The Buffalo Bills are on a mission. They want to win the 2026 Super Bowl at any cost. And to achieve this, they aim to retain their core unit. The message was clear even before they signed five-time Pro Bowl DE, Joey Bosa, on Tuesday night.
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Despite losing Von Miller to free up $8.4 million in cap space, the Bills retained Josh Allen, DE Gregory Rousseau, linebacker Terrel Bernard, and WR Khalil Shakir, signaling their key strategy for the next season. Notably, former tight end and Nightcap host Shannon Sharpe was impressed by this move.
“In recent days, the Bills extended Josh Allen, 6 years, $330 million, Gregory Rousseau, 4 years, $80 million, Terrel Bernard, 4 years, $50 million, Khalil Shakir, 4 years, $53 million. So, you see what they are doing. They’re rewarding the players that they drafted. Keep it together, because if you go outside you see a Myles Garrett, you see what you had to pay?,” Shannon explained on the Nightcap podcast.
If we look at the Bills’ moves, it’s clear that the retention policy has helped them save millions. For instance, two days back, Davante Adams signed a 2-year, $46 million deal with the LA Rams. And in comparison, Bills WR Shakir is now staying with the franchise at a relatively moderate cost of $53 million, that too for a longer period of four years.
This tactical awareness displayed by the Bills impressed Nightcap co-host Chad Johnson, who remarked, “They (Bills) know who you can play with and who you can’t.”
However, Ocho was also in for a small surprise when Shannon called out the Bengals GM, Duke Tobin, who claimed they would make Ja’Marr Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback during the NFL Combine.
“Now the GM for your Bengals said at the Combine, Ja’Marr Chase is going to be the highest-paid non-quarterback. Now I don’t know if he noticed the last two days what the two non-quarterbacks got,” Shannon told Ocho.
The highest paid player in the spotlight, according to Shannon, was Garrett, who signed a 4-year, $160 million extension with the Cleveland Browns. This deal included $122,796,125 guaranteed and an average annual salary of $40 million. To outmatch the Browns, the Bengals would now need to offer Ja’Marr a contract with an annual salary of around $45 million.
Meanwhile, this is another aspect where the Bills played it smart than the Bengals. By securing a six-year, $330 million deal with Josh Allen, the Bills ensured that their QB earned an impressive $55 million annually — the same as Joe Burrow — but with the advantage of an extra year.
Additionally, at no point did the Bills let Allen overtake Dak Prescott’s $60 million per year average salary. This meant that they retained the purchasing power to keep Shakir, Bernard, and Rousseau.
In total, the Buffalo franchise spent $513 million on these four players. But they ensured to secure 18 total years of playing career from which makes it a win-win formula for the players as well as the team.
Considering how the QB and WR markets are expanding, the Bills’ decision to reward their top talents with reasonable deals while avoiding overspending presents the picture of a realistic franchise with a clear vision.
