Bills punter Matt Haack agrees to pay cut as part of new contract

As part of the new deal, Haack's cap number for 2022 will drop from $1.9 million to $1.485 million, and the final year of the deal in 2023 has been voided, meaning Haack will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Perhaps most significant, however, is the removal of a stipulation that guaranteed $1 million of Haack's 2022 base salary on Friday. That gives the Bills flexibility to find a new punter this offseason if they choose. General Manager Brandon Beane said at the end of the 2021 season that Haack struggled at times during his first season with the team.

"Inconsistent year," Beane said of Haack at his end-of-season news conference. "You know, he just had his ups and downs. Matt’s a great kid, worked hard, really did, it just, it didn’t always translate. I know he had the one really bad game. Nobody felt it worse than him. Matt works super hard. Great teammate, all that stuff."

Beane said part of the reason the Bills didn't make a change at punter during the season is because of the chemistry Haack had with kicker Tyler Bass. 

"He had a heck of a year," Beane said of Bass. "If people had to kick in the elements that he kicked in and did some really good things – his numbers would be better if he wasn’t necessarily playing here. Matt was a big part of that. Matt has great, soft hands, sets it down, no issues. That doesn’t get talked about, people don’t realize that, but that’s huge in that operation to do that. I didn't want to mess with Tyler and Reid (Ferguson) and Matt, that cohesion, the three of them. Tyler was having too good a year to mess with that. Will I look at it in the offseason? Yes."

According to contracts website spotrac.com, the Bills have a little less than $1 million in cap space available with 51 players on their active roster ahead of the official start of the NFL's new league year, which comes at 4 p.m. Wednesday.