The Buffalo Bills have made a series of moves to both get under the 2026 salary cap and agreed to signings and trades that will add to their cap load. Let’s recap everything they’ve done and assess where they are heading into the league year Wednesday.
The Bills entered the offseason projected to be $9 million or so over the salary cap according to Spotrac, a national sports contract website. Then they re-signed Alec Anderson and Phadarian Mathis to low-level contracts, which doesn’t impact the top 51 contracts by much.
Buffalo Bills cut several players to shed cap commitments
In March, the Bills released several players with bloated contracts. WR Curtis Samuel ($6 million), Taylor Rapp ($3 million), and Dane Jackson ($1.2 million) were all released. If you add the totals up, it’s $10.2 million but those players were replaced in the top 51 contracts with players making $1 million each, so it’s a total savings of $7.2 million at this point. As the Bills add players, those $1 million rostered players will drop back out of the top 51, so we’ll just use the full amount.
The Bills also traded Taron Johnson, clearing $1.9 million in cap space
Added $12.1 million in cap space
Tyler Bass and Dawson Knox take pay cuts
Another move to create cap space was to actually lower what they were paying to two veterans in Tyler Bass and Dawson Knox. We know the numbers for Bass, who is making $1.5 million less in 2026. We don’t have numbers yet for Knox, but it is incredibly likely that part of his new contract was lowering his very high cost in 2026.
It’s safe to assume Knox’s number will go down by at least $3 million, and likely to be in the $4 to $6 million in cap savings range in 2026.
Added $4.6 to $7.5 million in cap space
Bills restructures create cap space
The biggest move the Bills have done this offseason to create cap space was move $15 million of Josh Allen’s salary into a bonus, pushing $12 million into future years. They pulled that lever Wednesday morning.
The Bills also used restructures with Ed Oliver, clearing $10.25 million, and Spencer Brown, creating $10.4 million in space.
Added $32.65 million in 2026 cap space
Buffalo Bills cap savings so far
When you total up the restructures, roster cuts, trade, and pay cuts, the Bills created $49.5 to $52.5 million in cap space, pushing some into the future and shedding some completely.
That would seem to give the Bills somewhere between $40 million and $43 million in cap space heading into free agency BUT they also signed a big contract before the league year starts. Since he was under contract, the Bills don’t need to wait for the new league year to execute the deal.
Connor McGovern’s new deal taps into Bills cap space
McGovern signed a four-year deal for $52 million for an average of $13 million per season. Assuming that the first season will be higher in cash outlay due to signing bonus, you can probably assume his 2026 cap hit is going to be around $6 to $7 million. Since McGovern was going to be a free agent, that is off the top.
We can say the same for Mitch Wishnowsky’s deal, but it’s going to be much smaller and have a smaller cap hit.
Subtracts $6 to $7 million in 2026 cap space
Buffalo Bills cap space heading into the 2026 league year
If you take the Bills $40 to $43 million in cap space and subtract the $6 to $7 million from the Connor MvGovern contract, the Bills sit somewhere between $33 million and $37 million in available cap space entering the 2026 league year at noon.
The DJ Moore trade can now become official and count against the cap
The Buffalo Bills have created enough cap space to trade for DJ Moore. His current cap hit is $24.5 million and they need to fit that number under their cap before they can restructure it to lower the number.
Subtracts $24.5 million in 2026 cap space
Once they complete the trade, they will restructure the move. I think the Bills should do it over four years instead of adding a void year due to Moore’s age. That would spread $22.185 million over four years, saving $16.6 million in 2026 cap space. If they add the void year, it would push $17.75 million so they might just add the void year anyway. We are using round numbers here, so let us split the difference.
Adds $17 million in 2026 cap space
What cap space do the Bills have to add free agents
When all is said and done then, the Bills will have in the neighborhood of $25.5 to $29.5 million to sign free agents. Please remember that will include both the deals that were agreed to this week during the tampering period.
CB Dee Alford ($3.23 million cap hit in 2026)
QB Kyle Allen ($1.9 million cap hit in 2026)
After accounting for that combined $5 million in cap space, the Bills still have plenty of room to be players in 2026 if they want.
Buffalo Bills have roughly $20 to $25 million in cap space
What can the Bills do to create more cap space in 2026?
They can also add more cap space by restructuring the contract of Dion Dawkins. I would personally rather they leave the contract alone to give themselves more flexibility in 2027.
If they restructure the max amount for Dawkins, they can add $11 million in cap space for 2026.
Adding that $11 million in dead cap to his current 2027 dead cap number, his cap hit would be $25 million if he was on the team and $25 million if he was cut. So they wouldn’t be able to open cap space by releasing him if he declines.