Bad news for those who trust Pro Football Focus and are hopeful the Bills retain linebacker Matt Milano this offseason.
Earlier this month, the football analytics outlet pegged two Bills players among their top-50 pending free agents. Those were Milano (38) and offensive lineman Daryl Williams (41). In doing so, PFF predicted both would stay in Buffalo in 2021 as well.
In an updated piece, PFF now predicts that Milano will depart for the Detroit Lions instead.
PFF took their knowledge to the salary cap in the explanation, explaining it could simply be financially tough for Buffalo to keep Milano because of that:
Buffalo has some tough decisions to make this offseason, and one of them could be letting Milano walk in free agency. Detroit doesn’t have much cap space, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team do everything in its power to create room for a Golladay tag and an upgrade at off-ball linebacker. The Lions’ linebacker room outside of Jamie Collins Sr. struggled mightily in 2020, with Reggie Ragland and Jahlani Tavai each posting 35.7 coverage grades.
Along with their prediction, PFF estimates a four-year, $45M deal for Milano with $20M guaranteed for him with the Lions. Interestingly, PFF previously predicted that Milano would re-sign with the Bills for that exact same contract.
The biggest thing that has changed since the two guesses might be JJ Watt. The former Texans defensive end is now a free agent and if the Bills do land both him (as Buffalo & Watt reportedly have mutual interest), it would be that much tougher to keep Milano. PFF does not speculate the Bills will get Watt, but that could be a factor at play.
However, even without Watt, Buffalo could still lose Milano because the 2021 salary cap will reportedly land between $180-$185M. The Bills currently sit in between those two numbers in terms of their salary cap, so regardless, there’s limited room for general manager Brandon Beane to work with currently.
For what it’s worth, PFF’s updated prediction suggest the Bills do keep Williams, at least.
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