Buffalo Bills

The Bills have $10.0M in cap room now but face a projected $21.0M over the cap next season, with $47.0M in dead money already on the books, demanding immediate restructures and surgical cuts.

23 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Four starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Buffalo holds eight picks in the upcoming draft with six rounds covered and three first-rounders banked across three years, giving the rebuild real resources to work with.

• Acquired: Round 7 from Raiders, this draft

The roster's clear top strength is the quarterback position with a 99 overall Josh Allen, while the right guard spot ranks near the bottom of the league in both starter and depth quality.

• RGmedium

  O'Cyrus Torrence starts at right guard but the position ranks 21st in starter quality and 29th in depth, making interior line reinforcement the most urgent upgrade on the roster.

• SSmedium

  C.J. Gardner-Johnson holds the starting job but the unit ranks 25th at the position, and the depth behind him offers little insurance against injury.

• WILLmedium

  Dorian Williams starts at WILL linebacker but the position ranks 24th in starter quality, and upgrading the weak-side linebacker would noticeably strengthen the defensive second level.

• REDGElow

  Bradley Chubb starts at right edge and the position is only a low-severity need, largely because T.J. Parker provides capable depth behind him.

• WRlow

  DJ Moore and Khalil Shakir give the Bills a competent starting duo, but the receiving room ranks 21st in starter quality and could use a higher-ceiling complement.

• 75Joshua PalmerWRJoshua Palmer is a WR4 or WR5 on the depth chart behind Moore, Shakir, and Coleman, and cutting him frees $7.5M against $4.3M in dead money, a net savings that helps address the tight cap situation.Frees $7.5M · $4.3M dead
• 75Michael HoechtLEDGEMichael Hoecht sits third on the LEDGE depth chart behind Rousseau and Danna, and releasing him frees $4.6M against $2.4M in dead money, trimming a redundant roster spot with meaningful cap relief.Frees $4.6M · $2.4M dead
• 60Kyle AllenQBKyle Allen is the second-string quarterback behind Josh Allen at a 60 overall and releasing him frees $1.4M against $500K in dead money, a low-cost cut that clears a roster spot.Frees $1.4M · $500.0K dead
• 52Shane BuecheleQBShane Buechele is the third-string quarterback at a 52 overall and cutting him frees $1.1M against just $70K in dead money, making it one of the cleanest releases on the roster.Frees $1.1M · $70.0K dead
• 62Demetrius Flannigan-FowlesMIKEDemetrius Flannigan-Fowles is a backup MIKE at 62 overall with no dead money attached, and releasing him frees $1.1M while the position already carries starter-level depth in Terrel Bernard.Frees $1.1M · $0 dead

The Bills are built to compete right now, with Josh Allen operating at the peak of his powers and James Cook III giving the offense a true lead back to pair with him in a Run and Shoot scheme. The receiving corps anchored by DJ Moore and Khalil Shakir is functional, though Moore is entering a phase of his career where planning around younger options at the position becomes important. The offensive line has a capable bookend pair in Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown, but Dawkins is in the later stage of his career and interior depth at right guard is thin enough to rank near the bottom of the league. Defensively, Greg Rousseau gives the front a young Superstar edge rusher, Terrel Bernard steadies the linebacker core at MIKE, and Cole Bishop is a 23-year-old Star safety with real developmental upside at free safety. The cap picture demands attention, with $47.0M in dead money and a projected $21.0M over the cap next season, so restructures and selective cuts will be necessary to maintain flexibility. The Bills are in a win-now window with the assets to extend it, but managing the cap and building depth behind aging starters will determine how long that window stays open.

The Buffalo Bills were founded in 1959 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), beginning play in 1960, owned by Ralph Wilson and named after an earlier All-America Football Conference franchise that honored frontiersman Buffalo Bill. The team's early glory came under quarterback Jack Kemp and head coach Lou Saban, who won back-to-back AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965. When the AFL merged with the NFL in 1970, the Bills joined the NFL, and the 1970s were defined by running back O.J. Simpson, who in 1973 became the first player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season. The franchise's defining era arrived under head coach Marv Levy from 1986 to 1997. Powered by a Hall-of-Fame core, quarterback Jim Kelly, running back Thurman Thomas, wide receiver Andre Reed, and defensive end Bruce Smith, the Bills won four consecutive AFC Championships and reached four straight Super Bowls (XXV-XXVIII) from the 1990 through 1993 seasons, a feat unmatched in NFL history. They lost all four, most agonizingly Super Bowl XXV on Scott Norwood's "Wide Right" field goal. This era also produced "The Comeback," the January 3, 1993 wild-card game in which backup QB Frank Reich rallied Buffalo from a 35-3 deficit to a 41-38 overtime win over the Houston Oilers, the largest comeback in NFL postseason history. After Kelly retired, the Bills endured a 17-year playoff drought (2000-2016), the longest in major North American pro sports at the time. The drought ended in 2017, the first year under head coach Sean McDermott. The 2018 drafting of quarterback Josh Allen transformed the franchise into a perennial contender, with five straight AFC East titles (2020-2024) and Allen's 2024 NFL MVP award. Yet repeated playoff heartbreak, including a string of losses to Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs and the 2025 overtime Divisional defeat at Denver, led to McDermott's firing after the 2025 season and the promotion of Joe Brady to head coach.