General manager Brandon Beane typically does a solid job at negotiating contracts that are team-friendly without destroying the cap. Remember, I said typically not always. Even though Beane has done a great job for the most part, he has clearly had some big misses with contracts.
The biggest one that we can all remember was the Von Miller contract, where Miller was offered a six-year, $120 million deal. That clearly didn’t pan out for Miller and the Bills as Miller tore his ACL in his first season with the team, and was highly unproductive his second year. Overall, in just three seasons in Buffalo, he had 1.5 years of decent production.
The good news is that Beane doesn’t typically hand out contracts like that but there are still some questionable ones that he and a player agree on. One of those players is entering his second season with the Bills after a majorly disappointing 2024 season.
WR Curtis Samuel's contract is the Bills' worst heading into 2025 season
Last offseason, the Bills signed Curtis Samuel to a three-year, $24 million deal as he came to Buffalo from Washington (and he also played in Carolina under Bills’ OC Joe Brady). I understand that Samuel was dealing with injuries last season, but for him to only put up 253 receiving yards and one touchdown in the regular season is completely unacceptable.
You also have to consider the fact that the Bills’ offense didn’t have a true No. 1 receiver going into last year so that gave Samuel a chance to make a big impact right from the beginning. Now, I would consider him the WR4 or WR5 going into this season just based on what’s happened this past offseason.
According to Spotrac, Samuel’s cap hit is over $9 million (8th highest on the roster) and his dead cap hit is over $12 million. Long story short, the Bills are stuck with this contract for atleast one more season with the potential to get out of it next year (if Samuel once again disappoints).
Now you could make the argument that tight end Dawson Knox has the worst contract on the Bills, seeing as how his cap hit is at $14.5 million despite not being the full-time starting tight end. At the same time, Knox has great chemistry with the roster and his ability to serve as a run-blocker gives him a little bit of versatility as a player. However, there is a strong argument to make him, not Samuel, as having the worst contact.
At the same time, Knox is a fan-favorite and is one of Josh Allen’s closest friends. Samuel on the other hand heavily struggled in his first year and failed to make any sort of impact. His second year in Buffalo could be a crucial one that determines if he plays out his contract in Buffalo that is set to run through the 2026 season.