Buffalo Bills agree to a new contract with Siran Neal, who is a key part of their special teams
The start of the new league year is quickly approaching with only a few weeks left but the Buffalo Bills are busy before the start of the free agency trying to bring back some of their players from last year. One of the first players was linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who agreed to a new deal last week, and on Wednesday the team announced a new three-year deal with defensive back Siran Neal.
Neal was a fifth round pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2018 and originally was a safety coming out of college. He has moved around a bit over the past few years, playing both outside cornerback and inside at the slot position.
On defense, he probably fits best as a big nickel and as a good depth player for the position as a whole. However, where he contributes the most is on special teams.
Buffalo Bills made Siran Neal reportedly the highest-paid special teams player in the NFL
According to Ryan Talbot, the three-year contract for Neal makes him the highest-paid special teams player in the NFL. It was reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that the deal is worth a maximum of $10.9 million.
Siran Neal’s new deal with the #Bills makes him the highest paid special teams player in the league. Well deserved, based upon his play.
— Ryan Talbot (@RyanTalbotBills) February 23, 2022
Buffalo is also going to try and get Neal more involved in defensive packages and roles, per source. This was important to Neal. #BillsMafia
This is certainly a big contract for a player who primarily plays special teams however Talbot indicates that Buffalo may envision his role growing in the coming years. He tweeted that the goal is to try and have Neal involved more on defense. This likely would be as that big nickel as previously mentioned.
In the past three seasons, Neal has played between 11% and 18% of the defensive snaps so it will be interesting to see just how much more he plays moving forward.