Other extensions
Next up for the Bills and their extensions? Well it could be one of a few folks in the organization after McDermott and Dawkins got theirs done. On the field, it’s clearly going to be linebacker Matt Milano and then cornerback Tre’Davious White.
Milano is likely the next candidate ahead of White because as a former first-round pick, White had his fifth-year option flex on his rookie deal, so he’s under contract through 2021. Milano will be a free agent following the upcoming season, like Dawkins was scheduled to be. In addition to those two players, the Bills will likely turn their attention to general manager Brandon Beane in due time. The GM is likely to land a contract that keeps him with the team through the 2025 season like McDermott.
Squeezing the last two sections together, a big factor in seeing how over-or-under-paid Dawkins was will be if the Bills get Milano a new contract. A big factor in that will be Dawkins’ salary cap hit in 2021. If the cap drops to $175M in 2021 due to COVID-19’s loss of revenues in the NFL, Buffalo would have $15.5 million in adjusted cap space. Dawkins just signed for a $15M per season average, so he alone could essentially eat up all of the team’s cap. But we’re still a long ways away from finding out exactly where the cap lands next season. The Bills will need much more space to fit Milano it appears, though. Spotrac puts Milano’s market value at $13M per season and they correctly pegged Dawkins near $15M prior to his signing.