Buffalo Bills: 4 players they could cut to create cap space for J.J. Watt

Vernon Butler

The next player who would likely have to be released is defensive tackle Vernon Butler. The Buffalo Bills have good depth at the position and with the emergence of Justin Zimmer, combined with a potential return of Star Lotulelei, this makes Butler a likely candidate to release.

However, he isn’t the only defensive tackle the Bills could release as Quinton Jefferson could generate similar numbers in terms of cap savings. The reason that I picked Butler over Jefferson is that Jefferson is more of a pass rushing threat from the defensive tackle. This past season though to play a different role with Lotulelei sitting out and didn’t have the same impact.

If the Bills were to get Watt, combined with a return of Lotulelei, then Jefferson can return to being more of a pass rusher on the interior and could be in line for a bounce back year.

As for Vernon Butler, if the Bills were to release him, they would save $6.8 million while incurring only a dead cap penalty of $1 million.

Cap Savings: $6.8 million

Dead Cap: $1 million