Joe Marino: 1/4 of Bills 2024 salary cap is dead cap!

[Dr.Sack]

Joe knows basic math. Did he also say we are paying Diggs more than all other WRs combine? I mean, it’s called retooling. No issue with moving on from Diggs. 

[billsfan89]

Not a surprise the Bills are taking a gigantic dead cap hit this year on Diggs alone whose dead cap is 12.5% of the cap. The Bills are also taking 22.9 million in dead cap on Tre White, Bates, Floyd, Bates, Hyde, Mitch, and Poyer. There's even another 4 players the Bills are taking dead cap hits above 1 million on which adds up along with smaller dead cap hits almost every team takes. 

 

In the beginning of the McD/Beane era in 2017-2018 the Bills took a ton of dead cap to properly reset the cap situation after two years into the Rex Ryan era the team was overleveraged with bad contracts. 2017 the Bills were 3rd in dead cap with 30 million in dead cap. In 2018 the Bills were number one in dead cap by a large margin (with 70 million which was 27 million more than the second place team). The Bills since after the Bills got out from under the bad Rex Ryan contracts in 2019 The Bills have been ranked no higher than 21st in dead cap with some years ranking in the bottom 4. 

 

So the Bills getting out from under the declining vets and a few void years in 2024 after a 5 year period of being very low in dead cap is good longer term roster management. 

[Mango]

Right, because they ate Diggs. 
 

if they kept Diggs their total cap space would be nearly identical (-$3M) which would put that right around league average. But as we saw today Diggs just said the Bills didn’t want to move on from him, he forced the situation. 
 

Talk to Stef about it. 

[mannc]

  On 9/4/2024 at 1:58 AM, Dr.Sack said:

Joe knows basic math. Did he also say we are paying Diggs more than all other WRs combine? I mean, it’s called retooling. No issue with moving on from Diggs. 

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Marino did not necessarily disagree with the decisions that led to the Bills’ dead cap hit…what he said is that it’s a competitive disadvantage when teams like the Chiefs have a dead cap hit of less than $20 million.  That’s a lot less money you have available to sign players.  Simple fact.  Doesn’t mean the Bills won’t be good, but it makes it harder.

[GASabresIUFan]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:44 PM, BarleyNY said:

List of NFL teams cap space and dead money

 

Lots of teams have a substantial amount of dead money. It’s an obstacle, but the Bills aren’t alone with it. And they only have themselves to blame. Giving Diggs an extension and big pay bump with two seasons left on his contract was a big mistake (and I said so at the time). At that point it was already clear things weren’t good between him and the team. More money was not going to fix things. 

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Yep.  The Jets have 50+ and the Fish 40+.  

[Rigotz]

We’re taking our medicine this year and it’s honestly not that bad. It’s one year.

 

Next year the total dead cap for the team is less than $5M and the last remaining bad contract is Von Miller, which we can get out of next year and grab significant savings. Plus, all the additional draft capital and a bunch of free agent money available.

 

One year.

[nedboy7]

  On 9/4/2024 at 4:21 AM, Rigotz said:

We’re taking our medicine this year and it’s honestly not that bad. It’s one year.

 

Next year the total dead cap for the team is less than $5M and the last remaining bad contract is Von Miller, which we can get out of next year and grab significant savings. Plus, all the additional draft capital and a bunch of free agent money available.

 

One year.

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But I want to whine now!!  

[BigDingus]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:44 PM, Bruffalo said:

Yeah I want some context here. What’s the average dead cap across the league?

 

30 million of it is from Diggs drama, so I don’t know if you could have really known that was gonna happen when you extended him. 

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The league average is $34.4 million dead cap per team.

 

With $63.6 million in dead cap, the Bills have the 3rd highest in the league, just below the Broncos ($76.4 million) and Vikings ($65.3 million).

 

Our biggest AFC rivals have the following in dead cap:

 

- Chiefs: $11.2 million

- Ravens: $17.3 million

- Bengals: $7.3 million

- Dolphins: $42.5 million

- Jets: $53 million

- Texans: $33 million

 

So yeah, we're definitely in the worst shape, while the Chiefs & Bengals are doing the best in that regard (though I know Bengals don't like doing guaranteed money & are extremely cheap, so that may have something to do with them).

 

[Bruffalo]

  On 9/4/2024 at 4:44 AM, BigDingus said:

 

The league average is $34.4 million dead cap per team.

 

With $63.6 million in dead cap, the Bills have the 3rd highest in the league, just below the Broncos ($76.4 million) and Vikings ($65.3 million).

 

Our biggest AFC rivals have the following in dead cap:

 

- Chiefs: $11.2 million

- Ravens: $17.3 million

- Bengals: $7.3 million

- Dolphins: $42.5 million

- Jets: $53 million

- Texans: $33 million

 

So yeah, we're definitely in the worst shape, while the Chiefs & Bengals are doing the best in that regard (though I know Bengals don't like doing guaranteed money & are extremely cheap, so that may have something to do with them).

 

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Thanks, I appreciate the breakdown.

 

This confirms what I was thinking, the Diggs drama and subsequent trade screwed over what was an average dead cap previously. We can have the benefit of hindsight now but I don’t really fault Beane here. 

[BigDingus]

  On 9/4/2024 at 4:48 AM, Bruffalo said:

Thanks, I appreciate the breakdown.

 

This confirms what I was thinking, the Diggs drama and subsequent trade screwed over what was an average dead cap previously. We can have the benefit of hindsight now but I don’t really fault Beane here. 

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Exactly. If not for Diggs, we'd be on par with everyone else.

 

And even though it really hurt us this year, it frees up $27.3 million in cap space for 2025, so I'm glad we did it now.

[TheWeatherMan]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:44 PM, BarleyNY said:

List of NFL teams cap space and dead money

 

Lots of teams have a substantial amount of dead money. It’s an obstacle, but the Bills aren’t alone with it. And they only have themselves to blame. Giving Diggs an extension and big pay bump with two seasons left on his contract was a big mistake (and I said so at the time). At that point it was already clear things weren’t good between him and the team. More money was not going to fix things. 

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We still have the awful contracts of Von Miller, Bass, Matt Milano and Dawson Knox that all will eventually be dead cap.  If this is a reset year, next year could phase two of that reset.  Too many awful contracts given out to old or injury prone players.  

[machine gun kelly]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:18 PM, Sharky7337 said:

You can't expect to be paying Josh Allen's salary in dead cap and have a good a chance as other teams that are not having to.

 

People seem to forget this. But I'm still ok if we win the SB. 

 

Side note:

marinos podcasts have started to become so chalk full of sponsorships, adds, etc, it's almost becoming unlistenable.

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Sharky, we decided to take the big hit now from a number of aging players and the gamble on youth.  We’ll see if this experiment works. The upside is we will have a lot of space next year and the cap continues to increase exponentially year over year.

[Thurman#1]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:33 PM, frostbitmic said:

That's some awesome cap management.

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It actually is. Diggs is $31M of it. They'd like to have kept him, but he made it awfully tough.

 

They could have pushed back a lot of that dead cap and had it weigh down the team for years to come. Instead he took it all this year and will be cap healthy next. 

 

It is smart cap management under some tough circumstances.

[Matt_In_NH]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:25 PM, Billznut said:

That is why 2024 is a reset year.  A playoff appearance would be a huge bonus. Expect a big bounce back in 2025. 

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2025 does not have tons of cap available.  Anyway, this is a reset year in terms of cap, not on the field.  New stars will emerge, the team will be similarly competitive as they have been the last four, it will look different is all.

  On 9/4/2024 at 9:10 AM, Thurman#1 said:

They could have pushed back a lot of that dead cap and had it weigh down the team for years to come. Instead he took it all this year and will be cap healthy next. 

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The Bills are 4th from the bottom for 2025 cap availability.   I don't hear this much anymore but I think people finally realize the cap is real, players you sign today determines players you cannot sign tomorrow.  Yes the cap is highly manipulatable, but that does not make it fake.

Also, 2025 will likely have more dead cap if they move from Von, but they will probably spread that over 2 years.

[Matt_In_NH]

  On 9/4/2024 at 4:44 AM, BigDingus said:

 

The league average is $34.4 million dead cap per team.

 

With $63.6 million in dead cap, the Bills have the 3rd highest in the league, just below the Broncos ($76.4 million) and Vikings ($65.3 million).

 

Our biggest AFC rivals have the following in dead cap:

 

- Chiefs: $11.2 million

- Ravens: $17.3 million

- Bengals: $7.3 million

- Dolphins: $42.5 million

- Jets: $53 million

- Texans: $33 million

 

So yeah, we're definitely in the worst shape, while the Chiefs & Bengals are doing the best in that regard (though I know Bengals don't like doing guaranteed money & are extremely cheap, so that may have something to do with them).

 

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Looking at dead cap for one year and making vast conclusions is narrow sighted, all teams deal with dead cap, it goes up and down, some are conservative some are aggressive with contracts.  Is it the same people that push for the Bills to sign all FA's to big deals cause the "cap is not real" that are now astounded by a year of dead cap?   When you sign a lot of guys to big deals and push the money out it guarantees you will have big dead cap years at some point.  People see the number, 60M and think, hey we can do other things with that but guess what, we did, in years past he Bills spent cash above the cap, this is just the bookkeeping catching up because the cap is just accounting.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:25 PM, Billznut said:

That is why 2024 is a reset year.  A playoff appearance would be a huge bonus. Expect a big bounce back in 2025. 

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Fans are so quick to give up. Have some faith, brother. We have Josh 

[dollars 2 donuts]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:15 PM, JaCrispy said:

 

Over $60 million in dead cap…No wonder our roster looks mediocre on paper…

 

The Chiefs are spending $50 million more than the Bills on their 2024 roster…

 

 

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Ja I am so ready for the Bills to have big contract Josh and some money to play with (even a little bit) next year to get some help.

[Mc1320]

Extending Diggs was a huge mistake and Beane rolled the dice that Miller would stay health and he crapped out on that one.

 

Cut Miller after this year and take the final cap hit before entering new stadium.

[Big Turk]

  On 9/3/2024 at 10:25 PM, Billznut said:

That is why 2024 is a reset year.  A playoff appearance would be a huge bonus. Expect a big bounce back in 2025. 

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It's never a bonus when you have Josh Allen at QB. It's expected.

[Coach Tuesday]

  On 9/4/2024 at 3:45 AM, Mango said:

Right, because they ate Diggs. 
 

if they kept Diggs their total cap space would be nearly identical (-$3M) which would put that right around league average. But as we saw today Diggs just said the Bills didn’t want to move on from him, he forced the situation. 
 

Talk to Stef about it. 

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Talk to Brandon about it.  A savvy GM would’ve avoided giving him new guaranteed $$ two years ago and/or would’ve had a contingency plan such as acquiring young WR talent to wait in the wings.

 

Beane screwed the pooch here.