Getty Josh Allen looks on after the Buffalo Bills defeated the New England Patriots.
The Buffalo Bills will be bargain shopping for the remainder of free agency, but have the potential to buy themselves a bit of room by revisiting the massive contract extension that quarterback Josh Allen earned last season.
After the team made a splash by landing edge rusher Von Miller, Bills general manager Brandon Beane has made it clear that the team doesn’t have the cap space for any more big moves. But with several important holes left to fill — including getting depth in the secondary — they may need to pull a few maneuvers to gain more cap space. One of those could be a simple restructuring of Allen’s contract.
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Looking for Room
After a relatively busy free agency period where Beane filled holes in some places and added depth in others, he hinted that there won’t be much more coming until the draft.
“My main focus right now is just the draft,” Beane said, via SI.com. “We’re out of money, unless you guys have some here. So yeah, other than that, I mean, we’ll always look. We’re always looking. After the draft, we’ll be looking. Like, you know, we’re never satisfied.”
But as Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News noted, Beane could have some moves up his sleeve to create some immediate cap space. One of those would be a simple restructuring of Allen’s contract, which could free up $2.5 million for the upcoming season. The Bills signed Allen to a $258 million extension last August, including $150 million in guaranteed money, but have the capacity to restructure slightly to lessen the cap hit without giving Allen a pay cut, as they have done with other players.
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The Bills have already restructured some other contracts this offseason, including linebacker Matt Milano and punter Matt Haack, who took a pay cut and removed the final year of his contract in what appears to be a prelude to a competition for his job this coming training camp and preseason.
More Needs to Fill
There are still several areas of need for the Bills, namely the secondary where All-Pro Tre’Davious White is expected to miss some of the upcoming season while rehabbing a torn ACL and fellow cornerback Levi Wallace left in free agency.
Beane said the team is continually evaluating options.
“We’ve got a lot of positions that I still want to get more depth. We’re not just waking up every day, going `where’s the corner?’ We’re looking everywhere, and we’ve got a lot of time,” Beane said, via SI.com. “We don’t play games until September, so it’s my job to make sure we have the roster ready by then.”
“The money gets close, and you’re looking for the tiebreakers, whether that’s playing with Josh Allen, playing in front of Bills Mafia, I think it all weighs in.”
A look at how Buffalo has transformed into a destination for free agents:
The team’s diligence in looking for players has paid big dividends in the past. Beane recounted how the team had looked into a trade for wide receiver Stefon Diggs in 2019, but the Minnesota Vikings weren’t up for a deal. But after Diggs shared a tweet the next offseason that said it was “time for a new beginning,” Beane checked back with the Vikings and found them ready to make a deal for Diggs.
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