Buffalo Bills Splurge Almost $50 Million in a Few Hours to Strengthen the Squad for 2026

Yes, the Buffalo Bills’ season was ended by the Denver Broncos with a gut punch in the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs. However, that doesn’t mean Buffalo’s 2025 regular season campaign should be viewed as a failure. Well, it’s hard to stick your nose up at a 12-win season, and the franchise seems to be aware of that.

Less than 24 hours after the Seattle Seahawks were crowned as Super Bowl champions, the Bills sent out a series of contract guarantees to four of their largest contributors from the past season. WR Khalil Shakir, LB Terrel Bernard, CB Christian Benford, and RB James Cook were the beneficiaries.

Given the rate of production that all four were able to provide Buffalo with, it’s safe to say that it was money well spent. However, no one likely realized that the front office would have to hand out more than $50 million in the span of just a few hours.

Buffalo’s star running back, James Cook, has been able to rack up 32 touchdowns in the past two seasons. So it is unlikely to find anyone who would be upset about the franchise granting him a $9.4-million payday for the 2026 season.

Since he managed to generate 700+ receiving yards and four touchdowns for a second consecutive year, the same can also be said about Khalil Shakir and his $11.9 million.

Meanwhile, the largest chunk of the cash will go toward their standout Christian Benford, who managed to record two interceptions and two fumbles, along with 43 combined tackles, just one year after finishing 22nd in the Defensive Player of the Year race. Apart from that, Benford’s fellow defender and linebacker, Terrel Bernard, received an $8.9-million guarantee for the upcoming season.

Since Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow were absent from this year’s playoffs, everyone in Buffalo was likely shaking their heads as they watched Seattle hoist the Lombardi Son unday night. They were probably thinking that Allen could have offered up a better fight than the one that we got from Drake Maye and the rest of the New England Patriots.

Then again, the Bills have no one to blame but themselves. And if they want to resolve those feelings of wasted destiny, then they’ll almost certainly have to spend even more cash than this at some point later in the offseason.

Until then, however, the only folks that will be celebrating up north today will be the four Bills players, their agents, and their bankers. Those dollars, after all, won’t do much for a fan base that has yet to see its first championship.