he will be back in Buffalo in 2024:
Keeping Miller on the roster for a longer period might also prolong their pain, Buscaglia added.
“Like Diggs, restructuring Miller’s deal could yield nearly $12 million in cap space this year, but the Bills would be signing up for another year on a massive cap hit for a player in his age-36 season in 2025 — and that’s not even factoring in his non-existent production this past season,” he wrote. “Miller likely is going to be back with the Bills in 2024 by default of having a massive cap hit, massive dead cap and an empty defensive end room. But in the 2025 offseason, if the Bills keep Miller’s contract as is, they could save $8.5 million on that year’s cap.”