The Buffalo Bills have taken the time to solidify their offensive line this offseason, and one step was to add veteran offensive tackle Bobby Hart as their depth option behind incumbent starters Dion Dawkins and Daryl Williams. We now have contract details via Spotrac.
Hart will make the NFL’s minimum salary and receive the Veteran Minimum Benefit applied to his salary cap number. His base salary is $990,000 ($137,500 guaranteed) and he received an additional $137,500 as a signing bonus.
The Veteran Minimum Benefit drops his salary cap number from $990,000 to $850,000, the same cap hit as a second-year NFL player, but adds the signing bonus money for a final total of $987,500 for his 2021 salary cap hit.
The move only adds approximately $150,000 to the Bills’ salary cap commitments right now, as only the Top 51 contracts count during the offseason. He knocked off a contract accounting for just under $850,000 in cap space.
Hart has been the primary starter for the Cincinnati Bengals for the last three seasons and has 66 career NFL starts. It’s a great deal for Buffalo to gain someone with that much league experience on a minimum salary.