The Buffalo Bills signed free-agent specialist Brandon Powell last week, and we have contract details for the former Atlanta Falcons returner. Ryan Talbot of NYUp.com reported on March 26th it was a veteran minimum deal for Powell. Spotrac has updated that to reflect that Powell did not receive a signing bonus.
Powell will make $920,000 in base salary in 2021 if he’s on the roster.
No signing bonus makes sense in this case. On Friday, the Bills worked out three returners before signing Powell so they had leverage. If Powell didn’t sign, they could have gone to either of the other two returners for their signature.
At a $920,000 cap hit, Powell knocks off a lower cap hit of $820,000 (WR Isaiah Hodgins), resulting in a net effect to the cap of just +$100,000 per Spotrac. The Bills still have roughly $4 million in available cap space prior to the deals of WR Isaiah McKenzie, OT Bobby Hart, and DE Efe Obada.