The Buffalo Bills hosted two linebackers on Monday for a free agent visit but one that wasn’t announced is the first one signed. According to Aaron WIlson of the Houston Chronicle, Bills linebacker Ramon Humber has re-upped with the team on a veteran minimum deal.
Per Wilson, Humber received a $60,000 signing bonus and will make $915,000 in salary plus $30,000 in a workout bonus for a total of $1.005 million in compensation for the one-year deal. It will take advantage of the veteran minimum benefit, which means the cap hit will only be $710,000, equal to that of a second-year NFL player. It’s a salary cap benefit designed to keep experienced players in the league and not replace them with younger, cheaper players just for the sake of money.
Humber started nine games for the Bills in 2017 before an injury and the steady play of rookie Matt Milano relegated him to a reserve role. He had one sack, one pass defended, one forced fumble, and 83 tackles playing 51% of the defensive snaps and nearly 22% of the special teams snaps in 2017.
While we thought the Bills would look to upgrade over the soon-to-be 31-year-old, they didn’t sign a big name in free agency and this deal is low-risk, so they can draft a replacement or roll with Humber as veteran depth.