We’ve been analyzing all of the Buffalo Bills’ free agents this offseason. We looked at their play in 2020 and what it might cost to retain them. Today we’re compiling all of those potential contracts into one article. To see the full analysis, breakdowns, and comparable contracts, click on the link to each full article.
We’re going in order of largest annual value to lowest.
LB Matt Milano
Four-year, $52 million contract
($27.6 million guaranteed)
$3.5 million available in incentives
With comparable contracts in mind, I’m starting at $14.5 million per year if I’m Milano’s agent but will come down to $13 million per year in negotiations. Sitting out half of 2020 hurt his value, the COVID-19 cap limits what he can get on the open market, and I’m building in incentives so if he stays fully healthy, he can trigger more money in the future.
Lots of incentives in this article you should check out.
Click here to read the full projection for Matt Milano
RT Daryl Williams
Four years, $35 million
$18 million fully guaranteed
Williams is going to get a multi-year, starter-level contract even in the COVID-depressed salary-cap world. Offensive line play around the league is abysmal and with so much money invested in quarterbacks, it’s silly not to throw money at your offensive line, too. Buffalo gets the first crack at him but they won’t get a hometown discount large enough to make it a steal as Williams signs what could be the last big contract of his career. He was such a steal in 2020.
Click here to read the full contract projection for Daryl Williams
OL Jon Feliciano
Four years, $30 million
$11 million fully guaranteed
I waffled between $7 and $8 million per season before settling right in the middle. The top-ten guards in the NFL make $11 million per season, and I don’t think he’s a top-ten guard. Number 20 on that list makes $7 million per season, so I’m putting Feliciano in the top 20 guards in the NFL with this deal. With two starting guards on each team, it effectively makes him a top-ten starting guard.
Click here to read the full contract projection for Jon Feliciano
TE Tyler Kroft
One year, $3.3 million
A year ago, the Bills purposefully shortened Kroft’s deal and then this season kept him on the bench for long stretches of the year despite being healthy. It’s unlikely they bring him back next year so we didn’t so a standalone piece on him. He could find a team willing to give him an Eric Ebron contract of two years, $12 million, but it’s more likely he ends up in the Jacob Hollister range of a one-year, $3.3 million deal. I think his floor is the Logan Thomas (two years, $6.15 million) and Levine Toilolo (two years, $6.2 million) range.
Read our coverage from last year’s contract restructure for Tyler Kroft
DE Trent Murphy
One year, $3 million
We didn’t do a standalone piece on Trent Murphy. They made him a healthy inactive too many times down the stretch, drafted A.J. Epenesa last year, and signed Mario Addison because Murphy wasn’t good enough to get the job done. That being said, I can see him signing in the $3 million to $4 million range in the mold of guys like Benson Mayowa ($3 million), Stephen Weatherly ($2.5 million), and even a guy like Bruce Irvin ($5.5 million)
P Corey Bojorquez
Three years, $8.85 million
$3.02 million guaranteed
At $2.95 million AAV, it makes him the sixth-highest-paid punter in the league on a yearly average basis, but it’s not something that’s going to handcuff Buffalo beyond 2021. The first year is guaranteed but after that, they can get out of it. The highest-paid punter in the league is making close to $4 million per season.
Click here to read the full projection for Corey Bojorquez
CB Josh Norman
One year, $2.5 million (up to $6 million)
$2.5 million guaranteed plus incentives
I find it difficult to believe Norman is going to be considered an every-down player on the open market and as such he is much more likely to find a market closer to Jimmy Smith. He’s still a solid player and one who can teach young players a lot, but he shouldn’t be counted on as a team’s CB2 for a full season. Still, this figure seems a touch higher than I want to spend this offseason.
Click here to read the full projection for Josh Norman
CB Levi Wallace
One year, $2.133 million
That’s last year’s RFA tender amount and it won’t be the same this year with the cap lowering, we just don’t know what it’s going to be. I think the Bills like Wallace but know he’s limited, which is why they keep trying to replace him. I don’t want to guarantee him $3 or $4 million and I don’t think the Bills will want to either.
Click here to read the full projection for Levi Wallace
QB Matt Barkley
Two years, $4 million
$600,000 guaranteed
It’s the same contract he signed two years ago down to the guaranteed money. A $600,000 signing bonus is the only guaranteed money and they can cut him if Jake Fromm or David Webb come in and blow it up during the offseason.
Click here to read the full projection for Matt Barkley
RB Taiwan Jones
One year, $1.7 million
This is the contract the special teams ace signed a year ago. With the COVID-19-related salary cap suppression, he’s probably more in line for a veteran minimum deal.
Click here to read the contract details from last year’s Taiwan Jones contract
RB T.J. Yeldon
Two years, $3.2 million
We didn’t work up a new contract projection for Yeldon. This is the deal he signed two years ago. I can’t believe he’ll make more than the league minimum at this stage in his career.
Click here for more information on T.J. Yeldon’s previous contract
S Dean Marlowe
One year, $1.55 million
Fully guaranteed
We didn’t do a full article on Marlowe because the safety position is so well settled. They signed Marlowe to this deal last year including a $250,000 signing bonus and a per-game active bonus of $15,625 per game.
Click here for the contract details from last year for Dan Marlowe
KR Andre Roberts
One year, $1.5 million
Fully guaranteed
That splits the difference between league minimum and his last contract ($1.075 million to $2.3 million per season). They don’t get the veteran minimum benefit, so I lowered it a couple hundred grand. I fully guaranteed the money to help with that fact that it’s lower than his last deal, but I’m not sure the Bills will even be that generous.
Click here to read the full contract projection for Andre Roberts
OT Ty Nsekhe
One year, $1.21 million
$137,500 guaranteed
$850,000 cap hit
The Bills could do worse than Nsekhe and with a gaping hole at the position, I’m interested in bringing him back on a one-year veteran minimum deal including the small signing bonus. With the veteran minimum salary benefit, he counts exactly like a second-year NFL player on a minimum salary deal.
Click here to read the full contract projection for Ty Nsekhe
OG Brian Winters
One year, $1.21 million
($137,500 guaranteed)
$850,000 cap hit
It’s a contract for the NFL’s veteran salary benefit. A $137,500 signing bonus is added to the minimum for a player with as many years of service as Winters has. Then the NFL allows them to lower his cap hit from $1.2125 million to that of a second-year player. That’s the $850k cap hit.
Click here to read the full contract projection for Brian Winters
WR Isaiah McKenzie
One year, $1.13 million
($275,000 guaranteed)
$850,000 cap hit
It’s a veteran minimum deal for McKenzie. This is a bad year to be a low-to-mid-tier free agent. That’s the group that’s going to get pinched by the COVID-19 cap reductions. The top players will still get their money.
Click here to read the full projection for Isaiah McKenzie
OG Ike Boettger
One year, $920,000
($275,000 guaranteed)
The league minimum for players with three years of service is $920k in 2021. That’s the bare minimum Boettger can make. I think that deal with an opportunity to start is the most I’m willing to do for Boettger right now. Buffalo needs to overhaul their offensive line and Boettger wasn’t an outlier playing better than the rest of the group a year ago.
Click here to read the full contract projection for Ike Boettger
Editor’s note: We did not include players released by the team. Only free agents whose contracts expired.