Von Miller's six-year contract with the Buffalo Bills can best be viewed as "three years, then we'll see."
The website Pro Football Talk was first to report the details of Miller's deal, which includes a signing bonus of $18.525 million and a base salary of $1.12 million in 2022, along with per-game roster bonuses of up to $255,000 and a workout bonus of $100,000, bringing his take-home pay in the first year of the deal to potentially $20 million. The per-game roster bonuses and workout bonus are present in every year of the deal.
Most importantly for the Bills, however, is that Miller's salary cap charge in the first year of the contract is just $5.1 million, the total of his base salary, his roster and workout bonuses and $3.705 of his signing bonus, which is prorated over the maximum five years.Â
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In the second year of Miller's deal, he will receive a base salary of $1.3 million and a roster bonus of $13.345 million, bringing his cap hit to $18.705 million. The purpose of the big roster bonus in the second year is flexibility in regards to the salary cap. If the Bills turned that roster bonus into a signing bonus, it would prorate over five years, dropping Miller's cap hit in 2023 to $8.029 million. Assuming that restructure is made, Miller's cap hits for the remainder of the contract would look like this: 2024-$23.874 million, 2025-$23.874 million ($15.417 million in "dead money against the cap if released after the 2024 season), 2026-$26.374 million ($9.043 million in dead money), 2027-$32.669 million ($2.669 million in dead money).
In 2024, Miller's base salary jumps to $17.145 million, of which $10.71 million is fully guaranteed at signing. The rest fully guarantees in March of that year.
Barring the conversion of Miller's roster bonus in 2023, his cap hit in 2024 is scheduled to be $21.825 million.Â
Miller is fully guaranteed $45 million at signing, the total of his signing bonus, his base salaries in 2022 and 2023, his 2023 roster bonus and the $10.71 million of his 2024 base salary. Provided the remaining $6.435 million of Miller's 2024 base salary guarantees in March 2024, he'll bring home at least $51.435 million, with the potential to push that total to more than $52 million if he hits his per-game roster and workout bonuses.
The first real "out" for the Bills comes after the 2024 season. At that point, all guaranteed money will have been paid.
Barring any kind of restructure, if the Bills released Miller after the 2024 season, he'd count $7.41 million against the 2025 salary cap. Of course, if he's still playing at a high level, his scheduled cap hit of $21.205 million might be manageable, especially if the cap significantly grows.Â
If the Bills released Miller after the 2025 season, he would count $3.705 million against the 2026 cap. If he were released after the 2026 season, there would be no "dead money" on the 2027 cap.Â
At present, the final two years of Miller's contract include cap hits of $23.705 million and $30 million, respectively. The chances of him making that far into the contract – without it being significantly reworked – are very unlikely.
