The Buffalo Bills and general manager Brandon Beane got a bit more creative than one might expect with the contract of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
Sanders, 34, reportedly signed a one-year deal with the Bills on Thursday. However, it’s actually a two-year deal with a voided year in 2022.
The measure taken by the Bills is an effort to spread out the salary cap hits to save the team dollars against the lowered cap in 2021. That figure sits at $182.5 million.
According to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia, the $6M deal the Bills inked Sanders to has a $2.75M signing bonus which is prorated over two years. This will bring Sanders’ cap hit down to $4.625M for 2021. Sanders’ overall base salary will be $2.8M, along with other workout and roster bonuses sprinkled in.
Sanders’ deal is believed to be the first time Beane has added void years on a contract with a free agent to spread the cap hits out.
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