Early in March, special teams ace Tyler Matakevich was on the chopping block for a lot of Buffalo Bills fans. He has a $3.7 million cap hit and with no impact on the defensive side of the ball, he was seen as dispensable. Instead of releasing him, the Bills gave him a one-year contract extension and with that were able to generate some salary cap space in 2021 by bumping money to 2022. Now the details are in, via Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic with some help from Over the Cap.
Most importantly, Matakevich’s cap hit will drop from $3.7 million to $2.95 million. They were able to push $750,000 of cap hit into the 2022 season and, according to Fairburn, that’s the only dead-cap hit. They fully guaranteed his 2021 salary, so he’ll be on the team in September.
At $2.5 million in new money plus incentives for the 2022 season, it’s a really good deal for both sides, in my opinion. At $3.5 million per season, his first contract was a bit of an overpay.
Matakevich played 75 percent of Buffalo’s special teams snaps, far and away the most on the roster.
Here are the yearly breakdowns starting with the original contract’s 2021 numbers followed by the new 2021 and 2022 numbers.
Old 2021 (Original article)
Pro-rated signing bonus: $350,000
Workout bonus: $100,000
Salary: $3 million
Per-game active bonus: Up to $250,000 ($15,625 per game)
Playing time incentive: Up to $600,000 (unknown parameters)
Cap hit: $3.7 million
Dead cap: $350,000
Cap savings if cut: $3.35 million
New 2021
Original signing bonus: $350,000
Extension signing bonus: $750,000
Workout bonus: $100,000
Salary: $1.5 million (fully guaranteed)
Per-game active bonus: Up to $250,000 ($15,625 per game)
Playing time incentive: Up to $600,000 (unknown parameters)
Cap hit: $2.95 million
New 2022
Extension signing bonus: $750,000
Workout bonus: $100,000
Salary: $1.65 million
Per-game active bonus: Up to $750,000 ($46,875 per game)
Playing time incentive: Up to $600,000 (unknown parameters)
Cap hit: $3.25 million
Dead cap: $750,000
Cap savings if cut: $2.5 million