The Buffalo Bills Have Begun Releasing Players Ahead Of Free Agency

Free agency is near and if the Bills are hoping to make some moves, they're going to need to release some players to free up some cap space. They got started with that today.

The Buffalo Bills have released Taron Johnson

He's been a clutch player for the Bills for 8 seasons now.  He was selected by the Bills in the 4th round of the NFL Draft in 2018 and has been their starting nickel cornerback.

According to Spotrac, that will free up  $1.9M of cap space, leaving behind $9.5M of dead cap.

The Bills have also released Curtis Samuel

Today was the day that the Bills also released wide receiver Curtis Samuel. He was brought in on a free agent deal in 2024 on a three-year, $24 million deal.

By releasing him today, the Bills have freed up $6 million of cap space and leaves behind  $3.45M of dead cap. As pointed out by Spotrac, Samuel was only able to reel in 38 passes during his tenure in Buffalo.

Neither of these are a huge surprise

Unfortunately, neither of these moves are a huge surprise from the Bills. With a new defensive coordinator, it was unclear what Johnson's role on the team would be and how he would fit in. With Samuel, it was a case of availabilty and production. At $8 million a year, you need players who are available on Sundays and can produce on the field. When Samuel was completely healthy, he seemed to be able to do that, but it felt like those were rare moments.

The Bills still have work to do

It will be a busy couple of days at One Bills Drive. The Bills still have some work to do to get themselves in a better financial position to make some moves. You can probably expect to see some restructured contracts coming and maybe some more cuts before all is said and done.