Buffalo Rumblings
As fans we often complain that the Buffalo Bills don’t retain their own draft picks. Yet this past offseason, the Bills went all-in this past offseason in locking up the core of their young roster with a massive wave of extensions.
Those extensions included quarterback Josh Allen, running back James Cook III, defensive end Greg Rousseau, linebacker Terrel Bernard, wide receiver Khalil Shakir, and cornerback Christian Benford. On paper, it was a stabilizing step for the franchise a commitment to continuity and “draft and develop” as the foundation of the next era.
But there’s another side to these deals when said extensions don’t work out: the dead cap.
The goal for 2025 and beyond was clear:
The strategy comes with risk. If these players hit, the Bills would have one of the most cost-controlled, stable cores in football. If they don’t? Buffalo will be stuck with limited flexibility to pivot while potentially eating some of the largest dead cap the organization has ever carried.
And as fan patience wears thin while some of these players struggle to meet heightened expectations, rumblings have started about whether these extensions are already weighing down the Bills financially. Before anyone floats “move on from Player X” as a solution, the 2026 numbers paint a very different reality.
These are the official contract terms and the resulting 2026 dead-cap liabilities. If the 2026 savings number below is negative, it means the team would LOSE cap space by parting ways with the player.
Josh Allen, QB
Extension: 6 years, $330 million
2026 Dead Cap: $173,469,000
2026 Savings if released: –$117,081,000
Not only is Allen untouchable, financially and figuratively — this isn’t a surprise. Franchise quarterbacks are built this way. But it does illustrate how significant the cap ramifications have become after multiple restructures and rolling bonuses forward.
James Cook, RB
Extension: 4 years, $48 million
2026 Dead Cap: $12,200,000
2026 Savings: –$6,320,000
Cook is the only one living up to his extension. He started off the season going crazy, any cooling off has been a result of play calling and the Bills having zero threats elsewhere.
Christian Benford, CB
Extension: 4 years, $69 million
2026 Dead Cap: $35,036,000
2026 Savings: –$27,580,000
Benford’s deal raised eyebrows the moment the numbers dropped. But he was poised for a breakout year and the organization saw the trend for top-tier corners. So while expectations for Benford skyrocketed, now so did the cap consequences.
Terrel Bernard, LB
Extension: 4 years, $42 million
2026 Dead Cap: $11,800,000
2026 Savings: –$6,328,000
In a post-Tremaine Edmunds world, Bernard was extended to become the long-term heart of the defense. But his inconsistency and injuries in 2025 have fans questioning whether the Bills bought in too early. His cap hit is $5.4 million...
