The Buffalo Bills this offseason had to make some tough decisions in regard to their roster as they had to balance trying to retain key free agents but also having cap space available to improve the team.
When looking at the entire offseason, general manager Brandon Beane certainly achieved that balance and these are four contract decisions the team made that will pay off for the Buffalo Bills this season and beyond.
4 contract decisions that will pay off for the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills not re-signing Tremaine Edmunds
One of the biggest decisions the Buffalo Bills had to make was what to do about middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. He was a first round pick in 2018 and has been their starter over the past five seasons, which included two Pro Bowl nominations.
At only 24 years old, Edmunds was expected to have plenty of interested teams and would receive a big contract in free agency. He certainly got that from the Chicago Bears in a four-year deal worth $72 million.
The Bills probably had enough cap space with additional contract restructures, that they could have matched the offer from the Bears. However, it would also not allow them to do much else this offseason and the Bills would have likely gone into the 2023 season with the same roster last year.
The team hasn't found a clear replacement for Edmunds at this point and will be going into training camp with an open competition for the position. It may be a little rocky this season but long term it would have created more salary cap problems and the Bills will have more flexibility moving forward to find a long-term answer at the position if they aren't on the roster presently.