The Buffalo Bills gave long snapper Reid Ferguson a contract extension this week. Set to become an Exclusive Rights Free Agent, Ferguson couldn’t sign with another team if Buffalo tendered him at the league minimum for a player with two accrued seasons. Ferguson spent 2016 on the practice squad, so he has two accrued seasons from 2017 and 2018.
The league minimum for third-year players is $645,000 and would go up to $735,000 in 2020 during his fourth NFL season. If Buffalo allowed him to become a restricted free agent in 2020, his tender would have been more than $2 million.
Mike Rodak provided us with the contract numbers this week, and Ferguson got a raise. Buffalo paid him slightly above the league minimum, but was able to tack on another year of team control to the deal for the cost of the $375,000 signing bonus. So it’s a pro-active deal for Buffalo and a way to get some extra cash up front for Ferguson.
Ferguson starts with a $375,000 signing bonus and another $75,000 guaranteed in 2019 in his $700,000 salary. He will make more than a million dollars in 2019.
His $850,000 cap hit in 2019 is 17th in the NFL among long snappers.
Here are the yearly cap breakdowns:
2019
Pro-rated signing bonus: $125,000
Workout bonus: $25,000
Salary: $700,000 ($645,00 is minimum)
Cap hit: $850,000
2020
Pro-rated signing bonus: $125,000
Workout bonus: $25,000
Salary $750,000 ($735,000 is minimum)
Cap hit: $900,000
2021
Pro-rated signing bonus: $125,000
Workout bonus: $25,000
Salary: $845,000
Cap hit: $995,000