The Buffalo Bills are desperately trying to free up as much cap space as possible in 2026 NFL free agency. Of course, they need to be cap compliant by today, but they also need to have enough money to sign free agents and their 2026 NFL Draft class.
It was reported early this morning that quarterback Josh Allen had taken a massive pay cut, freeing up $40 million in cap space. This was met, of course, with great praise for the Bills quarterback.
However, it was not true. He did not take a pay cut. Buffalo did, though, restructure his contract.
The Buffalo Bills have restructured the contract of quarterback Josh Allen
Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen, NFL
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen keeps the ball and gets about five yards on the play during first half action at Empower FIeld at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 17, 2026.
Initially, NFL insider Field Yates reported that the Bills had freed up $40 million by restructuring Allen’s contract. However, due to NFL contract rules, it was pointed out that, in order for that much space to be created, the Bills quarterback had to have taken a pay cut:
Josh Allen likely took a pay cut to aid the Bills’ salary cap situation
That’s what QB1s do https://t.co/bjLenRnfhM
— alex brasky (@alexbrasky) March 11, 2026
However, Yates later admitted that he had made a mistake, and that Buffalo and simply restructured the contract and Allen had not taken a pay cut:
Corrected number: the Bills restructured the contract of Josh Allen, creating $12M of 2026 salary cap space.
(I previously did not account for another portion of his 2026 cap number. And notably got a C- in algebra growing up. Apologies for this.)
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 11, 2026
So, instead of $40 million, the Bills created $12 million of salary cap space by restructuring Allen’s deal. That, of course, is a significant difference.
Still, every penny counts and Buffalo is in a much better position in terms of their salary cap than they were going into today.
With this savings, they can now focus on trying to find Allen some more help on offense. Additionally, they should get new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard some quality players on defense. The Bills missed out on Trey Hendrickson, who signed with the Baltimore Ravens this morning, so they will need to pivot to other NFL free agents.
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