Breaking down the Bills’ use of veteran contract benefits in 2025

Buffalo has used the VSB and 4YQC on three players so far this offseason.

The NFL has two different salary cap benefits that allow teams to retain veteran players while minimizing their impact against the team’s cap: the Veteran Salary Benefit (VSB) and the Four-Year Qualifying Contract (4YQC). In 2025, the Buffalo Bills have made smart use of both in order to sign three players to the roster.

Let’s break down what each benefit entails — and how they were applied to Damar Hamlin, Laviska Shenault Jr., and Darrick Forrest.

NFL Veteran Salary Benefit (VSB)

The VSB allows a team to sign a veteran (any player with four or more credited seasons) to a one-year deal at the minimum base salary for their accrued seasons, while including up to $167,500 in bonus money (signing bonus, roster bonus, or incentives). The benefit here is that the team’s salary cap hit is reduced to that of the amount of a second-year veteran. For Laviska Shenault and Darrick Forrest, that amount is $1,030,000, plus their bonuses.

Laviska Shenault Jr.

• Credited Seasons: 5
• Additional Comp: $15,000 signing bonus + $25,000 workout bonus
• Base Salary: $1,170,000 (5-year vet minimum)
• Cap Hit: $1,070,000 (the 2025 minimum for a second-year player $1,030,000 + $40,000 in bonuses)

Darrick Forrest

• Credited Seasons: 4
• Bonus: $167,500 maxed out under the VSB rules
• Base Salary: $1,170,000 (4-year vet minimum)
• Cap Hit: $1,197,500 (the 2025 minimum for a second-year player $1,030,000 + $167,500 in bonuses)

Four-Year Qualifying Contract (4YQC)

4YQC rewards a team for retaining its talent. It can only be used on players who:

• Have 4+ credited seasons
• Spent all four of their most recent seasons with the same team
• Were on the 90-man roster for every regular and postseason game during that span (uninterrupted).

A team may only offer two 4YQC contracts per year for a total of $1.55 million. The contract must be a one-year deal, and the player can earn up to $1.55 million more than the veteran minimum in base salary. However, only the minimum base salary counts against the cap.

Damar Hamlin

• Credited Seasons: 4 (last four must all be with the same team)
• Signing Bonus: $167,500
• Base Salary: $1,832,500
• Total Cash Compensation: $2 million (fully guaranteed)
• Cap Hit: $1,337,500 (The minimum $1,170,000 for a four- or five-year veteran plus the $167,500 bonus).

Under the 4YQC, the Bills have saved $662,500 with Hamlin. That means they can sign another qualifying contract and save up to another $887,500. It would not be surprising to learn they leveraged this benefit when re-signing Reggie Gilliam.