The Buffalo Bills entered Wednesday, March 6, roughly $40 million over the salary cap. Buffalo then started cleaning house and released six players to free up an estimated $37.4 million. The Bills still have work to do to get under the salary cap, but will now be sending Jordan Poyer, Deonte Harty, Nyheim Hines, Siran Neal, Mitch Morse and Tre’Davious White unexpectedly to free agency.
Buffalo likely isn’t done making moves like this, and the front office will have to get more creative. All of these releases are to help the team get under the salary cap, but the six players released add to the 21 other free agents the team had. The Bills already had plenty of areas to address with wide receiver depth and defensive line depth. Now, Buffalo has to replace its top corner and its two starting safeties.
The cap problems now show how “win now” the roster was last season. Buffalo started the season 6-6 in its first 12 games but then rallied down the stretch to not only clinch a playoff berth but win the AFC East. With all of these cuts to the roster and the current lack of money to make some much-needed replacements, it is tough to see how the Bills will remain competitive in a difficult AFC.
The odds may change, but for now, Buffalo has the fourth-best odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to win Super Bowl 59. The Bills are installed at +1000 and have the third-best odds to win the AFC at +500 behind only the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. Buffalo has the best odds to win the AFC East at +130, ahead of the Miami Dolphins at +180.