The NFL has two different salary cap benefits that allow teams to retain veteran players while minimizing their impact against the team’s cap: the Veteran Salary Benefit (VSB) and the Four-Year Qualifying Contract (4YQC). In 2025, the [Buffalo Bills](https://www.buffalorumblings.com/) have made smart use of both in order to sign three players to the roster.
Let’s break down what each benefit entails — and how they were applied to Damar Hamlin, Laviska Shenault Jr., and Darrick Forrest.
NFL Veteran Salary Benefit (VSB)
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The VSB allows a team to sign a veteran (any player with four or more credited seasons) to a one-year deal at the minimum base salary for their accrued seasons, while including up to $167,500 in bonus money (signing bonus, roster bonus, or incentives). The benefit here is that the team’s salary cap hit is reduced to that of the amount of a second-year veteran. For Laviska Shenault and Darrick Forrest, that amount is $1,030,000, plus their bonuses.
### Laviska Shenault Jr.
* **Credited Seasons:** 5
* **Additional Comp:** $15,000 signing bonus + $25,000 workout bonus
* **Base Salary:** $1,170,000 (5-year vet minimum)
* **Cap Hit:** $1,070,000 (the 2025 minimum for a second-year player $1,030,000 + $40,000 in bonuses)
### Darrick Forrest
* **Credited Seasons:** 4
* **Bonus:** $167,500 maxed out under the VSB rules
* **Base Salary:** $1,170,000 (4-year vet minimum)
* **Cap Hit:** $1,197,500 (the 2025 minimum for a second-year player $1,030,000 + $167,500 in bonuses)
Four-Year Qualifying Contract (4YQC)
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4YQC rewards a team for retaining its talent. It can only be used on players who:
* Have 4+ credited seasons
* Spent all four of their most recent seasons with the same team
* Were on the 90-man roster for every regular and postseason game during that span (uninterrupted).
A team may only offer **two** 4YQC contracts per year for a total of $1.55 million. The contract must be a one-year deal, and the player can earn up to $1.55 million more than the veteran minimum in base salary. However, only the minimum base salary counts against the cap.
### Damar Hamlin
* **Credited Seasons:** 4 (last four must all be with the same team)
* **Signing Bonus:** $167,500
* **Base Salary:** $1,832,500
* **Total Cash Compensation:** $2 million (fully guaranteed)
* **Cap Hit:** $1,337,500 (The minimum $1,170,000 for a four- or five-year veteran plus the $167,500 bonus).
Under the 4YQC, the Bills have saved $662,500 with Hamlin. That means they can sign another qualifying contract and save up to another $887,500. It would not be surprising to learn they leveraged this benefit when re-signing Reggie Gilliam.