The Buffalo Bills will need to free up some room under the salary cap within the next week.
Appearing Tuesday morning on WGR-550 AM, General Manager Brandon Beane said his team is currently about $6.6 million over the cap, which for the Bills in 2022 is $213.844 million.
“I need a loan,” Beane joked. “We’re in the red right now. … I wish I had more room, but this is where we’re at.
“We’ve got some moves we’ve got to get done between now and next week. We’ve got some ideas. We’ve had conversations. We’ll get there in time. You have to, so we’ll get that done. … We’ve got work to do, as a lot of teams do. The cap went up this year, but we’re still catching up. It should have been in the 220s if we hadn’t had the setback with Covid.”
Later Tuesday, the Bills made the first move, releasing veteran linebacker A.J. Klein. That saves $5.2 million against the cap. Klein, who was entering the final year of his contract, finished with 35 tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery during the 2021 season, playing 277 defensive snaps -- 29% of the team total. The bulk of his playing time came when either Tremaine Edmunds or Matt Milano were out of the lineup because of injury, as the Bills shifted to making their nickel defense with cornerback Taron Johnson in the slot their primary alignment.
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Klein, who turns 31 in July, will count just $400,000 against the 2022 salary cap in the form of dead money -- bonus money already paid to him that still has to be accounted for.
According to documents from the NFL Players’ Association, the Bills are listed at $4.356 million over the 2022 cap, one of 11 teams projected to be over their cap number, so Beane’s number must take into account internal figures not yet made public. Either way, more roster moves are coming.
One way the Bills can save money against the cap is by asking players to take pay cuts. That’s a delicate topic, Beane said.
“It’s a hard conversation. You’re talking about people’s money,” he said. “Sometimes, they didn’t have the year they wanted, or maybe it’s just the number is getting too high, and we know they want to stay. You treat it delicately. You’re honest – ‘Listen, we’d love to keep you here. We understand it’s your option to decline it.’ You just have to have a lot of respect and understanding. It’s a very sensitive conversation.”
Another way to save cap space is to either restructure or extend current contracts. Beane has been reluctant to restructure too many deals, because that kicks the can down the road and sets up future problems with the cap. When it comes to wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ contract, it’s been widely speculated he would be a prime candidate for an extension.
Diggs is under contract for two more seasons with cap hits of $17.917 million in 2022 and $18.05 million. An extension could lower this year’s number by spreading out guaranteed money.
“We’ll look at everything,” Beane said. “Guys that have higher cap numbers like that, you look at everything, whether it’s restructuring, adding years. … You can definitely know we’ll look at Stef’s contract at some point and see if there is something that makes sense for both sides, but we haven’t begun any conversations with him at this point.”
Other updates from Beane during his appearance:
• As reported last week by The Buffalo News, Beane confirmed the team will not use the franchise or transition tag on any of its upcoming free agents. The deadline to do so was Tuesday.
• As he said at his end-of-season news conference, Beane again confirmed the team plans to pick up the fifth-year option on defensive tackle Ed Oliver’s rookie contract. That move won’t be made official until closer to the May 2 deadline to do so. As for a possible extension for Oliver, Beane made it sound like nothing is imminent.
“We’ll definitely look at all that,” the GM said. “We’ll have to see where our finances are. I don’t anticipate anything getting done before we pick that up.”
• Beane didn’t close the door on a possible return by veteran receiver Cole Beasley, who sought and was granted permission to seek a trade last week. As for whether any teams have called, Beane wouldn't say. “I don’t really want to get into any conversations,” he said.
• The Bills still have not decided whether they will tender contract offers to restricted free agents Justin Zimmer and Ryan Bates. Zimmer’s case is complicated by the fact the defensive tackle is coming off a torn ACL. Beane said the team will need to get a more complete understanding of how his rehab is going before making a decision.
