The Bills' cap crunch has put even more pressure on quarterback Josh Allen.
Buffalo, which entered Wednesday with the league's worst salary-cap situation, has released several valuable veterans, including starting center Mitch Morse, safety Jordan Poyer, cornerbacks Tre'Davious White and Siran Neal, running back Nyheim Hines and wide receiver/kick returner Deonte Harty.
The Bills' cuts of S Jordan Poyer, C Mitch Morse, CB Siran Neal, WR Deonte Harty, and RB Nyheim Hines will create approximately $25.96M in salary cap space.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 6, 2024
Buffalo entered the day $40M over the cap.
The release of Tre’Davious White will open up another $10.2M, but only after… https://t.co/XappVwclC0
The Bills are banking on head coach Sean McDermott – who has a defensive background – to be able to field a competitive defense without two key members of the secondary.
Poyer started 107 games for Buffalo over the past seven seasons, reaching the Pro Bowl in 2022 and being named first-team All-Pro in 2021. While White has had horrible injury luck (only appearing in 10 games the past two seasons), when he is healthy, he is among the league's best corners. For his career, quarterbacks have a 53.1 completion percentage when targeting the former LSU Tiger.
Since McDermott took over as head coach in 2017, the Bills have had the top-ranked pass defense twice and a top 10 unit four times, including in 2023, when it ranked No. 7 in the NFL.
This will be McDermott's toughest task yet, particularly considering the high-octane offenses in the AFC – including in Buffalo's own division.
The Miami Dolphins have a lethal passing offense and the New York Jets should be considerably better with Aaron Rodgers at the helm. The Patriots are likely to add a talented rookie quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, which could make them more difficult to defend during the upcoming season.
And, oh yeah, the Chiefs still stand as a massive roadblock, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes likely to feast on Buffalo's revamped secondary when he gets the chance.
Allen had already been asked to be the Bills' entire offense for most of his tenure in Buffalo, but with the team's recent round of cuts, his burden has become that much heavier.
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