The Buffalo Bills were awfully busy on Wednesday, but they may have saved the most significant move for last. Following a slew of salary-cap moves to begin the day, veteran edge-rusher Von Miller agreed to a massive contract restructuring, saving the team over $8 million in cap space.
The Bills and pass rusher Von Miller agreed to a renegotiated contract, per source.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 6, 2024
The deal has a base value of $8.855M in 2024, with the chance to make up to $20M with incentives (up from $17.5M under the old terms).
The move saves Buffalo $8.645M in 2024 salary cap space.
On top of the obvious cap space the move saves, why is Miller taking one for the team such a big deal? In short, it likely makes the Bills players in free agency.
The Bills already had an active, cost-cutting day, releasing several players, including safety Jordan Poyer and cornerback Tre'Davious White, to save roughly $36 million in cap space. They entered the day $40 million in the red, so they're slowly getting above water, taking the savings from Miller's new deal into account.
Additionally, there are probably a few more moves to come, like a potential restructuring of quarterback Josh Allen's contract, which carries an untenable $47.1 million cap hit in 2024. However, for now, Miller's solid gives them much-needed breathing room.
For Miller, he likely had no choice but to rework his deal or get cut. After recording an eight-sack campaign in his first season with the Bills in 2022, the former Super Bowl MVP regressed, posting zero sacks for the first time in his career.
Yet, instead of exploring possible greener pastures, the veteran decided to bet on himself while helping his team out of a jam. How general manager Brandon Beane plans to use the gift Miller gave him remains to be seen, but he now has wiggle room to tinker, which is good for a team with Super Bowl aspirations like the Bills.
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