The Buffalo Bills are facing a minor crisis as they prepare for the start of the new league year. After moving on from longtime HC Sean McDermott following Buffalo’s overtime playoff loss in the divisional round to the Broncos and promoting former OC Joe Brady, the Bills have some roster needs to address to get younger and better in some key areas. Unfortunately, some cap constraints may make that difficult.
Per Over The Cap, the Bills are projected to be almost $4 million over the salary cap in 2026, but that’s not including their draft picks, internal extensions, and any free agent additions they may want to make. Buffalo will have some business decisions to make as they look to acquire some upgrades at receiver and on defense, in preparation for another playoff run.
Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane on the Team’s Salary Cap Crunch
GettyORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 16: Spencer Brown #79 of the Buffalo Bills spikes the ball during the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Highmark Stadium on November 16, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
On Thursday, Bills GM Brandon Beane and Bills HC Joe Brady joined The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN to discuss, among other things, Buffalo’s cap situation and free agency plan.
“No, we’re truly looking for the best players,” Beane said, dismissing the notion that the Bills are “hyper-focused” on certain players or positions. “Because one of the things about the draft is, you don’t know how free agency is going to play out. Even with your own guys.”
“Not enough,” Beane said in reply to a question on how much money the Bills are working with in free agency. “[The cap] is [going up], but we know what the range is going to be. We still don’t have a final number yet, but we gotta work — yeah, we’re probably going to be $15 to $19, $20 [million] over [the cap] and we’ve gotta get under.”
“And we’ve already started doing some maneuvers,” he continued. “We restructured [Bills RT] Spencer Brown the other day to get $10.5 [million] back, but we know we have some more work to do over the next couple of weeks. So that a, we can get under, and b, we can make the moves we need to make.”
The Buffalo Bills Need to Get Younger on Defense
Speed and youth are the words of the offseason for the Bills, especially on defense. Bills QB Josh Allen leads one of the NFL’s best offenses, but that defense let the team down in some big moments last year. With one of the league’s oldest defenses and several pending free agents, the Bills have some work to do to reshape that unit.
It’ll be tricky considering Buffalo’s aforementioned cap crunch, and the fact that Allen still needs a No. 1 wide receiver. With the No. 25 pick in the upcoming NFL draft, the Bills may want to capitalize on the board and select someone like Washington WR Denzel Boston, N.C. State WR KC Concepcion, or Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr. If they do, free agency will be the best place to address the Bills’ holes on defense.
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