The Buffalo Bills were supposed to be rebuilding and re-tooling, but instead turned into buyers before the trade deadline. With that now passed, how do the Bills look for the upcoming 2025 offseason, the draft, and the future?
The Buffalo Bills have had a great start to their 2024 campaign. Multiple big wins, a stranglehold on the AFC East, and two post-preseason trades highlight that their ‘Rebuild Year’ is anything but a bust. On top of it all, they’ve only taken one notable draft pick from their future roster to bolster their current squad, leaving much to work with as they find some breathing room on the salary cap. With the 2024 NFL trade deadline behind us there are no more moves to be considered. Let’s take a look at the Buffalo Bills 2025 offseason and all that it entails, from the salary cap, to potential moves, to the 2025 NFL draft.
2025 Salary Cap Window
For the first time in a few seasons, Buffalo won’t enter the offseason in the red. As things currently stand, the Bills are projected to hold roughly $11.3m in open salary cap space. With just a few moves, that number can be increased substantially. For starters, QB Josh Allen will carry a $43.2m cap hit, and can create as much as $30m in additional salary cap space with a restructure. Similar moves can be made with DT Ed Oliver and OL Dion Dawkins, who’s $20.7m and $20m salary cap hits can be reduced and spread out to add another $15-20m in wiggle room for 2025.
Those restructures aren’t the only thing the Bills can do to create space. When the team signed DE Von Miller three seasons ago, his six-year deal was viewed as more of a three-year contract with a team-option to remove him. After an inconsistent few seasons, that time has come. Releasing Miller at the start of the offseason incurs a $15.4m dead cap hit, but saves the team another $8.4m in cap space and clears his contract off the books for 2026. Making his release a post-June 1st designation more than doubles to 2025 savings, spreading the dead cap hit over two offseasons instead. A trade would be ideal if his services were no-longer required, but finding a partner willing to take on that bloated deal would be difficult.
There are other options to create space, like finding a trade partner for TE Dawson Knox or WR Curtis Samuel, but both are contracts that the Buffalo Bills are likely handcuffed to until 2026.
All plausible moves considered, the team could quickly open up the cap space to as much as $65m, or even more. Unfortunately, it’s not all roses.
Free Agency – Farewells and Roster Holes
The Bills do have a host of players set to enter free agency, and they’ll need to spend some money to replace them, or retain them.
On offense, the Bills may say goodbye to WRs Mack Hollins and Amari Cooper, RB Ty Johnson, FB Reggie Gilliam, TE Quintin Morris, and OL Will Clapp, Alec Anderson, and Ryan Van Demark. Reid Ferguson, the long snapper, will also be off the roster.
On defense, CB Rasul Douglas, S Damar Hamlin, DTs Austin Johnson and Zion Logue, DE Casey Toohill, and LB Nicholas Morrow may all say their farewells.
Of those departures, only four players are starters, but all roles will need to be replaced in some form or another. With expected needs at receiver, cornerback, safety, and throughout the defensive line, Buffalo will have work to do.
Extensions And Options
Extensions can happen at any time, and there are certainly players on the way out that Buffalo can and will have an interest in retaining. With everything we know so far, however, let’s keep it simple. Assuming they’re all going elsewhere, Buffalo still has other decisions to make.
CB Kaiir Elam has the fifth-year option on his first-round rookie contact this offseason. Set to earn an estimated $11.7m in 2026 if the option is picked up, as well as guaranteeing all money due in 2025, Elam is simply not productive enough to have the option taken. Barring something shocking, the Buffalo Bills will decline his option, and he will enter 2025 in a contract year. He will be in good company, as14 other players will be in the final year of their deal.
On offense, C Connor McGovern, G David Edwards, RB James Cook, WR Khalil Shakir, and QB Mitchell Trubisky are all entering their final seasons. That totals four starters, who contribute in a major way.
On defense, DBs Ja’Marcus Ingram, Christian Benford, and Cam Lewis, LBs Terrel Bernard and Baylon Spector, DEs Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa, and DT DaQuan Jones will also play to hit the market. The same goes for P Sam Martin. Of that group, four starters and two key rotational players will be in the final year of their deals.
This group is even more notable than the unit expecting to leave in 2025, and Buffalo will undoubtedly sign several to extensions this offseason. Notable targets for new contracts include Benford, Rousseau, Bernard, McGovern, and Shakir. Assuming money is spent this offseason to spread out their extensions, Buffalo would still have the funds neccesary to acquire multiple big name targets in free agency this offseason. All that money comes due eventually, and rookie contracts are an ideal way to keep the roster livable as you pay your top performers. Enter: The 2025 NFL Draft.
The 2025 NFL Draft
When Buffalo sent their 2025 third-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Amari Cooper, they did something interesting. They also sent a 2026 seventh-round pick, for a 2025 sixth. A deliberate move to take 2026 draft capital and bring it into this offseason. Why would they do that now? Simple. They plan to spend in 2025, and need to keep cap space to do it. With that move, they maintained their draft pick total for this offseason and can keep the upcoming depth on the roster cheap.
The Buffalo Bills are also set to acquire two extra draft picks thanks to the ever-mysterious compensatory draft pick formula. Per OverTheCap, the outgoing contracts signed by Gabriel Davis to the Jaguars and Leonard Floyd to the 49ers should net the Bills an extra fourth and fifth-round selection. Factoring those in, here’s a list of the Bills expected draft capital.
A total of 10 draft picks with their first and second selections still intact, and an extra second-rounder, is more ammunition than most of the teams in the league. In a year where the Bills can expect to make a wave or two in free agency, having this abundance of draft capital available will help them build a sustainable and deep roster for the foreseeable future.
Your 2025 Offseason Preview
In summary, we find that the Bills are set to have plenty of money and draft capital this offseason as they gear up for the second defined Superbowl window of the Josh Allen era. They are still competitors this season, shocking many pundits, but the resources they can expend this spring can vault them back into the defined upper echelon of NFL powerhouses.
With a few select extensions, the Buffalo Bills will be competitive for a very, very long time.