While the Buffalo Bills are still going to look for ways to improve the roster for the 2024 season, this is now a time for the front office to evaluate the roster as a whole and look past the upcoming season. With the NFL Draft in the rearview and most of the top free agents signed, general manager Brandon Beane may want to start having discussions with some current players about contract extensions.
Over the past few years, the Bills have used this time wisely and been able to reach extensions with key players before the season including Ed Oliver, Josh Allen, and Tre'Davious White. While Allen and White didn't sign their deals closer to the season, the groundwork was laid during the summer.
These are four players on the Buffalo Bills who could get new contracts before the 2024 season.
Reid Ferguson
When discussing the best players on the Buffalo Bills at their position in the NFL, Reid Ferguson is often overlooked. That is because he can frequently be forgotten, which is a good thing for a long-snapper.
Ferguson is one of the best long-snappers in the NFL and it is tough to remember a bad snap he has had on either a punt or field goal attempt. There really aren't guarantees on the football field but he is almost as automatic as they come.
Reid Ferguson joined the Bills in 2016 as an undrafted free agent but was released before the season before returning to the practice squad in November of that year. He would return in 2017 and earn the long-snapper job and he has been the starter ever since and is now the longest-tenured player with the Bills currently on the roster.
Ferguson is entering the final year of his contract and it is hard to imagine the two sides not getting a deal done.
Rasul Douglas
The Buffalo Bills traded for Rasul Douglas during the season and the former Green Bay Packers cornerback was one of the best players on this defense down the stretch. He finished with four interceptions, eight passes defended and two fumble recoveries in nine regular season games.
Prior to free agency, the Bills restructured Douglas final year of his contract and converted it to a signing bonus then was able to spread that salary out over a few years in the form of void years. At this point, the Bills can keep the contract as is and essentially have dead cap over three seasons after 2024 or try to work out a new contract.
At only 28 years old, Douglas certainly is still in the prime of his career and could be a valuable piece to this secondary. However, the Bills typically have not given out big contracts to cornerbacks under Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane and there might be a big divide between the two sides.
While OTAs are voluntary to this point, it is worth noting that Rasul Douglas is one of the only players on the Bills roster who has not been at practice either week as noted by Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN in the first week and Sal Capaccio of WGR550 in the second. It will be interesting to see if this is contract-related and if it becomes an issue closer to the season.
Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown has had an up and down start to his career with the Buffalo Bills as he showed a lot of promise as a rookie with 10 starts but had to improve his pass protection. That unfortunately didn't happen in 2022 as Brown seemed to regress and struggled to provide consistency at right tackle.
It would appear that an offseason back surgery played a role in his performance because this past season Brown was great. He would start all 17 games at right tackle and took that next step forward many hoped he would his second season.
As a third round pick, he signed a four-year rookie contract so this year will be the final year of his current contract and he could be a free agent after the season. However, the Bills have made it a point to keep draft picks past their rookie contract in Buffalo when they have played well and Brown should fall into.
In my opinion, he has shown he can be a quality right tackle in the NFL and even if he has really only one year playing at that level, the Bills are not afraid to extend players when they believe they can continue that play. A perfect example of this is Ed Oliver, who was very inconsistent but that didn't stop the Bills from extending him last offseason and Oliver went on to have the best season of his career.
Greg Rousseau
The final player who might get a contract extension from the Buffalo Bills this summer actually has two years left on his current deal. Greg Rousseau was a first round pick in 2021 and with that the Bills have the option to pick up a fifth-year on that rookie contract, which they did last month.
Similar to Spencer Brown, the Bills defensive end has been inconsistent but has shown flashes of what could be and that is a dominant pass rusher in this league. While his sack total did go down this past season to only five, he has improved in terms of QB hits each season from 10 as a rookie, 14 in 2022 and then 18 this past year.
At only 23 years old, Rousseau has plenty of football ahead of him and it feels like it is not a question of if but when he has that breakout season. The Bills could wait to see how he does this season and discuss a contract extension next offseason but it is certainly a risk if that breakout season is this year and Rousseau can command a bigger contract.
Another benefit for the Bills to reach a new deal this offseason is that they can spread that fifth-year option across multiple years. By picking up that option, he will have a cap hit over $13 million that is fully guaranteed.
However, the Bills can lower the cap hit for 2025 by working out a new contract that can help them manage the salary cap a little more. This would be the biggest contract of the four but after Reid Ferguson, seems like the most likely to be done this summer.