Brandon Beane and Buffalo Bills fire up Bills Mafia in a flurry of roster moves

I've been a fan of the Buffalo Bills since 1988 and I can say that I don't recall ever experiencing a day quite like this one. Some fans might remember what became known as "Black Thursday" on February 10, 2000, when the Bills released long-time and future Hall of Famers, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, and Andre Reed. I get it, the circumstances are a bit different this time around but simply from a fan-favorites perspective, March 6th, 2024, was similar.

But let's not concern ourselves with the sentimental aspect of what happened on this day but instead focus on what this means for the Buffalo Bills, the upcoming draft, and the 2024 season, as well as beyond next year. First, let's recap what just happened. Let me know if I missed something because a lot went down at One Bills Drive.

Buffalo Bills released or traded the following:

S - Jordan Poyer
C - Mitch Morse
RB - Nyheim Hines
DB - Siran Neal
CB - Tre'Davious White
WR - Deonty Harty
G - Ryan Bates (traded for a 5th-round pick)

Buffalo Bills restructured or renegotiated the following contracts:

Edge - Von Miller (Renegotiated)
CB - Rasul Douglas (Restructure)
G - Connor McGovern (Extension)

Buffalo Bills re-signed the following pending free agents:

S - Taylor Rapp (3-year deal)
G - David Edwards (2-year deal)

Buffalo Bills signed the following to the roster:

QB - Mitch Trubisky
P - Matt Haack

According to spotrac.com, the team shaved off more than $37 million in player salaries. This number didn't include the savings the team will get once Tre'Davious White is officially released. Buffalo designated him as a post-June 1 cut, so the savings aren't accounted for yet. When it is, that's another $10.2 million in savings. It was a wild day that saw nearly $50 million cut of the Bills books.

Brandon Beane and the Bills aren't done yet either. There will be more contract restructures coming and they'll likely re-sign a few more of their pending free agents. The downside of all this is the Bills are currently carrying over $23.6 million in dead cap money, per spotrac.com, which includes 25 players. Also, even with the signing of Rapp, there is what appears to be a huge hole at safety opposite Rapp. On the flip side though, this is exactly what I was hoping the Bills would do. Making these cuts now means a much healthier cap in the near future.

Simply processing a ton of restructures to keep these players, only complicates things down the road. Remember, restructuring is not the same as renegotiating. When a contract is restructured, the monies owed in the current year are moved to a future year. It still has to be paid, just not yet. When you do this, it only makes things harder down the road. By taking the hit now, they can alleviate themselves of some of these bigger contracts much sooner.

As a fan, these moves hurt and I hated seeing them. From the business side of things and for the long-term success of this team, I love the moves. The only one I can't get behind is the Matt Haack signing. I've wracked my brain trying to make sense of this signing but all I came away with was a headache. It was quite the day for the Buffalo Bills and their fans. Let's just hope this works out and the team gets to that next level finally.