When I first heard about the salary cap explosion, I instantly thought about some of the wide receivers that will likely be available in free agency. I thought about guys like Michael Pittman or Mike Evans. According to spotrac.com, these two have a projected market value of over $22 million per year. Typically spotrac's market value projections are higher than what they come in at when they sign a deal but it's still a jumping-off point.
But, after letting my initial emotions subside a bit, I started thinking a bit more logically. Sure, Brandon Beane could probably go out there and throw that extra $13 million at one player but is that the best? I don't think so. In my opinion, the best move is to use the extra money to re-sign some of their free agents. Familiarity with the coaches, schemes, and players is important. I also, don't think the team should simply spend all of the extra money. I would prefer the team not restructure either of Stefon Diggs or Von Miller's contracts. Doing so only pushes the money down the road, the team still has to pay it, and they are simply deciding to pay it later.
A recent post on X said it best, "....I'd clarify this in any given year (typically) the cap is extremely flexible. But each time you press the flex button, you reduce the capacity of the button the following year(s)." The Bills have a few massive contracts, two of which include Diggs and Miller. Neither player is getting younger and both gave us reasons for concern last season, especially Miller. The sooner the Bills can begin to reduce their cap hit, the better off the team will be in the long term. Restructuring them now, just moves that money to future years, potentially making it harder to move on from them if necessary.
Instead, I think the best option is to re-sign a few of our own that maybe wasn't possible under the initial salary cap projection of $242 million. With the record-breaking increase to $255 million, the Bills have an opportunity to keep some continuity and bring a few guys back for the 2024 season. Here are my three players that may not have been possible initially, that Buffalo needs to bring back.