Bills general manager Brandon Bean says one reason the Bengals are hard to keep up with is because Cincinnati has its best players on inexpensive rookie contracts, while Buffalo does not.
“They’re now benefiting from a rookie quarterback contract,” said Bean. Joe Burrow. “They’ve had some lean years, and without getting too much in their build, I don’t want to suck bad enough to have to get Ja’Marr Chase. He’s talented, and I’d love to have him, but you have to go through some lean years to do that. They managed to get Burrow No. 1 and the Chase [No. 5] And these guys are in their bargains with beginners. We pay Stephen Diggs A very large number. We’re paying Josh Allen a pretty hefty sum. So there are maximum restrictions. They have a really good team and they have some really good young players. We’ll try to get as many players as possible through recruiting and free agency, but again, our cap situation is a little different.”
Bean said the NFL hasn’t told teams what the salary cap will be for 2023, but Bean expects the Bills to be close to completion. This means that the Bills’ first priority will be taking steps to get around the cap, rather than signing expensive free agents.
“We’ll have to max it out with moves, roster cuts. . . . there won’t be a file Von Miller signature or something. “We’re going to have to work towards maxing it out so we can work this year,” Benny said.
There are moves the Bill could make to reduce the salary cap this year, Bean said, but those moves end up pushing the salary cap in future seasons, so Bean doesn’t want to make too many of those moves.
“I don’t want to be more than $100 million in two years, as we’ve seen teams have to do. I’m not looking to do that,” Bean said.
Burrow is likely to sign a lucrative contract extension this year, and Chase is likely next year, so the Bengals won’t have that advantage for long. But for now, it’s a feature that makes Bean jealous of the Bengals’ position.
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