TRADE ALERT: Bills has landed with the quarter back to Clear Cap Space worth $150million
Fans will witness firsthand that the cap is real when the Buffalo Bills navigate the muddy waters of the 2024 offseason. Although it is flexible and occasionally avoidable, Buffalo’s ageing and pricey roster has real consequences.
The contracts of a number of veterans, including safety Micah Hyde and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, were terminated by the Bills on Monday. They will also miss out on edge rushers Leonard Floyd and A.J. Epenesa, which will severely hurt their pass rush, which lacked a real weapon.
The unit shouldn’t be without a superstar, given the six-year, $120 million contract handed to edge rusher Von Miller but that ship has sailed.
Buffalo had anticipated that Miller’s ACL surgery would yield better results, but it didn’t. He was dreadfully inefficient, and although that can be expected considering his prompt comeback, he didn’t do any better towards the end (at least not until the playoffs).
In his 12 games during the regular season, he only found 13 pressures and did not register a sack. His failed tackle on Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon was a major factor in Buffalo’s problems throughout the middle of the season.
With the Bills’ backs against the cap wall, his deal is probably going to get some scrutiny this summer. That isn’t very simple to escape, though.
Removing Miller—possibly with a designation made after June 1st—would generate over $17 million in dead cap and less than $7 million in proceeds. Restructuring is possible to some extent, but eventually payment for the paper is required.
Also, there have been rumours of a deal. It would be best to trade Miller with a post-June 1 designation, which would result in savings of over $17 million and the elimination of $6.374 million in dead money. However, it takes two to deal, and it’s not exactly selling well to shop a 35-year-old edge rusher who just finished a terrible season.
If anything, teams give up actual draft capital to avoid contracts like Miller’s. The Houston Texans sold quarterback Brock Osweiler, a second-round pick, and a sixth-round pick for a fourth-round selection, which is arguably the most famous example of this move.
Similar to how Miller’s contract is currently developing, the Osweiler contract blew up in Houston’s face.
A trade seems improbable right now, and Buffalo is in a position to forfeit better draft capital than the pick they would obtain in order to get out of the transaction. Put simply, win-now strategies might backfire when contracts don’t work out.
The Bills are being actively harmed by the Miller contract, but as optimistic offseason conjectures might imply, there isn’t much hope left.
