The Path With Rasul Douglas Should Be Obvious
Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
The Buffalo Bills have a lot of tough decisions to make this offseason. With this team being one of the tops in the league, every move could be a Lombardi Trophy-winning stroke of genius or a would-be dynasty-derailing mistake. Pair that with the Bills’ projected negative-$17 million in cap space, and Buffalo is truly walking a tightrope this offseason.
But one decision that shouldn’t take a lot of thought is slapping that franchise tag on Rasul Douglas. Yes, signing Douglas to the exclusive franchise tag will cost the Bills a little over $20 million, which is a bit of a sticker shock for a team that is currently in the hole in terms of cap space. Yes, Douglas turns 31 in August, meaning Buffalo would be playing chicken with Father Time. But it’s still the right move. Let’s break down why.
The Bills need cornerback help this season, meaning that letting Douglas walk is a huge risk in itself. What happens if the Bills let him leave, they miss out on a top-tier cornerback, and they can’t find his replacement in the draft?
To start, it might force the Bills to pay more to Damar Hamlin than they want, which would not be the best decision. Don’t get me wrong, Hamlin returning to Buffalo would be a nice move, but it has to be at the right price. It also means that they would have to continue running out Kaiir Elam, their 2022 first-round pick, who probably should just be released now. I don’t know how many more Sundays I can take of Tweets of watching Elam getting burned on the regular.
Feel like CBS just kind of bullied Kaiir Elam by spotlighting this play where his guy didn’t even get targeted. Mean. pic.twitter.com/dgyZn5hFbK
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) January 27, 2025
Douglas wasn’t a shutdown corner like Christian Benford, but he was solid-to-very-good as Buffalo’s second cornerback. He did allow four touchdowns in 2025, which is a little more than he probably wanted, but for about 95% of his snaps, he still looked like an upper-echelon cornerback. Yes, of course, the Bills could find someone like Kendall Fuller or Jourdan Lewis for a cheaper price, but how much do you want to risk coming up empty? Letting Douglas even get to free agency is a big gamble.
$20 million for one year is a lot of money, but it’s still better than giving Douglas a long-term deal. According to Spotrac, such a contract is projected to come in at over $35 million for three years. That is an extra $15 million that the Bills would have locked in over the following two years, and the cap probably isn’t going to get easier to manage from here.
Besides, if there is already a concern that Douglas might be taking a step back, Buffalo shouldn’t want to commit to him for three years. He’d start a three-year deal at 31, and by age-33, who knows how steep the drop-off might be. Besides, while the projection on a three-year pact is for $35 million the contract could end up being more. There have been many rumors about Douglas ending up with the Green Bay Packers if he hits the open market, and they might have to pay top-dollar to pry him away.
There is also the problem that the Bills will need to pay Benford, and locking up two cornerbacks with long-term deals probably isn’t the wisest decision. The Super Bowl window will be open as long as Josh Allen is the quarterback, but how big of a crack are we talking about? Bad long-term contracts could start to close the window.
So, what’s the best-case scenario? For the Bills, it’s bringing back Douglas for the year, watching him have a great season, but also drafting a cornerback with one (or more) of their 10 draft picks to develop for 2026 and beyond. They then would be able to go into next offseason and be in a much stronger position to let Douglas walk.
Even if Douglas struggles in 2025, franchising him limits the damage to one season, hopefully, with a top-end cornerback prospect to ease into the lineup as the year goes on. Is there risk involved? Absolutely. When you’re paying Josh Allen $258 million over six years, you have to be careful with the money. But the Bills also have to build the best roster they can for 2025, and they can’t do that while scrambling at cornerback. It might not be popular to say $20 million isn’t too much, but Douglas still has the talent to thrive in Buffalo, and locking him in with the franchise tag is a risk worth taking.
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