Buffalo Bills: Brandon Beane will get creative after new salary cap set

The good news is, the NFL salary cap rose to $224.8 million for the 2023 season, which is an increase of $16.6 million from a year ago.

Even though the cap continues to rise, though, the Buffalo Bills are still in a tough spot.

The Bills are currently $19.6 million above the salary cap, according to Over The Cap. Now, on the plus side of things, Buffalo is one of 14 teams that is over. So, even before free agency officially kicks off in March, there is going to be a ton of movement around the league.

Whether it’s cutting ties with certain players or restructuring, general manager Brandon Beane knows he is going to have to make this work, some way, some how.

“We’re going to have to be creative,” Beane told the media recently.

The Buffalo Bills are going to have to be more creative than most teams when it comes to the salary cap in 2023

Beane has a lot in front of him right now. In the immediate future, he has to figure out whether or not the Bills can keep their top two free agents, both on the defensive side of the ball. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and safety Jordan Poyer are both entering free agency, and it’s safe to say the Bills absolutely need to figure out a way to keep them.

“I got no idea. Would love to keep them all, and we’ll do our best,” Beane said in reference to Edmunds and Poyer.

Beane also has to work around the massive contract of Josh Allen which kicks in during the new league year. Allen begins the first of a six-year, $258 million contract. This season, he’ll count over $39 million against the cap, and it only goes up from there.

Whatever Beane chooses to do, he has to understand that this team’s window is as good as it will ever be right now.