Alan Branch contract includes a $3.1 million signing bonus

While the Buffalo Bills were making announcements about their quarterback position, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com was tweeting out details about the three-year contract extension that defensive lineman Alan Branch signed last week.

We already knew that it was a three-year deal, keeping Branch in Buffalo through the 2016 season (at the end of which he'll turn 32 years old), and Rapoport reports that the extension is worth $8.5 million. That includes a $3.1 million signing bonus, which presumably has already been paid to him.

Among the incentives worked into the deal, Branch will be owed a $250,000 roster bonus for each year of the extension, as well as a $100,000 workout bonus and another $100,000 payment should he happen to make the Pro Bowl. He'll also earn a $250,000 payment any time he plays more than 55 percent of snaps in a given season; for reference, he's played in 50.7 percent of snaps so far this season.

Kyle Williams, who signed a six-year extension in August of 2011, is also under contract through the 2016 season. The Bills will almost certainly exercise an option in Marcell Dareus' contract to keep him in the fold through the 2015 season. With Branch in tow for another three seasons, the Bills have ensured themselves a talented, veteran core of defensive linemen for at least the next two seasons.