Buffalo Bills should extend, not cut, Nyheim Hines in 2023 offseason

The Buffalo Bills are going to have to make a number of moves prior to the start of the new league in mid-March to get under the salary cap. According to Spotrac, the Bills currently are almost $19 million over the salary cap for the 2023 season.

One potential cut candidate for the Buffalo Bills is running back Nyheim Hines, who has two years left on his current contract with cap hits of $4.79 million in 2023 and $5.481 million in 2024. However, none of that is guaranteed so if the Bills were to cut him that would result in some decent cap savings with no dead salary.

Buffalo Bills have another option to create cap space with Nyheim Hines

While releasing Nyheim Hines would create the most cap space, it creates another hole that general manager Brandon Beane would need to address this offseason. The team already has Devin Singletary set to be a free agent and releasing Hines not only hurts the depth at running back but the team loses their best returner from last season.

In the nine games with the Bills, Hines had 35 total returns (19 kickoff returns and 16 punt returns) with an average of 29.2 yards per kickoff return and 9.6 yards per punt return. He also had two kickoff returns for touchdowns against the New England Patriots.

A better option for the Buffalo Bills, and Nyheim Hines, might be to try and work out a new contract that could lower his cap hit for this season and keep the pass-catching running back in Western New York longer.

The Buffalo Bills traded a conditional sixth round pick during the season and The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia reported that the pick turned into a fifth round pick. When considering the team traded a draft pick just a few months ago, it doesn’t make sense for the team to cut Nyheim Hines even with the cap savings.

The focus should be working on an extension that gives the team a long-term answer for their punt and kickoff returns as well as a playmaker for Josh Allen.