The Buffalo Bills and general manager Brandon Beane are working hard to reduce surplus salary in order to meet the salary cap by this time next week. It has been a hectic day at One Bills Drive.
The most recent report that the Bills and edge rusher Von Miller have reached an agreement on a renegotiated contract that reduces Miller’s cap charge in half adds to the staggering number of player releases, many of whom were significant starters from the previous campaign. Miller has essentially taken a wage reduction, which he can recoup by meeting particular targets. So what precisely did Miller and his group agree to?

“(t)he deal has a base value of $8.855M in 2024, with the chance to make up to $20M with incentives (up from $17.5M under the old terms),” according to Field Yates, who broke the main news first. “(t)he move saves Buffalo $8.645M in 2024 salary cap space,” Yates continued.

The renegotiated agreement benefits Buffalo’s cap situation above everything else, but it’s hard not to question if Miller will use it as motivation to get back on track after a nearly silent 2023 campaign. Miller thought he would be out for a few weeks when he suffered an ACL injury during the Bills’ Thanksgiving Day 2022 game against the Detroit Lions. Weeks later, he received news that would terminate his season, and months later, he had to recuperate from ACL surgery.

Miller looked completely different when he returned in Week 5 of the previous season for the team’s “home” game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. It was obvious that he was still having trouble getting back to his pre-injury level. Later in the season, Miller would miss an additional game to recuperate from an apparent ongoing injury that was impeding his rehabilitation. Positively, he appeared to be making a comeback during the team’s two postseason games in January of last year.

The Buffalo Bills still need to make a few more moves to bring their compensation below the $255.4 million salary cap per team in 2024, but today’s flurry of cash-based movements cleared much of their surplus.