The Buffalo Bills have been adding depth all over their roster and late last month, they added linebacker Tyrell Adams, formerly of the Houston Texans. Adams started a bunch of games and made a lot of tackles for Houston in 2020, but was only able to secure a veteran minimum contract with Buffalo, per Spotrac.
Adams will make $990,000 in base salary, the league’s veteran minimum for the number of years of service, plus he received a $100,000 signing bonus. He also gets a $37,500 roster bonus in Week 1 if he makes the roster.
Because of the numbers, Adams is eligible for the league’s Veteran Minimum Benefit, which drops his cap hit to $850,000 (the same as a second-year rookie) plus bonus money, for a grand total of $987,500 cap hit in 2021.
This contract is structured differently than the other veteran minimum contracts with bonuses Buffalo handed out to this point in the offseason. In those previous contracts, all of the bonus money was given as a signing bonus. Adams has his money spread between March and September, implying he didn’t have as much leverage as the other recent signings. He will have to make the team to see that final $37,500 instead of getting it now.