Ian Rapoport of NFL.com is reporting that former free agent wide receiver Jeremy Maclin’s contract with the Baltimore Ravens is a 2-year, $11M deal. His colleague Mike Garafolo followed up with more details, stating that $6M of the $11M will come in year one of the deal.
The detail provided Garafolo is interesting since the NFLPA’s Public Salary Cap Report states that the Ravens only have a hair above $5M in available cap room. It would appear that they have manipulated the contract or the cap in some way, as teams can do, most likely by way of a prorated signing bonus.
The financial value of the contract is definitely something the Bills could have covered. They have $11.5M of cap space available this season. The length of the deal also seems doable for the team. The only “big name” pending free agents the Bills have are Kyle Williams, Eric Wood, and Sammy Watkins. Williams may retire and Woods may be expendable, leaving just Watkins for 2018.
It appears that the Bills could have afforded Maclin if they were dead set on signing him. We’ll likely never know if they shortchanged him or Maclin simply chose playing in a passing offense as the (potential) No. 1 receiving option for QB who has a Super Bowl win on his resume.