Contract details for Ed Oliver’s 2023 Buffalo Bills extension

The Buffalo Bills selected defensive tackle Ed Oliver with the nine overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Prior to the 2022 season, they executed their fifth-year option on the defensive tackle to extend his contract through the 2023 season. This week, the Bills officially signed Oliver to a long-term extension, keeping him with the club through the 2027 season when he turns 30.

Oliver was originally scheduled to make $10.753 million in 2023, but that was all in base salary, so he wouldn’t see it until the regular season started. With the new deal, he will see the majority of his 2023 compensation immediately.

Contract details have emerged via Pro Football Talk, and like most contracts handed out by teams, it’s two new years and then we’ll see — meaning he’s under contract through 2025 and then there are two years of team options tacked on the end. They can release him without too much trouble after that year.

Before getting into the breakdown, the big overall takeaway should be that the money is spread out evenly over the five years and instead of tacking on four years, they ripped up the current year and signed what amounts to a new five-year contract. Oliver isn’t going to be at the top end of the DT market at any point in this contract, which should calm some Bills fans. The new deal also lowered his cap hit from the $10.753 million figure to just under $5 million — a cap savings of $5.775 million in 2023.

The new money in the deal is $17 million per season, which places him 11th in the NFL among defensive tackles. If you look at the five-year compensation, it’s $15.75 million on average and that’s how the compensation is spread out, as well. That average would be 13th among NFL DTs.

Oliver’s fully guaranteed money is $24.5 million, which includes $14.75 million immediately in a signing bonus. It’s effectively much higher than that, as they already committed $7 million of that fully guaranteed money in 2024 and it’s joined by the rest of his 2024 compensation, which will fully guarantee in February 2024. Then in March 2024, a big chunk of his 2025 salary guarantees. These rolling guarantees act as a salary cap accounting tool, as does the option bonus in 2024. For all intents and purposes, Oliver is fully guaranteed to be on the roster through 2025 unless something catastrophic happens legally or physically.

The 2024 salary has $7.75 fully guaranteed right now, with the rest fully guaranteeing on February 12 — the day the waiver period starts following the Super Bowl. When the 2024 option bonus is exercised, all but $2.25 million of that becomes part of the bonus instead of base salary. That option bonus is a built-in restructure to help the team spread out his cap hit again next year. We don’t know if there is a void year built in for 2028 or if the restructure is going to just cover the final four years.

I chose to present the contract including that roster bonus since it’s an automatic contract maneuver and we spread it out over the remaining four years, even if I think it’s likely that a void year will be tacked on. (At four years, it averages $3.125 million and at five years, it’s $2.5 million, so not a huge difference.)

2023
Pro-rated signing bonus: $2.95 million
Base salary: $2.028 million (fully guaranteed)
Incentives: $500,000 (unspecified)

Salary cap number: $4.978 million
Yearly cash: $16.778 million

2024
Pro-rated signing bonus: $2.95 million
Pro-rated option bonus: $3.125 million
Workout bonus: $500,000
Base salary: $2.25 million (fully guarantees 2/12/2024)
Per-game bonus: $25,000 per game up to $425,000
Incentives: $750,000 (unspecified)

Salary cap number: $9.25 million
Yearly cash: $15.675 million (including bonuses, plus incentives)

2025
Pro-rated signing bonus: $2.95 million
Pro-rated option bonus: $3.125 million
Workout bonus: $500,000
Base salary: $13.75 million (Fully guarantees: $8.25 million 3/2024, $5.5 million 3/2025)
Per-game bonus: $25,000 per game up to $425,000
Incentives: $750,000 (unspecified)

Salary cap number: $20.75 million
Yearly cash: $14.675 million (including bonuses, plus incentives)

2026
Pro-rated signing bonus: $2.95 million
Pro-rated option bonus: $3.125 million
Roster bonus: $1.25 million
Workout bonus: $500,000
Base salary: $14.125 million
Per-game bonus: $25,000 per game up to $425,000
Incentives: $750,000 (unspecified)

Salary cap number: $22.375 million
Dead cap if cut: $12.15 million
Cap space saved if cut: $10.225 million
Yearly cash: $16.3 million (including bonuses, plus incentives)

2027
Pro-rated signing bonus: $2.95 million
Pro-rated option bonus: $3.125 million
Workout bonus: $500,000
Base salary: $14.4 million
Per-game bonus: $25,000 per game up to $425,000
Incentives: $750,000 (unspecified)

Salary cap number: $21.4 million
Dead cap if cut: $6.075 million
Cap space saved if cut: $15.325 million
Yearly cash: $15.325 million (including bonuses, plus incentives)