The Buffalo Bills have one of the best front offices in the NFL led by general manager Brandon Beane. That case can be made for a number of reasons from the way they have navigated the NFL Draft to finding bargains in free agency and making timely trades.
While it is important to add the best players, general managers and front offices must keep in mind the salary cap. This limits how much teams can spend and the teams that navigate this the best are usually the teams that are the most successful on the field.
This is probably the one area in which Brandon Beane really stands out as the Bills have agreed to some big contracts that look like bargains only a few years later. When looking at the Bills’ roster, these are the five best contracts, not including rookie contracts, based on the average annual salary and how it ranks at the position.
*All salary information courtesy of Spotrac.com
What are the best contracts on the Buffalo Bills roster for the 2022 season?
Jamison Crowder
Avg. Annual Salary: $2 million
Rank among wide receivers: 87th
The first player is one that hasn’t even played a snap yet for the Buffalo Bills but is one of the best contracts the team has. The Bills signed Crowder to a one-year deal worth $2 million and he is now expected to step in as the starting slot receiver and replace Cole Beasley.
If Crowder does replace Beasley, he will be replacing a player who has had over 100 targets in all three seasons with Buffalo and over 80 receptions the past two. At this salary, if Crowder is able to match that production, he will be one of the biggest bargains on the roster and the best contracts for the Buffalo Bills.
Josh Allen
Avg. Annual Salary: $43,005,667
Rank among quarterbacks: 5th
Last offseason, the Buffalo Bills agreed to a six-year extension worth over $258 million, and with that is an average annual salary of over $43 million. At the time, this average annual salary was the second-highest total among quarterbacks, behind only Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The contract seemed like a risk as Josh Allen was coming off an excellent season but he had only one season at that level that helped him finish second in the MVP voting for the 2020 season. However, this past season Josh Allen validated that trust in him with another excellent season.
What happened this offseason is what makes this one of the best contracts the Buffalo Bills have as Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson and recently Kyler Murray have all signed new contracts that give them higher average annual salaries.
While the contract for Josh Allen is a large percentage of the salary cap, it is one of the best contracts for the Buffalo Bills. The potential contracts for Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson over the next year likely will bump Josh Allen out of the Top 5 in this category and he will look like more of a bargain with each new contract.
Tre’Davious White
Avg. Annual Salary: $17,250,000
Rank among cornerbacks: 7th
The year prior to the Buffalo Bills agreeing to an extension with Josh Allen, they were able to reach a new deal with Tre’Davious White. The contract extension was a four-year deal worth $69 million and at the time it was the highest average annual salary at cornerback.
However, that was short-lived as less than a week later the Rams and Jalen Ramsey would agree to a new contract that surpassed White’s new deal. Since that time, there have been a number of contracts that have been signed that moves the average annual salary down to seventh among cornerbacks.
This is another example of the Buffalo Bills working out a new deal at exactly the right time and as time has gone on it has looked better and better. While Tre’Davious White is coming off a year that was cut short due to a torn ACL, he has shown to be one of the top cornerbacks in the league and certainly has out-produced this contract.
Dion Dawkins
Avg. Annual Salary: $14,575,000
Rank among left tackles: 14th
A month prior to Tre’Davious White’s extension, the Buffalo Bills were able to agree to a long-term deal with their starting left tackle Dion Dawkins. He was entering the final year of his rookie deal at the time and agreed to a four-year extension worth $58.3 million.
The left tackle is one of the most important positions on the roster as it protects the blindside of the quarterback. Over the years, Dawkins was a steady presence at the position after taking over for Cordy Glenn as a rookie in 2017.
Since that season, Dawkins has only missed one game over the past four years.
This past season was arguably one of his best as he was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time. Dawkins’ current deal runs through the 2024 season but he is a player who could be in line for a new deal after this season or after 2023.
When that time comes, he likely will receive a bigger contract but for now, this is one of the best contracts for the Buffalo Bills.
Matt Milano
Avg. Annual Salary: $10,375,000
Rank among outside linebackers: 21st
The final player is Matt Milano and similar to some of the other contract extensions, there was some risk in offering Milano the contract that the Buffalo Bills did.
He had been a starting linebacker for most of the past three seasons but was coming off a year where he missed a majority of the season due to injuries. This had been an issue for Milano in the past as he only appeared in every regular season game was only as a rookie in 2017.
However, the Bills were able to reach a new deal with Milano right before free agency last offseason. It was a smart move because Matt Milano had one of the best years of his career this past season with 86 total tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, three sacks, and five passes defended.
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Milano is one of the best coverage linebackers in the NFL and a big part of the Buffalo Bills’ defense, which ranked first in a number of categories last year. As only the 21st highest paid outside linebacker, this makes him one of the best contracts for the team.