March 6, 2026Updated March 8, 2026, 10:35 p.m. ET
As usual, as the start of the new league year dawns, the Buffalo Bills are over the salary cap threshold which has now been officially set at $301.2 million.
It’s an annual exercise for Brandon Beane and the bean counters at One Bills Drive to not only get compliant before the 4 p.m. March 11 kickoff to free agency, but create enough cap space to actually go shopping once the bell rings.
“There’s not just one line of plan,” Beane said last week at the scouting combine. “I’ve sat down with Kevin Meganck (the Bills’ vice president of football administration who plays a key role in the salary cap manipulation). Kevin does a great job, and we’ve kind of talked about Plan A can give you this, Plan B, maybe there’s a combination of that.”
Suffice it to say, whatever plan we’re talking about, it’s going to involve restructuring contracts and releasing players.
“If you have conversations with a couple players about restructures or a pay reduction, maybe that allows you to save a player that if they don’t, then you may have to release another player,” Beane said.
Last week, offensive tackle Spencer Brown’s contract was re-worked to free up $10.4 million, and in the coming week, the contract of quarterback Josh Allen will be restructured which will create $12 million in space. You may also see the contracts of offensive lineman Dion Dawkins and defensive lineman Ed Oliver altered, though Beane doesn’t want to pull too many of those levers.
“As we did with Spencer Brown, we’ve already kicked the can down the road on some money there, and we may have to do that with someone else,” Beane said. “But I also want to be mindful, as I tell you guys, I don’t want to put too much of that down the road to where we walk into a year and we’ve got a major problem just to get under and now we’re just cutting players just to get to the draft and we’re really fielding a team that’s not set up for success.”
Here’s an ongoing look at the roster moves Beane is making to get the Bills ready for the start of free agency, and to start building the 2026 roster:
CB Dane Jackson released
The Bills released cornerback Dane Jackson on Friday as part of a series of roster moves ahead of free agency. Jackson was originally drafted by Buffalo in 2020 and appeared in 59 career games with the team across two stints.
S Taylor Rapp released
Taylor Rapp’s became the third veteran heading out the door at One Bills Drive Friday. That move will free up around $3 million and cause a mere $666,000 in dead cap space.
Rapp came to Buffalo in 2023 and played well enough in his first two seasons where he started 18 of 30 games, but his 2025 season was a mess as he started terribly, then got hurt and did not play against after Week 6.
WR Curtis Samuel released
The Bills are releasing veteran wide receiver Curtis Samuel after two underwhelming seasons in Buffalo.
Samuel signed a three-year, $24 million deal in 2024 but totaled only 38 catches for 334 yards and two touchdowns with the Bills. His release saves Buffalo about $6.1 million in cap space.
CB Taron Johnson released after eight seasons with Bills
Update: Taron Johnson has been traded to the Raiders
Buffalo’s first cut was All-Pro cornerback Taron Johnson, ending his eight-year tenure with the team.
Johnson, who turns 30 in July, had been a key piece of Buffalo’s defense and earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2023. His future became uncertain after the Bills hired defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, whose 3-4 defensive scheme does not typically feature nickel corner.
Johnson recorded 57 tackles and four pass breakups in 2025, both his lowest totals since 2019.
Johnson was under contract through the 2027 season. If he’s released prior to June 1, he saves the Bills $1.9 million in salary cap space with $9.5 million in dead money. A post-June 1 cut designation shifts it to $8.7 million in savings and $2.7 in dead money.
Buffalo Bills contract restructures for 2026
Another obvious move to open up cap space came Saturday morning when it was reported that the Bills re-worked the contract of their defensive tackle and freed up $12.8 million in cap space. By doing so, Oliver’s cap hit for 2026 is now $13.6 million, and there were two void years added onto his deal for 2029 and 2030, on top of the void year that was already included for 2028. Those three void years add up to around $10 million in cap space.
The Bills converted $13.025 million of salary/roster bonus into a signing bonus which opened up $10.4 million of cap space. Brown counted $8.1 million last season and that was scheduled to rise dramatically this year, but the restructure means there’s only a modest increase to his cap number, up to $8.9 million.
Buffalo Bills signings
March 7 – Connor McGovern set to return on four-year deal
The Bills are reportedly making a big move as they are bringing back center Connor McGovern on a four-year contract worth $52 million, $32 million of which is guaranteed.
McGovern was a player the Bills needed to get back on the roster because losing both him and left guard David Edwards would have been quite a blow to an offensive line that has been one of the best and most consistent in the NFL. Now, it’s almost a certainty that Edwards will indeed sign elsewhere because the Bills won’t have the salary cap space to bring him back.
The Bills signed the special teams ace prior to the start of 2025 and he gave them a solid season as he played the third-most snaps of all special teams player. They felt it was worth bringing back the core player so they worked out a three-year, $7.5 million contract. We don’t yet know the breakdown, so his 2026 cap number is unknown, but it won’t be more than $2.5 million. Last year Franklin counted $1 million.
Buffalo Bills trade acquisitions
March 8 – CB Taron Johnson traded to the Raiders
The Bills planned to release Taron Johnson but instead traded the nickel cornerback to the Raiders in a late-round pick swap. Buffalo sent Johnson and a 2026 seventh-round pick to Las Vegas for a 2026 sixth-round pick. Johnson spent eight seasons with the Bills and was a second-team All-Pro in 2023.
March 5 – Wide receiver DJ Moore for a second-round pick
Rather than wait for the start of free agency, Beane cut a deal with the Bears to acquire Moore and a fifth-round pick, at the cost of a valuable second-round pick, No. 60 overall in the 2026 draft. Obviously, the trade addressed a key position of need and the 29-year-old will come to Buffalo theoretically positioned to be the No. 1 receiver on the team.
Whether that happens remains to be seen, but Moore’s resume through eight NFL seasons with the Panthers and Bears far surpasses anything the Bills already have on their roster. He has 608 receptions for 8,213 yards and 41 touchdowns across 131 games.
Moore’s production in 2025 was way below his seasonal averages as he had career lows with 50 catches for 682 yards, but that was partially because the Bears had Rome Odunze and Luther Burden at receiver, they relied heavily on tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet who combined for 88 catches, and quarterback Caleb Williams was a bit scattershot, completing just 58.1% of his passes.
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 36 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.