The Bills Are Getting A Unique Opportunity To Retool This Offseason
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
You don’t often hear the words “Buffalo” and “retool” in the same sentence, at least not since the Buffalo Bills became perennial Super Bowl contenders over the past half-decade or so. Having said that, general manager Brandon Beane finds himself in a precarious situation that he must navigate to keep the Bills’ window open for the foreseeable future. Josh Allen may be in the middle of his prime, but certain parts of this team may need a refresh on the fly.
For starters, the average age of Buffalo’s roster, weighted by snaps, is 27.2 years old, which is the 10th-oldest in the NFL. Veterans like Matt Milano, DaQuan Jones, and Curtis Samuel have shown signs of age and are getting overpaid, relative to their production and snap count. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make sense for Buffalo to outright cut any of those guys because of the financial implications of doing so. Still, Beane needs to find a way to trim the excess fat on this roster in some capacity.
Not only are the Bills lacking in cap space, they have negative money. Buffalo ranks 29th in effective cap space, sitting $17,293,068 above the salary cap limit. Fortunately for Beane and Company, this is the perfect year to rebalance the books, and quickly retool by getting younger and cheaper in just one offseason. The Bills are armed with 10 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. It’s rare for a contender like Buffalo to have an abundance of draft capital, and Buffalo simply has to take advantage of it.
Joe Buscaglia from The Athletic wrote an article about how the Buffalo Bills can clear up cap space in 2025. The Bills’ primary way of becoming cap compliant will be converting high base salaries for the 2025 season into prorated signing bonuses spread out through multiple years. Restructuring the 2025 base salaries of Josh Allen (currently $14 million), Dion Dawkins ($11.1 million), and Ed Oliver ($13.75M) could provide the Bills $29.8 million dollars in cap relief this offseason.
Additionally, Buffalo can save another $13 million by restructuring the contracts of Dawson Knox, Connor McGovern, and Taron Johnson. In total, the Bills could save nearly $40.96 million in 2025 simply by converting base salaries into signing bonuses. That would leave the Bills with $23,666,932 in effective cap space, which already takes into account the money required to sign all ten draft picks to rookie deals. $23 million would be enough to make a run at a premium edge rusher like Trey Hendrickson, or Myles Garrett if the Cleveland Browns decide they’re willing to trade Garrett.
However, the $23 million in cap space doesn’t factor in any re-signings, so if the Bills want to make a big swing for an impact player, they may need to let some pending free agents walk. That includes Rasul Douglas, Mack Hollins, Ty Johnson, and Damar Hamlin. If the Bills want to re-sign one of those guys without dipping into their cash pool, they could save another $8.3 million if they cut Von Miller and use those funds to extend one of those guys.
Even in the event all of those players sign elsewhere, Buffalo can use the draft to help fill the void left by their outgoing free agents. Buffalo’s biggest positions of need are (currently) defensive tackle, edge rusher, inside linebacker, cornerback, safety, and potentially running back, if James Cook doesn’t get the $15 million AAV contract he wants in the not-so-distant future.
That’s gonna be a no for me dawg…
Stated on the pod, I think James Cook holds out of training camp this year, he’s not gonna want to play out that rookie deal. I’d do 3/$36 if the last year of the deal was easy to get out of. https://t.co/ipUyvQinZv pic.twitter.com/GgxfnozdrA
— Air Raid | Buffalo (@TheBillsGuys) February 12, 2025
Some strong fits for the Bills include Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, a stout run defender with some pass rush juice, Alabama inside linebacker Jihaad Campbell, Georgia safety Malaki Starks, who offers plenty of positional versatility, Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison, and Marshall edge rusher Mike Green, who was a standout pass rusher at this year’s Senior Bowl. Using Pro Football Focus’ mock draft simulator to see what a retool could look like, we can see something like this.
#Bills Mock:
● Draft Tyleik Williams and Aeneas Peebles to improve run defense
● Select Nohl Williams, replacing Rasul Douglas
● Draft 2 safeties to fortify secondary if Damar Hamlin leaves (why not?)
● Add 2 bowl game studs in Efton Chism and Marcus Yarns for depth. pic.twitter.com/3p6ZX5dKbP
— 𝙩𝙮𝙡𝙚𝙧 (@TylerTalksBall) February 12, 2025
Buffalo’s biggest priority should be to shore up their run defense, so two defensive tackles in Williams and Aeneas Peebles within the first four rounds is appropriate. California’s Nohl Williams was a standout at the East-West Shrine Bowl, and he’s a tall lanky cornerback who plays with a lot of discipline, so he seems like the sort of guy Sean McDermott would like on the outside opposite of Christian Benford. Two safeties are also highly desirable if Hamlin leaves, so Sebastian Castro goes off the board in Round 2 to be a Day One starter, and Malachi Moore gets to be a late-round flyer.
Other notable mock draft picks include inside linebacker Chris Paul Jr. (no relation), potential Cook replacement Marcus Yarns, and Shrine Bowl standout receiver Efton Chism III. Take the mock draft with a grain of salt, but the main point here is that this offseason is likely the Bills’ best opportunity to quickly retool an aging roster while they have a bounty of draft capital and a little bit of cap flexibility.
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