The actual salary cap total for each team in the NFL can be a bit murky. The Buffalo Bills are no different right now.
But what seems to be much more clear is why the Bills decided to release linebacker AJ Klein.
Klein, 30, gave Buffalo some needed salary cap relief following his departure.
Slated to have a $5.6 million cap hit in 2022, Klein’s contract only carried a dead-cap hit of $400K.
That’s a potential savings around $5.2M, according to Spotrac.
After obtaining that space, the question turns back to the salary cap. How much room does does Buffalo have now?
Thanks to Bills general manager Brandon Beane, we do not know that exact number but we can provide some ballpark analysis.
Per Spotrac, the Bills are actually in the green for the first time this offseason. Prior to Klein’s release, Buffalo was around $4M over the cap.
Currently Spotrac lists the Bills with $557K in cap space.
Beane tossed a 12-6 curveball into the mix this week. He said his team is around $6.6M over the cap. The GM must have some finances on the docket that were not made public which would explain the differences with Spotrac.
Based on that figure, the Bills could still be over the cap by around $1.4M.
Whether slightly over or slightly under the cap, Beane still has work to do. Buffalo will need more cap space to re-sign their own pending free agents, add some new ones, and to bring in future draft picks.
More moves like Klein’s release will be on the way.
In recent days, wide receiver Cole Beasley has requested to be traded. Whether dealt or cut, Beasley create $4.6M in additional cap space for the Bills. Something with Beasley will have to give in due time. Other options include restructuring contracts of players Beane doesn’t want to get rid of.
In the coming days the Bills will be making a few different transactions in this realm. Stay tuned to Bills Wire for all the latest updates.
[lawrence-related id=98185,98085,98107]