The Buffalo Bills signed Mario Addison in 2020 primarily to offset the departure of Shaq Lawson, who signed a similar deal with the Miami Dolphins in free agency. When Addison signed, he brought high expectations but after 5 sacks, 30 tackles, and 4 passes knocked down, Addison didn’t have a great impact as a $10-million-per-year player.
All told, Addison made more than $13.25 million in 2020 between his signing bonus money, salary, and other bonuses.
Part of that figure was Addison’s $6 million roster bonus which prorates over the three years of the deal with $2 million in each season. If Buffalo released him this offseason, the final $2 million would accelerate from 2022 to 2021 and his total cap hit would be $4 million.
Currently Addison is set to make $6,625,000 in base salary, an $800,000 roster bonus due later this month, plus workout and roster bonuses can be earned. He’s set to turn 34 around the start of the season. If Buffalo releases him, they would save all that cash and in terms of salary cap, they would generate more than $6 million in salary cap space.
One more thing to note; $2 million of his salary fully guarantees on the fifth day of the league year. If he’s on the roster in late March, it will be even more costly to cut him. If there is offset language in the guarantee, Buffalo wouldn’t be on the hook for that money if another team paid him $2 million, though.
Next read
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- 2020 All-22 Analysis: Bills DE Mario Addison
- 2020 All-22 Analysis: Bills DE Jerry Hughes
- How much does Mario Addison cost in 2021?
- How much does Jerry Hughes cost in 2021?
- Bills don’t have young talent capable of replacing their starting defensive ends
- Free agents that could help the Bills pass rush
- 2021 NFL Draft prospects to add to the pass rush
- Opinion: What we would do at defensive end this offseason